My own children are what I think of as a chaos factory. They enter a hell loop of wildness and inflect suffering on all around them. They get these sudden bursts of energy and just go nuts. The thing I have learned is that this is perfectly normal for children their age. So, add several more boys that all know each other and are all perfectly comfortable to wild out in front of everyone and it is a recipe for ultimate chaos.
This was the group I got last year. They have moved on and a professional educator was brought in to help with their group specifically, but still the agents of chaos won a victory yesterday.
I couldn’t avoid them completely. Two of them are my children, after all. It was during snack time. They were taken to the men’s bathroom outside the Fellowship Hall. This was the first mistake. There is only one toilet in that bathroom they can use. The urinal is too high for children that age. They need to be taken to one of the kid’s bathrooms where there are more options. The second issue with that bathroom is the major temptation of the air freshener. Kids that age cannot control their intrusive thoughts. If the air freshener tells them to spray it wildly they spray it wildly.
This was the scene I walked in on yesterday when asked to help. By the time I got in there things had progressed too far. Once these children are caught in the loop of insanity the exit ramp is difficult to pull off on. It’s like being on the highway. You have to slow down before exiting and these kids were ramped to the moon. Going 120 in a 35 and out of their minds, and I have trouble slowing down and calming one kid. Here we got a dozen going nuts.
I am glad that isn’t my group this year, but I am certain it won’t be the last time I am called in to help. I must remember to mention the bathroom thing to those group leaders this morning, or else the agents of chaos will claim another easy victory today.
David Huzzard Writes 