DAY TWO

Building and bribing -- this is how I would sum up Day Two. We seem to be building our comfort level, teens to kids, adults to kids, and sometimes kid to kid, while breaking down a few barriers. I noticed that the little people touch me more readily now. And they ask me questions. They have begun to learn the routine and anticipate the morrow. Even so, our pilgrims' progress almost came to a grinding halt as I ran out of Munchie time entertainment and -- with 20 minutes to kill in session two -- had to resort to bribing the children with Ginger's Big Fun Bible Story Trivia Quiz. I promised them "treats to make plus treats to take" tomorrow, if they answered 10 out of 12 questions correctly today. And, dammit, every group manages to do it, so 12:15 found me NOT recovering on my couch OR back at work, but cruising the candy aisle of the nearest grocery store, looking for discounts (does candy even go on sale?) and wondering if a single LifeSaver per camper would be enough to appease.

But summation may not be the real story of VBS, where it's ALL in the moments. Narrative form doesn't lend itself to the medium nearly so much as snippet form. (Plus, it's late and I am somewhat fried.) So, today in bullet points:

Mark was cleaner. (He's really cute under the scum and scowling.) Genesis was chattier.
David said "thank you" unprompted. And the other David happily stacked crackers with peanut butter (which I'm sure has plenty of sugar, but his team leader said he was cleared for it) -- right alongside all the other average, everyday, adorable kids.

I met a great new boy named Luke, but I decided to call him Lucas. He has these eager eyes and thick brown hair and busy hands -- into everything and not too cool to let you know he loves EVERY part of VBS, too. Luke/Lucas is just the kind of adorable post-preschooler/ pre-pre-teener who requires a special moniker.

My buddies Robbie and Brett did not act so eager today. Got a case of the too-cool-for-vacation-Bible-school blues... but they'll come around.

I met another Molly (she of the plastic butterfly visor and protective older brother Kurt) and another Julia. I learned to distinguish between Julia The Third and sister Allison. And we all gained a Jordan (who cried piteously at separation from mom AND faced a daunting bout of diarrhea during munchie time but who ended her day like a champ, smiling and bouncing in the middle of the Jackrabbit group).

Some skinny brown-haired moppet called Maddi (also new, with a twist-any-adult-to-her-bidding smile) made herself at home as my fifith appendage for about 10 minutes. She glued herself to my side, interrupting every direction I attempted to give in order to tell me her best, don't-funny-things-happen-at-my-house? stories. (Some were actually funny.)

Oh, and my alter-ego Fredia Johnson from Wackanack, Wisc. (the character I play during skits) had a little mishap. "She" broke a pot I brought from home as a prop. It was supposed to SOUND like breaking off stage, but we didn;t have the sound effect recording CD. So, as I am a method actor, I decided in the moment to lightly bounce the pot off the hallway floor. It didn’t so much bounce back.
Later, my new assistant Karley (a prickly tomboy sent to me because her dad sent her out of the house, evidently) confidently told me, "You know, my mom has a blue and white pot like that one from your skit." (How she saw it so clearly, I do not know. But I am about to be quite impressed with Karley's tchotcke-naming skills.) "It's called Blue Delph, and it's from Holland." I was thinking, "yes, well it probably WAS " about when Karley added, "and it's very valuable!"
...Great! Just GREAT!


But sacrifices must be made. Tomorrow, Fredia collapses from over-exercise and we make sea scenes in Jello cups.... Oh my! Gotta find my blue food coloring right now. And where did I drop that $15 sack of Pixie Sticks and Life Savers?