This weekend I worked for the second time at my new camp job. I really don't remember what I've told you all about the camp. It is set up to run 1 weekend a month (or so) as a getaway for kids who are just having a tough life. I don't know if it is more to give the parents a break or to give the kids a good time once in a while. Either way, there's a big variety of the type of kids there. Some of them have behavioural problems, some are quite mentally handicapped and others are just kids who've had a tough life. This past weekend I worked both a Sat. and a Sun 8-4 shift. What a weekend to go to camp. It was soooo stinkin hot! I couldn't believe how hot it was. Even the shade was unbearable. But nooooo... the activities planners decided it was still nice enough weather to go rock climbing and hiking and play capture the flag. YUCK! Sat. actually was a pretty good day. We had a 3 hour water fight and everyone got completely drenched. Sun. was a different story. By this time everyone is so hot and tired that tempers flare up. Mean kids got meaner and snobby kids got snobbier. The laid back kids got more laid back though. Either way, I had a bit of an incident. They all swear that "this never happens" but still, i think I need some training. Even though I've been hired I'm not signed up for the company training, including PMAB (Prevention and Managemenet of Aggresive Behaviour), until September. One of the much more handicapped kids flipped out. We were walking to another building that was just a bit too far for him and he just got angry. I was with another support worker so I wasn't alone. He started screaming and turned on me. He grabbed the first limb he could reach, my arm, and just dug in his fingers as hard as he could. I had NO idea what to do. I'm a big wimp and it hurt like heck (I was sunburned, of course) but I was afraid to hurt him. He was also reaching in with his head to bite me, which scared the heck out of me. We ended up tackling him to the ground and sitting on him till he calmed down but he flared up a few more times and got my arm and my leg, again. Really, the war wounds aren't that spectacular, but if you ask Dan he'll tell you how much I like to show off my scrapes and bruises. So.... here they are:
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