It has often been said that timing is everything in life. We were so fortunate to finish a full day of activities and get everybody comfortably back to their bunks on Friday evening before the skies opened up and greeted us with a heavy downpour. We needed it! Even with an irrigation system to water our fields, the grass was dry. The heavy rain eliminated the dust on the main road that would kick up every time our boys headed to the dining room for a meal. With one good soaking rain, the fields looked lush again.
As Reveille sounded this morning, we were once again greeted by beautiful sunshine and clear Maine skies. As we begin the second week of camp, our boys will start to compete in inter-camp events. All of our campers who have completed the fourth grade and up will have an opportunity to put on a Camp Takajo uniform and compete in a variety of sports against our neighboring camps.
While some of those games took place today, I consider our greatest victory to be one that took place in my office with a bunk of younger campers. This particular bunk was experiencing some minor difficulties in communication. Not unlike some of us, these children were much better at hearing themselves speak rather than listening to the thoughts and concerns of others. One of the boys commented that before he was able to finish a thought, one of his bunkmates was already chiming in with his own opinion. The boys were frustrated with their inability to communicate with one another. I gave them a simple role-playing exercise to illustrate a funny scenario as an example to make my point.
I said, “I will wait for you to finish telling me why you are frustrated before I respond.”
A camper began by saying, “Jeff, I don’t like sleeping next to you because your bed is always messy, and you have a lot of stuff on the floor.”
I responded, “I understand that you don’t like the fact I leave my bed messy and leave my stuff on the floor, but I don’t like it when you leave your smelly socks on my pillow.”
The kids found great humor in this communication exercise.
The camper replied with a big smile on his face, “I leave my smelly socks on your pillow because I am annoyed when I trip over the things around your bed.”
I said, “I know I have annoyed you by leaving my personal items on the floor, but I promise to pick them up if you promise to stop leaving your smelly socks on my pillow.”
Within a few minutes, we were able to create a humorous example of the importance of acknowledging someone else’s words before reacting to our perceived needs.
The boys left my office excited and felt they now had the tools to express themselves rather than allow the actions of others to frustrate them. At camp, we value the importance of teaching social skills, the art of communication, and equally as important, the art of listening. After a full day of activities, each group hosted its weekly Saturday night at the movies. Our boys relaxed, kicked back, and enjoyed some popcorn before retiring for the evening.
