San Antonio Busy Kids

Wow…I can hardly believe the Fourth of July came and went so quickly, and we’re half way through the year already. Where does the time go?

Twirl is happily rooted in camp…although that wasn’t the case for the last several weeks. Anybody else had an issue with camp counselors spreading negativity? Kids coming home crying? What’s up with that?

Source: SXC

I’m not going to out the camp, only because this is the first time in three years we’ve ever had this problem, and they fixed it right away. Still, how is it possible that camp suddenly turned into I-don’t-even-know-what to call it. Behavior charts, threats and clear class favorites? It was as if one person’s bad attitude had spread throughout the entire camp.

I saw it going downhill after the first week, but at first, I thought maybe it was just the girls kitten fighting. You know how tweens nip at each other sometimes. I knew there was one “mean” counselor, but it didn’t seem all that serious. But as time went on, the signs become more obvious that this was escalating to a much higher level. Twirl started feeling sick. She was sleeping in later and later and coming home feeling more and more tired. The day she got into the car and burst into tears was the moment of truth when she finally let out all that was happening.

The “mean” counselor had been making the campers feel like they were terrible kids, undeserving of her time, attention or care. Like in a bad movie, the negativity seemed to be spreading to the other leaders. If the children didn’t want to participate in something, instead of being encouraged, they were berated. One child got a mark on her behavior chart for crying. The counselors were yelling at the children, threatening to take away their field trip and making them do calisthenics in the morning.

I made a quick phone call to confirm with one other mom, dropped my daughter off at home that same afternoon and high tailed it back to the camp office. Fortunately, I’m not a complainer, nor am I known as a helicopter mom, so I think they knew something was up when I walked – rather mindfully – straight into the camp director’s office and had my quiet – but firm say.

The very next morning, I’m told, there was a line of moms outside the camp office. There were some who simply mentioned the behavior of the counselors was unacceptable, there were others who admitted there were probably some interactions amongst the children that were contributing factors and still others who ranted and raved and threatened withdraw their children. None of us were quite sure how any of this happened at such a camp, with its stellar reputation and long history of fabulous experiences with all of our children in the past.

Fortunately, the staff’s ears were wide open, their hearts in the right places, their minds clear enough to understand we weren’t just kvetching unnecessarily. They took the steps they needed to take right away to fix the problems that needed to be fixed.

By that afternoon, our children were happy once again. The counselors and children both had received a “talk” realigning everyone’s expectations. I’m still doing temperature checks every day, but the camp experience just keeps getting better and better. I have to say, I was a tad bit worried there might be some retaliation on the children, but none of that has appeared in any way, shape or form. In fact, the counselors are being more creative and focused as ever, working on team building and self-esteem. It’s good to see the kids start to blossom again.

The best part – Twirl got in the car and told me she was very proud of herself for telling me what was going on. I was proud of her to. And I was proud of myself for really listening, taking it seriously and doing something about it.

Two things really stand out for me:

First…how often do we tune our children out assuming they are over-emphasizing a really small situation in the hopes they can either get themselves out of it or get some sympathy from us? I know I’ve done that before.

Second…I’m constantly amazed how one person’s negativity can infect an entire group, yet how it takes an army of positivity to turn things around. Why is that?

Your thoughts?