summer camp

Dino Fun at the Library

I've reached the end of my third week as a lead counselor. So far it's been a lot different than last year. First of all I am working with six year olds, which is quite a change from working with nine and ten year olds. I've enjoyed them and their honest enthusiasm and open affection. I have had fun, but I feel very burnt out after this week. I think one of the main problems has been having to worry about all of my other responsibilities rather than just getting to spend time with the kids like I did last year. Plus this week we've had a lot of behavioral problems with almost all of the kids, even some of them who were perfect the first two weeks. I've also had some issues with the other counselors in my group and yesterday I bit the bullet and confronted them with the things that have been bothering me. While it feels good to have actually said something rather than keeping everything inside, I feel like it didn't really go well. The girls I had to confront didn't have too much to say, which was really frustrating and now I feel like things are going to be terribly awkward between me and these girls for the rest of camp. My plan for next week is to be as positive as I can be with the kids and the girls in my group and hopefully we can put all of the problems behind us and move on.

I have the whole weekend off and I think I'm going to dedicate it to taking care of myself.