Camp Counselor
Summers were a particularly difficult time to work for me. My husband needed decompression time from his job, and spent the summers working on his own music. He hardly gave any lessons over the summer.
When the kids were very little, we went to the Catskills to a bungalow colony for two years. It was very enjoyable. The kids were in day camp and the adults had time to be together.
Most of the men would commute to the bungalow colony for the weekend. Once everyone got there we had group BBQs and we went to the area restaurants, some of which were world renowned! There was a plethora of teenage baby sitters and no one cared about a bed time.
My husband had a summer job teaching guitar at a local college. He would come for the weekends and then stayed for the last few weeks when his job was over. It brought back memories of my childhood.
The days of those bungalow colonies were over though, as properties were sold to the Hasidim, Ultra Orthodox, and we were no longer welcomed.
I looked into sleep away camps. After all, I loved my sleep away experience. Trouble was I couldn’t afford it, so…. I solved the problem by going there as the
ARTS AND CRAFTS COUNSELOR! I had a room in a separate building with some other adults and the kids could go free! Win-Win I thought! This camp was way up in the mountains. Beautiful country.
I was given a budget, and I had a ball ordering all the things I though would be fun for the kids to do. Projects for the little ones up to adults who wished to come in and have a project.
At first, the kids objected to having “rules.” This camp turned out to be very loosely run. The kids were taken care of sort of, but the ownership and adults in charge of most things were very lackadaisical! I’m glad I was there because at least I could watch out for my kids.
After a few days, the kids had a good time in the Arts and Crafts room. The realized it was much more fun to actually do a project and have something to show for it. Now the fact is, I am not artistic, or crafty, I am however a teacher and I know how to get things working. Arts and Crafts became popular for kids and staff. One day, I was showing a girl how to set a rivet in a strip of leather for a bracelt. I had learned to do it the day before! I held the rivet inbetween two fingers and showed her how to take the hammer and hit it in place. I didn’t mean that moment when my fingers were there, but that girl picked up the mallet and set that rivet and broke my finger! I was seeing starts but I didn’t react and handed it back to her and said she did a great job! Oh the pain! I waited till the time was over, locked up the room and went to the nurses first aid office. I don’t know what kind of nurse she was but at least she knew what to do for me. It seems there wasn’t much to do. I had my finger taped and given some painkiller. When it was parent visitation weekend, I met the girls mother. She was delightful, and we found out that we were almost neighbors. She was on the right side of the tracks and we lived in the poverty pocket, my name for the neighborhood. I didn’t tell her about her daughter. She said, we should get together when I got home and asked if I played Cards or MahJong! Yes, Yes I did! She gave me her number . That was the start of another phase in my life!
