Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Chop Point snapshots
The special moments, the crazy times, the peaceful scenery, the close relationships. As always, a piece of my heart stays in Maine.
Kids Kamp
Second Session ended with the usual teary good-byes and promises of next year. 2 days later, we were handed our last batch of campers: the 8-12 year old monsters...I mean, darlings. They are cute as a button, friendly as can be, enthusiastic beyond belief and they wear us out! After spending 7 weeks with wonderful but generally mellow teenagers, the sheer noise and energy of Kids Kamp often threatens to send counselors into early retirement.
Personally, Kids Kamp can either be very refreshing and rewarding or the ultimate stress machine. Last year, I had 2 diabetic campers, a case of cleaning products sprayed in the eyes, and 1 post-corneal transplant, so I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. This year, my biggest complaints were a recurring anxiety attack and a nasty case of brown tailed moth. So I had more time to just play with campers and time to assist the staff.
You see, in addition to the counselors, we have 7 or 8 junior counselors (JCs) who help during Kids Kamp. They each have a group of 10 campers and they are responsible for moving those campers from activity to activity and for crowd control at each activity. Most of the JCs are 14 or 15 years old and the majority were campers during one of the summer sessions. Therefore, I know them well and I love being able to spend time with them during the day.
Our most precious hour of the day is rest hour. The campers go to their cabins and the JCs are allowed to have their rest hour in the infirmary with me. It was our chance to reconnect, to talk about how things are going with our campers, and to be refreshed.
It always amazes me to see how swiftly the Kids Kamp kids trust the counselors and to see how some counselors just thrive on the energy and affection of those younger children. But the best part for me is watching the JCs. Since I don't have my own cabin of campers, the JCs unofficially become mine. Some of them have been with me all summer and it makes me so happy to see them stop being campers and become leaders. It seems like they flourish and mature overnight. Suddenly, they are the ones being called out of the audience at a moment's notice to act out a part in a skit, and they are the ones being sent to check all the cabins to make sure everyone is present. They are the ones enforcing rules about life jackets, and they are the ones holding the campers' hands during bouts of homesickness.
I've seen a JC get in the cold Kennebec to swim alongside one of his scared campers. I've seen a JC getting hugged by each of her wet campers, one by one. I've seen a JC playing in the mud with toy trucks because that's all his toughest kid wanted to do. I've seen a JC bandaging a bloody toe. I've seen a JC losing at a game that he could easily win so that his kids can taste victory instead. I've seen a JC holding a crying anxious camper and telling him that everything's going to be OK.
My JCs make Kids Kamp what it is and I am so proud of them.
Personally, Kids Kamp can either be very refreshing and rewarding or the ultimate stress machine. Last year, I had 2 diabetic campers, a case of cleaning products sprayed in the eyes, and 1 post-corneal transplant, so I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. This year, my biggest complaints were a recurring anxiety attack and a nasty case of brown tailed moth. So I had more time to just play with campers and time to assist the staff.
You see, in addition to the counselors, we have 7 or 8 junior counselors (JCs) who help during Kids Kamp. They each have a group of 10 campers and they are responsible for moving those campers from activity to activity and for crowd control at each activity. Most of the JCs are 14 or 15 years old and the majority were campers during one of the summer sessions. Therefore, I know them well and I love being able to spend time with them during the day.
Our most precious hour of the day is rest hour. The campers go to their cabins and the JCs are allowed to have their rest hour in the infirmary with me. It was our chance to reconnect, to talk about how things are going with our campers, and to be refreshed.
It always amazes me to see how swiftly the Kids Kamp kids trust the counselors and to see how some counselors just thrive on the energy and affection of those younger children. But the best part for me is watching the JCs. Since I don't have my own cabin of campers, the JCs unofficially become mine. Some of them have been with me all summer and it makes me so happy to see them stop being campers and become leaders. It seems like they flourish and mature overnight. Suddenly, they are the ones being called out of the audience at a moment's notice to act out a part in a skit, and they are the ones being sent to check all the cabins to make sure everyone is present. They are the ones enforcing rules about life jackets, and they are the ones holding the campers' hands during bouts of homesickness.
I've seen a JC get in the cold Kennebec to swim alongside one of his scared campers. I've seen a JC getting hugged by each of her wet campers, one by one. I've seen a JC playing in the mud with toy trucks because that's all his toughest kid wanted to do. I've seen a JC bandaging a bloody toe. I've seen a JC losing at a game that he could easily win so that his kids can taste victory instead. I've seen a JC holding a crying anxious camper and telling him that everything's going to be OK.
My JCs make Kids Kamp what it is and I am so proud of them.
Boston trip
Like last summer, I led a trip to Boston for some of the Chop Point campers. Unlike last summer, this year's trip was so popular that we had to split the kids into 2 groups so that we had 10 people for day 1 and night 1, 21 people all together for day 2, and then 11 people for night 2 and day 3. It was a logistical nightmare, but in the end, it all worked out and we had a great time.
That first group was hilarious. They were always doing something that made me laugh, whether it was playing in a fountain or posing with statues, feeding the birds or getting a spontaneous nosebleed, racing the tredmill runners at a Fitness Center or biting peoples' elbows.
The greatest source of hilarity came from Raelyn, my highly allergic camper, and Savannah, a first year camper who had seemed very shy. We were sitting on the T shortly after arriving in Boston when I realized that the girls were speaking with British accents. I asked about it and their answer (in a British accent) was, "Don't you remember, Mummy? You and Daddy (indicating my 18 year old co-leader Benjamin) adopted us through the foster care system in England. Just like you adopted all the other children: Christoph and Georgi from Austria, Arthur and Ludovic from Belgium, Pierre Etienne from France. Cole is your only biological son."
And just like that, we became Team Foster Care. The kids called me and Benjamin "Mummy and Daddy" the whole time and we would do roll call by nation, "Team Austria, are you here? Where's Team Belgium? OK, we've got half of Team England; someone go find the other half!" It was ridiculous and very entertaining.
Back at my parents' condo for the night, the boys settled in to watch a very manly movie. I believe they chose...cough...Enchanted. Meanwhile, Savannah and I dreaded Raelyn's hair! Cole watched, took photos, and modeled hats.
In the morning, I got to take Team Foster Care to my favorite pancake restaurant, Sorella's. It took them a long time to prepare our 10 meals, but my foster children stayed busy.
We did, of course, experience Boston too. We visited Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market, walked through the Boston Common and the Frog Pond, rode the swan boats, and shopped on Newbury Street. We sampled canolis, played in fountains at Copley Square and the harbor, and ate a very fancy Italian dinner at a restaurant in the North End.
With the large group of 21, we went to the Museum of Science. Our favorite part was definitely the musical stairs! If you haven't been there, check it out next time you come to Boston.
We also took the kids to Fenway Park for a tour of the oldest baseball stadium in America. I think my co-leader and I enjoyed it even more than the kids!
I love leading trips because I have the opportunity to spend time with a smaller group of campers in a context very different from camp. Even when we get back to camp, the memories and the inside jokes keep the unity alive. Case in point: all of the members of Team Foster Care still call me Mummy.
That first group was hilarious. They were always doing something that made me laugh, whether it was playing in a fountain or posing with statues, feeding the birds or getting a spontaneous nosebleed, racing the tredmill runners at a Fitness Center or biting peoples' elbows.
The greatest source of hilarity came from Raelyn, my highly allergic camper, and Savannah, a first year camper who had seemed very shy. We were sitting on the T shortly after arriving in Boston when I realized that the girls were speaking with British accents. I asked about it and their answer (in a British accent) was, "Don't you remember, Mummy? You and Daddy (indicating my 18 year old co-leader Benjamin) adopted us through the foster care system in England. Just like you adopted all the other children: Christoph and Georgi from Austria, Arthur and Ludovic from Belgium, Pierre Etienne from France. Cole is your only biological son."
And just like that, we became Team Foster Care. The kids called me and Benjamin "Mummy and Daddy" the whole time and we would do roll call by nation, "Team Austria, are you here? Where's Team Belgium? OK, we've got half of Team England; someone go find the other half!" It was ridiculous and very entertaining.
Back at my parents' condo for the night, the boys settled in to watch a very manly movie. I believe they chose...cough...Enchanted. Meanwhile, Savannah and I dreaded Raelyn's hair! Cole watched, took photos, and modeled hats.
In the morning, I got to take Team Foster Care to my favorite pancake restaurant, Sorella's. It took them a long time to prepare our 10 meals, but my foster children stayed busy.
We did, of course, experience Boston too. We visited Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market, walked through the Boston Common and the Frog Pond, rode the swan boats, and shopped on Newbury Street. We sampled canolis, played in fountains at Copley Square and the harbor, and ate a very fancy Italian dinner at a restaurant in the North End.
With the large group of 21, we went to the Museum of Science. Our favorite part was definitely the musical stairs! If you haven't been there, check it out next time you come to Boston.
We also took the kids to Fenway Park for a tour of the oldest baseball stadium in America. I think my co-leader and I enjoyed it even more than the kids!
I love leading trips because I have the opportunity to spend time with a smaller group of campers in a context very different from camp. Even when we get back to camp, the memories and the inside jokes keep the unity alive. Case in point: all of the members of Team Foster Care still call me Mummy.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Second Session happenings
A new batch of teenagers, many of them new to Chop Point, invaded camp in mid-July for 3 weeks of fun and craziness. I got to introduce them to the craziness on the first night with my silliest Get-to-Know-You games.
For lip sync, Hannah and I chose songs from Broadway musicals such as Oliver, Annie, and Fiddler on the Roof. The cabin of Pemaquid had only 3 boys in camp that day (the rest were out of camp on canoeing trips) and both their counselors were gone, but they put together the most hilarious and well-rehearsed performance of "Tradition" that I have ever seen. I almost died laughing and I awarded them first place.
The cabin of O.P. missed the memo and performed a hard rock song instead of the one I had assigned them from Annie Get Your Gun. When it was over, they snuck into a younger guys' cabin and hid under the bunks until lights out. Then they jumped out and started screaming and yelling. You can imagine the campers' reaction!
Another activity took us to Portland for a Sea Dogs game. We got to introduce our European campers to tailgating, baseball, hot dogs, and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" all in one night.
Our most elaborate evening activity was Harry Potter Night. From the dramatic announcment which had me thrown across the dining hall under the force of a Stupefy curse to the Goblet of Fire where campers had to rescue a member of their House who was tied up in the woods, the kids and the counselors had an amazing time. Michael, Hannah and I had planned Harry Potter Night during our 40 hour day off (an attempt to feel less guilty by being productive) and I spent hours preparing for it. We rearranged the dining hall to look like the one at Hogwarts, complete with 4 House tables, House colors, flowers, and floating candles. Signs posted around the camp forbade students from entering the Forbidden Forest and from mixing polyjuice potion in the lavatories. Clues for the Goblet of Fire were written on parchment and American accents were banished in favor of British ones.
We had a sorting ceremony, followed by a delicious dinner that got interupted by a few ghosts and an ogre attack. We practiced spells such as Expelliarmus and Petrificus Totalus, as well as our Patronus charms. Good thing too because on the way back to camp, we got attacked by dementors! The Goblet of Fire was a big hit and we wrapped the show up with a Quidditch tournament. For many campers, Harry Potter Night was a dream come true - a chance to finally live the world they had read about - and for me, the night was a lot of work but a smashing success!
For lip sync, Hannah and I chose songs from Broadway musicals such as Oliver, Annie, and Fiddler on the Roof. The cabin of Pemaquid had only 3 boys in camp that day (the rest were out of camp on canoeing trips) and both their counselors were gone, but they put together the most hilarious and well-rehearsed performance of "Tradition" that I have ever seen. I almost died laughing and I awarded them first place.
The cabin of O.P. missed the memo and performed a hard rock song instead of the one I had assigned them from Annie Get Your Gun. When it was over, they snuck into a younger guys' cabin and hid under the bunks until lights out. Then they jumped out and started screaming and yelling. You can imagine the campers' reaction!
Another activity took us to Portland for a Sea Dogs game. We got to introduce our European campers to tailgating, baseball, hot dogs, and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" all in one night.
Our most elaborate evening activity was Harry Potter Night. From the dramatic announcment which had me thrown across the dining hall under the force of a Stupefy curse to the Goblet of Fire where campers had to rescue a member of their House who was tied up in the woods, the kids and the counselors had an amazing time. Michael, Hannah and I had planned Harry Potter Night during our 40 hour day off (an attempt to feel less guilty by being productive) and I spent hours preparing for it. We rearranged the dining hall to look like the one at Hogwarts, complete with 4 House tables, House colors, flowers, and floating candles. Signs posted around the camp forbade students from entering the Forbidden Forest and from mixing polyjuice potion in the lavatories. Clues for the Goblet of Fire were written on parchment and American accents were banished in favor of British ones.
We had a sorting ceremony, followed by a delicious dinner that got interupted by a few ghosts and an ogre attack. We practiced spells such as Expelliarmus and Petrificus Totalus, as well as our Patronus charms. Good thing too because on the way back to camp, we got attacked by dementors! The Goblet of Fire was a big hit and we wrapped the show up with a Quidditch tournament. For many campers, Harry Potter Night was a dream come true - a chance to finally live the world they had read about - and for me, the night was a lot of work but a smashing success!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Welcome to Mama Kez's infirmary
Just thought you might like to know what the inside of the infirmary looks like. It encourages campers to not stay long.
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