Vacation Bible School 2022

This week was VBS! Shane was in the 5th grade class, so they put me in the 4th grade class. Shane said he was disappointed I wasn't helping in his class, but I think we need the occasional break from each other!

My week went really well. The teacher I worked with was surprised to see me. She said she'd never "had a male helping" before! She shocked me by gifting me some CFA gift cards at the end of the week! I liked the kids and I liked helping out, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tired by the end of each day.

Shane's week was a little more up and down.

It seemed to start off well enough.  

But no matter what advice I give Shane, he's apt to do whatever he pleases. For example, he complained that he got called weird at one point. 

Examine the following picture: Do you notice how most of the kids in Missions, whether sitting or standing, are turned towards the activity?

Shane was the only kid with his butt in the air and probably humming.

Frankly, that is weird. I told Shane it was disrespectful, as well.

Still, he seemed to do okay overall the first day. We see each other twice: First in Gym and then again in Missions near the end.

The 2nd day started off with him being a toot. Only 1 kid in a gym packed with other kids decided to hide between a basketball hoop and not participate because they didn't like the way the game sounded. Can you guess who it was?

A volunteer made Shane come out, but he sat on the wall for the first game (and kept looking over my way). His teacher came over to ask me if I was okay with him sitting out. I said I was annoyed, but I was going to way and see what he did rather than force the matter right away.

Thankfully, Shane did join the game for round 2. He got really far, too! The kids were supposed to leave their noodle standing and rush to grab the next person's before it fell over. Shane's considerate and worked to leave his noodle steady so that the person after him could catch it.

It ended on a slightly sour note. Shane got out and he threw a hissy fit on his way off the court. He didn't yell or be mean to anyone, but that much jumping and gyrating is way overdramatic (He later told me that the kid in front of him had 'knocked it over on purpose,' but frankly, if he did then he did it for every other person who was behind him before Shane).

One of Shane's teachers came to grab me when my class was in Music. "Shane's not feeling well and he won't tell us what's going on," she said. 

I left my group and found Shane in crafts. He looked fine to me. I watched for a little while before going over to check in. He started pantomiming and I realized his complaint was a sore throat. I told him to talk or no one would understand and he did. Then I gave him the rest of my water bottle (which he chugged).

I heard he acted off a little while longer, but when I found him at the end of the day he was cured and enjoying hangman profusely.

Wednesday, a teacher pulled me aside again. Shane was complaining of a headache. At the end of the day, I was wrapping up with my class and a teacher pulled me because Shane was crying. He was tear-streaked and whimpering in a chair when I got there. We left a few minutes early. Carrie had some ibuprofen in the car, so I offered to give him half a pill.....and the crying stopped immediately thereafter. Shane swore his head still hurt when I quizzed him on it, but the severity of it seems to be partly on him!

We went home, Shane napped, and he was chipper the rest of the day. 

I told Shane I had a playdate set up for Thursday, but if he was going to be too sick for VBS then he was going to be too sick to go anywhere.

Thursday went remarkably smooth! I had to signal for Shane to stop humming in gym when I could hear him 100 ft away as the leader gave instructions, but I think that was it! We picked up lunch and dropped by Dylan's house afterward. We didn't get home till dinner.

Friday, I finally remembered to bring some cash. Shane and I picked out a gift for Carrie from the Guatemalan handicrafts to help support the missionaries from there.

Shane came over to my class when there were only a few kids left. They were talking amongst themselves and he stepped up and said, "Tell me two different animals to draw and I'll put them together!" They were surprised at first by the abruptness, but it ended with drawing and fun. 

"The kids in your class seemed nicer than the kids in mine," Shane said.

So Shane's last year of VBS was a little rougher than those prior. However, he had some fun and ended on a positive not. He even sang one of the songs on the way home!

Next year, I may encourage Shane to be a volunteer. He's in his own world so much I don't know how helpful he'd be, but maybe having a job to focus on would pull him out of his world and make him more attentive to the world around him.