On Sunday, me, Kate, Jon, and Holli just hung out on the beach.  I got oober burned again (I am beginning to see a pattern....).  And then camp started.  BUM BUM BUM.

I was hoping this programming would go better, and I think it might be.  It's nice to be working with Kate on this week, because she pulls her own weight.  And on top of that, we just seem to work well together.  It's also nice just to be able to see her because now that I've switched rooms, I don't get to see her that much anymore.  (Amanda and Jenn left to do a camp in Madrid for two weeks, so I am covering Amanda's room for her while she's gone, and two staff members are working in my room and Jenn's room).  Everyone was kinda pissed that they didn't pull Camp A counselors from the CDC, because they instead pulled random staff members that know none of the games and stuff we do, but whatever.  We'll make it.  Although it doesn't help that we have more kids than we've had all summer.  We have 69 kids registered for this week, which means that all the rooms have at least 18 kids in them (with the exception of mine, which only has 10 cuz I am the only counselor in there).

Anyways, so we all knew Monday was going to be HELL.  It wasn't that bad, I guess, but I am pretty sure that overall, this week is gonna SUCK.  The kids in my new room were so undisciplined, because Amanda pretty much let them do whatever they wanted.  She went way easy on them, and I am NOT like that at all.  I REQUIRE them to do the activity.  "No" is not an option.  (I am not this strict with my other kids, but these kids need some structure because they practically refuse to do anything).

Monday went by without any big mishap, and today was about the same.  It's just a lot harder being the only counselor in the room.  Jon said he would help me out as much as he could, but he can only be in the room so much.  Without another counselor, I can't leave the room to get more supplies or ask a question, I can't deal fully with any problems that come up and watch the other kids at the same time, I don't have as many songs and games to do as I would with 2 counselors, and it's just all-around harder to get them to pay attention and follow directions.  I am dealing, though.

My biggest problem so far was actually with a counselor, which REALLY pissed me off.  Like I said before, we have a lot more kids this week, so when I sat my group on the bus (we got on there first), I made sure they all sat together instead of spreading out, just to make sure there'd be enough room for the other groups.  And there was.  On the way back, though, the other rooms got on there first.  So when I got there, there was no room for my kids to sit together as a group.  I told them to just find a seat anywhere, but you can guess how that went.  There was a lot of "I don't wanna sit with him/her!"  After I finally got them sitting down, I went up to Lauren to ask her to make sure her group doesn't spread out so much so there would be room for my kids to sit together, and she says "Well, usually Miss Sunny (Amanda) just lets her kids mix with my group.  It doesn't really matter if our two groups are mixed cuz they're the same age."  After that, I kept insisting she squish her kids together, and I guess I was asking too much because she finally just said "Well if you want your kids to sit together, that's something you need to talk to them about."

Now, I see where she's coming from.  It's less work for her to let her kids sit where they want, and they are older, so they can usually manage it.  And it's the way they had been doing all summer.  But this week is different.  There are more kids, and I am the counselor for the Hip Hop room now.  And I like having my kids in the same spot for three reasons: 1. so I know where they all are and can count them and know if someone's missing  2. so I can watch them  3.  so we can all get off the bus together (because I really don't want them standing on the side of the street without a counselor there).  Since this is an accountability AND safety issue, I was hoping for some kind of agreement, but I guess not.  It really pissed me off (although at the end of the day, it doesn't usually take much to tick me off...)

But tomorrow it sounds like camp is going to change again.  I will be getting more kids in my room, and I will also be getting another staff member from the CDC.  I haven't met her yet, but we will see how it goes.  I have a feeling that it's going to be worse.  It will be nice to not be alone, but I will still have to run everything, and if the staff person doesn't help me, it's going to SUCK.  Oh, and our field trip tomorrow is LAME!  We are going to the crocodile farm, which is a 2 hour field trip.  Usually our field trips last all day.   ARG.  Wish me luck.