Sports Camp
It has been a long, busy week here at the Corner Haus. The house itself has been quiet, mostly because we haven’t been around much. Sports Camp (our church’s version of Vacation Bible School) started on Monday and wrapped up yesterday, and Ane, Tad and I were in the thick of it. Rerun stayed home with Daddy on Monday, then got pawned off onto Auntie, Gichan, and Grandma the other three days.
Ane always enjoys Sports Camp, but this was Tad’s first year going to “regular” camp (as opposed to “mini” camp, which is for preschoolers), and we had several friends also attending, too – the Brain, Head, and Rupert (who went to mini camp) were all there, along with Tad’s best friend from school, Danny, and his younger brother John, who has become a friend of Ane’s.
I was in charge of a small contingent of special needs kids that we were integrating (to the best of our abilities) into the kindergarten/1st grade group, along with my helpful assistant, Alexis, who also helps me out in Sunday school twice a month. I could NOT have gotten along without her this week.
Out of the 5 kids under my direct purview, 3 did pretty well within the team and did very well in playing with the other kids. Tad and Danny… not so much. They really needed direct adult intervention all week in order to play, and I really discovered that team sports are not Tad’s thing. Most of the time, Alexis and I had Tad and Danny playing with each other, separate from the rest of the group. It worked pretty well, but the boys were easily distracted, and volleyball is quite possibly the worst sport that could have been chosen for the two of them to play, but was on the rotation, along with soccer and basketball. They liked bouncing the ball to each other in basketball, and Tad and I discovered that we could kick the ball back and forth to each other (while Alexis kicked a ball with Danny) and do quite well. Tad was scripting almost the whole time, but while his mind and mouth were running, his feet were, too.
The boys loved seeing each other every day. It’s going to be so sad when they begin school in the fall and won’t be in class together anymore.
Ane had a good time, as she always does, but she is much better at memorizing her Bible verses and reciting them back each day than she is at playing most sports. But she puts 100% into playing, and that makes up a lot of time for her lack of skill. I was taking pictures of her tonight, since parents were invited to come watch the kids at camp, and I snapped this picture just before the kid going toward the ball kicked it directly into Ane’s face.
The poor girl hit the ground in pain, embarrassment, and tears. Fortunately, the ball hit her squarely enough that it didn’t leave a bruise, and she was able to shake it off and keep playing. I gave her a hug, the coach gave her a pep talk, and all was well. She played back defense for the actual team game, and assisted in defending her goal.
All in all, camp was a success, though it was a very busy and stressful week for me. I’m glad I don’t have to think about another one until next year.
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