Day One

Nancy Thomas:  Mini Camp - Day One

Nancy Thomas is AWESOME and I make no apology for using clearly an American word on an otherwise reserved English blog ! :D

Upon arrival, we duly registered and took our children in to the hall.  In the registration pack was a checked napkin amongst other things.  Nancy soon had the adults trooping out of the hall and up some stairs leaving our children behind.  Once upstairs Nancy confessed we were now in the Pit Stop room - and that napkin wasn't actually a napkin - but a FLAG!!  Now when our children did something that we'd previously 'asked' them not to do, we weren't to SAY a word - just raise our flag and the staff would come and collect the children and bring them to the pit stop room where they'd get the child to sit (?) and then say what they did wrong, before coming up with a plan on how they were going to make it better.  Yeah right!  (that was my thought).

A little later when my chair was being repeatedly kicked, I tentatively raised my flag... two staff swooped over, took my son away and up to the room - gave me some chocolate (for the serotonin) and asked me to write what he'd done.  I imagined he'd be there hours - he NEVER knows what he's done wrong and what on earth was sitting going to do!!!  Imagine my surprise when no more than 10 minutes later he's there in front of me telling me he'd been kicking my chair on purpose and to make it up to me he'd rub hand cream on my hands....  Well - I won't give you all of Nancy's secrets, besides I'm too shattered to write much more today.  All I can say is that I really got it wrong before - and I can't believe what damage I've caused to my children (unintentionally), but that it stops.  Now.