fitting a square peg in a round hole

(from August)

Kiddles 1 through 3 have been doing a sport camp run by Irish college students for the past three weeks. The coaches spend 6 weeks in the US, as exchange students.  They're all PE or Sports Medicine majors back in Ireland. We've gotten to know our sweet Irish coaches really well and it's going to be hard to say goodbye.  

                                  

Being coached by the Irish for 8 hours a day , 5 days a week, for three weeks in a row is awesome because the kids count in Irish now (one, two, TREE) and call potato chips, "crisps."  They've also learned how to trash talk in Irish slang. TLM told me they were going to give us "bloody hell" during the parent vs. child scrimmage on Friday.  These are life skills, y'all.

At the award ceremony last week, when all of the kids are recognized for what they've learned or the skills they've honed or developed, the camp director said, "All of the kids learned a lot about playing soccer this week, except for one child." At this point he pointed to my youngest child and said in his Irish accent, "Polly learned a lot about coaching soccer this week.  Let's give a round of applause for our official camp helper."  Then 40 children clapped and shouted her name.  She took the applause with grace, jumped off the shoulders of the local camp manager and held hands with the regional camp director.

Four Year Old Camp Helper Duties (as related after camp each day by the four year old and her siblings or observed by me during my visits):

1. only wear your uniform when it suits your fancy
2. keep children in line and on task during restroom breaks
3. collect balls during games and pass them to the other counselors (the grown up ones) if the mood strikes you.  
4. if the mood does not strike you to return the ball to the game, you keep the ball and kick it down the hill, so that someone else has to fetch it...again
5. randomly hide supplies from the other counselors (the grown up ones)
6. take points away from teams that are talking during recap sessions and tell the camp director to change their daily point total
7. go from group to group, choosing which activity you want to participate in and leaving any activity at will that doesn't interest you anymore
8. give directions to children on the field, in the restroom, in the line, at lunch, etc.
9. chastise children who don't listen to your directions
10. tattle on children who don't listen to your directions
11. pass out the Capri Suns and Gatorade your mother buys for you to children who don't bring enough drinks
12. judiciously reserve space in your drink cooler for the other camp counselors, (the grown up ones)
13. allow children that you like to sit on your picnic blanket under the shade canopy your mother sets up every morning
14. gloat, while sitting on the shoulders of the camp director at the end of the day (as seen in this photo)

The other children also learned a lot, but most of it was sports-related...which is what I had paid for.  However, they also learned some fun little things that all little children should learn.

Sunshine learned this song:

"My little pony, skinny and bony, went outside to play.  It stepped on a wire, caught on  fire.  No more ponies today, hooray!"

Buddy learned what an Indian Rope Burn is and how to arm fart.

Summer camp rocks.