We just ended what was the most stinkin' hot week at camp all summer. Everyone has been complaining: "Enough with the cool, when is it going to get hot?". There people, you got your wish. Along with a whole lot of humidity to make things especially uncomfortable. Personally, I have LOVED this overall cooler, wetter summer. My favourite seasons are fall first, then winter. This hot stuff can go away forever for all I care.
My week with Kevin was pretty chill, so I was due for a challenge. Only at the start, walking into this week, I didn't realize it was going to be a challenge. I know Robert from Y Kids, and I've never seen him run that fast.... or at all. I think was paired with him for that reason though.... being a runner, of anyone, I was likely his most capable opponent! So I greeted him as I do with all my campers on Monday morning, and we just walked around for a short while before flagpole. He stops just outside the breezeway, where the cement turns to stones, then turns to grass. He looks left, to the jr. forest. THEN BOLTS. He's quite spindly (a pure bag of bones, to be exact), and he isn't very tall. But the boy can run! Fast. And far. And Monday morning was disgustingly hot and humid, even at 9:15am. I would like to thank my long legs for creating a challenge for Robert this week. They let me catch up with him quite quickly (I was pleasantly surprised with myself!) so that I could redirect his behaviour. By Wednesday, though, the running wasn't as much an issue (did he realize he couldn't get away from me maybe?).
Robert is a precious individual. His soft, pre-pubsecent voice melts your heart. He is a parrot... whatever you say, he says back (for example, when getting changed for or after swimming, and I directed him: "shirt off", Robert would repeat "shirt off"...... Good boy Robert! "Good boy Robert", etc). He can be quite cuddly when he wants to, and his tininess fits right into your arms to hold and protect. He'll often recite dialogue from the movies or shows he watches, although they sound most incoherent and inaudible (while Robert has the ability to speak, he would till be considered "non-verbal" in that he possesses only a very limited vocabulary or phrase repertoire, and when he "speaks" with anyone the "conversation" lasts no more than 7-10 seconds). He is the best jumper at swimming, as he jumps from the picnic table into the water like a frog, and continues the frog jump several times in the water where he lands before doing the whole process 67 times more.
He loves archery, but canoeing remains his first love. We'd take all morning long canoe excursions around the lake. He'd happily sit in the canoe, taking in the fresh air, forresty sights, and greeting each canoe that passed us with other kids from camp. He also loved the sensorial satisfaction of grabbing the aquatic weeds that have risen to the surface of the water. Eww much? Yeah , a bit.
He is very helpful. Each day, Robert found himself running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth from the canoe launch area to the shed, carrying one paddle and one life jacket each time to put away (he would have gladly done this all day). And each time he hung one jacket up and added another paddle to the shed pile, he'd come out, look at me, and say "good job Robert, thaaaaaaaank you, thank you". A little sneaky of him though.... this was actually his plan to say "bye bye canoe". If it was bye bye canoe, Robert could go "bus? bus?".
Bus at 3:30 Robert. First play, then bus.
Next week: Luigi <3
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