With summer day camp being back, there is one thing I have been reminded of: how much I love rising kindergarten campers. With the rising kindergarten huddle you never know what is going to happen next. When we process games at camp, there is an opportunity for campers to praise other campers. After they say what another camper did well, they can give them a reward like claps, snaps, or pats on the back. Last week when the counselor asked one of the Guppies (our rising Kindergarten huddle name) what they wanted to give, their response was, “Two Hotdogs!” We didn’t have a praise reward called hot dogs at camp, but now we do thanks to that Guppy.
Another day I walked into the office area where one of the main bathrooms at camp is. One of the Guppies was coming out of the bathroom and his counselor was in the bathroom with gloves on. Another staff member asked the Guppy how his day was going and his was response was, “Guess what?! I just pooped!” It took everything in us not to bust out laughing. What he didn’t tell us was that he was so small that he barely got on the toilet. Because of this, his nugget hit the front rim of the toilet and bounced out and landed right in his underwear. He bricked his slam dunk. Our counselor stepped right up and starting cleaning up the mess. He didn’t ask what to do. He didn’t call in back up. He just stepped up and took one for the team.
Life can be a lot like working with the Guppies. You never really know what is going to happen next. Everything could be looking great and then the next thing you know you brick your slam dunk opportunity. Life could be smooth and then someone could say something that catches you off guard and throws you in a direction you didn’t expect to be heading in. There is one thing I do know though, and that is that you have to be able to roll with it. Sometimes you have to be willing to create a new cheer on the fly. Sometimes you have to be willing to put on some gloves and get a little dirty. You can’t just let life throw you off course.
until next time…