Arguing with myself about blogging.. because my life is so damn interesting!!

I don't want to blog every day right now.
And I still plan to miss blogging whenever I feel like it.
Okay?
But when I read back over my blog (almost nine years old now!!) I find that keeping a journal of life in general has been good for me.
Therapeutic.
Cathartic.
I enjoy some of the memories of the things I've written about.
I'm glad I've kept track of everything that's going on.

But sometimes I've felt tied to writing every day, which isn't something I want, either. It ceases to be fun if I *must* do it. But then things happen at home or at work that I want to blog about.
We have so many terrific people on our staff. I think that's what sets our program apart from others available in the area. 
Every one of us brings something amazing to the program.
Art projects and a sense of humor and care for the kids.
All of us care so much about what we do, too.
I'm proud to be part of this particular group.

When I did community theater back in the dark ages, the feeling was similar to this. Being part of something bigger than the individual and making something nice out of it.

We have a loosely packaged curriculum for summer.
Unit studies, basically. Something we used a lot while homeschooling.

There are several suggested projects and supply lists, instructions, background information and activities for just about all of it in one convenient book.

I say loosely packaged because this summer, they've built in room for us to bring our own ideas and fun.

We have water play days, bike and scooter days, video game days, dress up days, lots of visitors who come talk to the kids, field trips and snacks and a ton of 'extra'.

But we do stick to the curriculum for the larger projects.
For example, today's disastrous attempt at papier mache. (How the hell does one put an accent ' in the word properly? Tami?)
The people who wrote the curriculum and want us to do certain projects almost certainly didn't multiply the number of children by the amount of mess that each project would produce.

And let me tell you, it grows exponentially. :)

I'm smart. I've been doing this a long time. So we took our little project out of doors. It was still messy, but hey, I didn't have to clean it up.

But. We didn't have the supplies we needed to do it properly. I'm not sure which person on our staff thought plaster of paris would work. I wasn't the person who came up with the idea.

The kids' projects ended up soggy and misshapen. I don't know if they will be salvageable after they dry. It may be one of those learning experiences that we all benefit from, and we might have to start a little smaller and try again.

I don't really mind trying again but it was very hectic outside today.
We talked ahead of time about behavior expectations. I told the kids that they would NOT be running out there, because it was hot, even in the mostly shady area we chose to work in.
"Bring a book, art supplies, a soft ball to toss, a book to read, a game to play..."

Well I'm sure you can imagine what happened. About a half hour into it, the natives were restless. They started acting like children. Running. Throwing things. Etc.

We were trying to work with supplies that weren't doing the job. It was hot. The kids were frustrated trying to hold things together that were becoming waterlogged. Kids playing catch were running through the middle as we finally finished as much as we were going to.

We got everything cleaned up, got back inside for snack a little late, and started cleaning plaster off everything. Tons o' fun.
Not all the kids want to do projects.
That's okay, and encouraged both by the company and the staff.

We offer them alternatives, and try to gently nudge them into creative pursuits, but some kids just... aren't into it.

Eric says that when he was in school he wasn't the least bit interested in making things. He either thought they'd be too challenging when the teacher presented her perfectly made example, or he thought they were just "stupid"... his word for it.

So when kids don't want to do a project, they don't. The trick is finding them something they will do that doesn't piss everyone else off.

And now I'm going to go finish getting the rest of the plaster off my skin and catch a shower and ice my knee. I'll be going to sleep with my pal the TNS unit again tonight. Woohoo.

Protip... don't try using plaster of paris for papier mache.

You're welcome.