Camp Green Lane Blog Post July 1st

Do you remember that feeling of being a kid taking a day to really clean your room? You reballed your socks, made your bed real tight and put everything on your desk at right angles? You looked around with a sense of accomplishment and thought – “Hey, that wasn’t so bad?” and then kicked off your shoes and listened to your favorite mix tape while admiring your work.

Today we did just that – our first “Super Clean Up.”  While that may not sound like every kids favorite activity there was something about walking into these cabins and watching it happen that was pretty magical.  A bed that was an empty wooden bunk bed a week ago is now someone’s prized “area.” It’s decorated with photos from home and twinkly LED lights. A sense of pride went into being able to perfectly jelly roll the fleece blanket at the end of the bed. Two children who may not have known each other a week ago are now bunk bed mates, and they worked together to see if they could help each other refold the t-shirts in their drawers (maybe even offering promises to share a favorite one for the dance this week!).  The cabin is now their home and each camper took part in making it feel that way.  Maybe they’ve never cleaned a shower before, or checked to see if a damp towel needs another few hours on the racks, or been part of a broom/dustpan team.  But now they are. And that sense of independence, and responsibility we hope for our kids is unfolding right in front of our eyes.

Tonight the whole camp will get together with their partner bunks to practice for our Carnival Lip Sync tomorrow.  Each bunk is paired randomly with another bunk and will choreograph and lip sync a song from an animated movie or TV show.  It’s a chance to practice working together and being silly.  And after what is sure to be a lot of laughter working on these, they will go back and get ready for bed, untuck those tightly made sheets and sleep soundly in a home they created together.