Kids Got the Energy, Man!

Our son, Ethan, earned more than a paycheck the summer he graduated from high school and worked as a camp counselor for the YMCA. He also earned a healthy respect for kids. He was ready to unload more than his battered gear after he came home from the first week.

"Mom, I’m SO tired. You can’t believe how eleven-year-olds can wear you down. Kids got the energy, man! There’s NO time off. You have to keep your eyes on them all day long. There’s so much whining. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to get them to go to sleep, and if you fall to sleep before they do, you’re gonna be SO sorry. There’s this one kid in my cabin. Man, I think he’s the devil. He knows exactly how to get what he wants. I just know there’s something going on behind those eyes of his when he gives me ‘the look.’ If I hear ONE MORE Britney Spears song, I’m gonna scream. You should just TRY getting a bunch of eleven-year-olds to write a letter to their parents!"

With that, he rolled his eyes and went upstairs to take a nap.

I was familiar with (a) the territory, (b) the exhaustion, (c) ‘the look’ and (d) the music. I began to worry what I could say to convince him to go back for the second week. But it never came to that. When his dad came home later and asked how things had gone at Camp, Ethan responded, "It’s pretty hard . . . but it’s a BLAST!"

Yup. I know exactly what he means.