And what did you do last night Haley? "I went to a birthday pool party. It was for.... Tim McGraw. And Miley was there. And Hannah, and Shania, and Faith Hill. Faith Hill is so mean. And I kissed Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill cried!"
I am going to start this entry with the following statement: I had NO idea about the verbal abuse I was going to be put up against when I CHOSE Haley from the camper list of those attending camp this week. I had met Haley last year as her bus buddy on the Blackbirds Bus, although I had never worked with her as her one-to-one. I had also worked in her classroom for just one day as an Educational Assistant during the second last week of school. I knew she was feisty, but not this feisty.
Monday was testy, which I expected. They usually are, simply because kids are getting into a whole new routine with all new people in a whole new setting. That being said, I was really happy and proud of Haley for making it to her group on Monday (and staying with them for a large portion of the day... and week!), considering all of this.
But Monday was still testy, in particular the transition from swimming to something else... which is NEVER as much fun as swimming, obviously.
Me: Well we sure did have lots of fun in the water today, but it's been an hour and a half... we're turining into raisins! We better go get changed so we can write in your journal and have a snack before we go home!
Haley: No.
Me: Are you hungry?
Haley: Yes.
Me: Than stand up, we're going to get changed and eat a snack.
Haley: NO! SHUT IT, B%$@H!
Me: *Picks up jaw off of beach*. *BIG BREATH*. Nice words only at camp, thank you.
Haley: FINE, just shut it then!
Lucky for me I got to talk to mum and dad because we rode the same bus. Funny... swearing is not a problem at home....
Tuesday was MUCH better. We hung with the group, and went canoeing in the morning hours. Actually, I paddled forward, and Haley also paddled forward, only she was facing me, so in all reality we were just going nowhere fast. I did managed to get us over to "her" spot on the side opposite the docks though. And when we got there she found it very necessary to pull the lily pads out of the lake and place them in the canoe. Not one or two weeds... hundreds of them.
Me: Haley, what are you planning on doing with all these weeds?
Haley: They're for me... to make soup!
So we paddled a bit longer with the slimy weeds are our feet until we docked.
As much as the slimy ride was a dirty one to start, I was MOST thankful for that soup idea later in the day. We actually made that "Water Weed Soup" after our lunch, and let it cook during the time we went swimming. And when swimming was finished and I said it was time to get out, and when she then told me "NO", IIII told her I could smell her soup burning! THEN she got out like turtle-paced lightning (it's her only speed... sorry, actually so is turtle paced slowness) and that was that!
The soup was good, although very salty. And of course we used all natural ingredients, like crab grass, rocks, and bulrushes.
On Wednesday I learned that Haley is a big wig in Hollywood and she got to go to Tim McGraw's amazing pool birthday party. She mingled with many of country's biggest stars, including Faith Hill. Haley smooched Tim McGraw, and made Faith Hill cry, and ever since then Faith Hill has been out to get Haley. Wednesday through Friday saw us having several heated disputes with (invisible!) Faith Hill, and eventually we had to have Dana suspend her. It was just getting to be too much, what with the pushing and lurking in the bushes. I think we really showed her though... I bet Faith Hill's mummy and daddy were pissed she got suspended.
During the bus ride home on Wednesday, I was called a "fatty", "ugly" and told to "zip it". I may have provoked some of this ;).
And then came Friday. A rainy, thunder stormy, blah kind of day, but a good one to have after this week of mental exhaustion (sooooooo much negotiation with this girl!). We still got to canoe, swim, and just hang out reading Franklin books (and just one note to everyone: two bean bag chairs and two people do not fit in a one person tent ;).
Haley achieved a lot this week. I think best of all was she stayed with her group more this week than in her two previous weeks she experienced last year. And what started as a testy commencement to the week concluded nicely with a good friendship (with the few odd jabs here and there). I had a great week with Haley and look forward to sitting with her on the bus again when she returns.
Kudos' of the week:
1. To Vanessa for doing an AMAZING job with Nat!
2. To Katherine for keeping her Ahmad energy up all week and for swimming one morning without me!
3. To Jon for being extremely smelly but still managing to keep friends
4. To Kylie for lending shoes
5. To Daniel for sucking it up and swimming in the cold water like a REAL HH'er would do!
Next week: I get my arse back from Wilson ;)
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