June 22, 2012: Lessons Learned for Camp Counseling

Zach loves his summer job.  He works for the Omaha Parks and Recreation as a day camp counselor.  Let me repeat, he "loves" his job.  And even more of a shocker, he "loves" the kids and the kids love him.  No offense to my oldest, but in a million years I would have never dreamt that a job involving children would be in Zach's future.  He has always been an animal lover, but little kids...not so much.  As he describes to me his days full of day camps, bowling, and the zoo; I see a reaction of pride and words of complete job satisfaction.  Who would have thought?  But a very good thing, indeed.

Over dinner I typically get daily updates on how cute the kids are and how much fun the day trips have been.

"How was the zoo today, Zach?"

"Oh, it was awesome, Mom."

"Awesome?  Wow.  How so?"

"The new aquarium was great and the kids loved all of it."

As he describes his various activities around the city, I am reminded of how I dragged the boys on Magical Mystery Bus Tours and summer fun outings across the city when they were young.  We would enjoy every inch of the city that provided childhood entertainment through the days of the summer: the library reading program, zoo, museums, fairs, parades, public swimming pools, Sun Dawgs, picnics, nature walks, bike rides, water parks...  We did it all.  Zach was always my least enthusiastic child on these outings.  Although always a participant, he rarely showed a ton of enthusiasm.  It is just how Zach is wired...comfort in the middle gears.  So the discussion of his job duties clearly begged the question...was all my running them around in summers past good training for him in his current job?  So I posed the question over dinner.  "Yea," Zach responded after a little reflection.  "It probably was."  Maternal affirmation. <sigh>