the vbs experience: a two-way street

The four oldest kids have been going to Vacation Bible School this week at our church. The two oldest kids are volunteering and are working with younger kids, and the next two are participants. The latter "pair" of children I refer to, of course, include Mr. Personality (aka Number Four).

Now, I was a wee bit hesitant to sign him up because of his... er... (how do I say this in a sweet manner that won't give him a complex if he ever reads it?) effervescent demeanor. However, he has really been a gem as of late, so I went with it.
The first day, I walk him in and smile at his teachers (thinking perhaps they should be warned, "be afraid, be very afraid)but they didn't smile back and were sitting there like cardboard cutouts of real people, so I introduced him to some of the volunteer teens I happened to know. Thank God for the smiles from the younger folks.

When the kids got home on Monday, Number One laments the fact that she couldn't be in her youngest brother's class. "Why" I asked. She explained that on three occasions, she heard the teachers looking for him. Apparently he runs ahead and does not like stay with his teen buddy.

Day two went fairly well, there were no reports that made me cringe. But then today when I picked the kids up, one of the women who are in charge of VBS came up to me and said, "Well, he doesn't like to hold his buddy's hand, so we told him to hold on to the back of his shirt, like a train."
"Very good," I raved, "I like it when other folks think outside the box where he is concerned. He is a special child."
Then the teen buddy walks up with Number Four safely clutched to his shirt tail. "Momeeee!" he squealed as he saw me. His eyes were bright and happy. "Um," started the teen, "he has a glue dot in his hair. And we couldn't get it out."
"No problem," I said. Hey, I've got five kids, you think a glue dot scares me?
Enter second adult: "Did they tell you that he has a glue dot stuck in his hair? You are probably going to have to cut it out."
"Nah," I said. "I'll get it. I'm not worried."

When we got home, I hear from Number One the saga of the glue dots and how the adults had to find an alternative glue for today's craft project because "some kids" got it in their hair. In a teeny tiny embarrassed-for-my-child sort of way, I cringed. I imagined them rolling their eyes and whispering what a live wire (p.i.t.a.) this kid is.

But, y'know, I got over it quickly when I realized that the goal of Vacation Bible School is to bring folks closer to Christ. Kids and adults alike!