Friday, June 29, 2007

It ain't over 'til every kid has cried. Or someone requires a visit to the eye wash area.


Today was the last day of VBS. In the words of Gloria Gaynor, I survived.


Let me tell ya about today. You thought poop was bad...


Our kids painted some really neat shirts on Monday and the plan was for them to wear them tonight for Family Night. There's one thing I've learned through the years of helping with VBS- plans are just an innocent attempt at organized chaos.


The very thorough craft teachers put the finished shirts neatly in small plastic bags, labeled them, and placed them nicely in each room so that we could pass them out and our kids could look really cool and VBS'y in them. Then a very sweet and helpful youth helper went to each class to gather trash bags and helpfully throw them in the dumpster out back.


Y'all know where this is going. Funny thing about small bags of shirts. They look a lot like small bags of trash.


Some very sweet and helpful older boys volunteered to look through the dumpster for our class' shirts. They came back empty handed.


They're sweet kids, but they are no match for the Olympic champion of dumpster diving. I rolled up my sleeves, and with the help of another brave teacher, I WENT IN. The shirts were rescued. The tiny bag of painted shirts was inside a big bag of garbage containing lots of red Kool Aid. Why does it always have to be red?


I felt a little bit like the marathoner who rounds the corner, swiftly crossing the finish line. I entered the building and the crowd cheered.


All was right with the world- after a really good scrubbing. (And I don't mean just the shirts.)




5 comments:

Nadine said...

Hi. I had to stop by because Tammy gave you an award. Congratulations. She is right you have a great sense of humor. The look of your blog is very nice.

Jessica said...

I have been following your VBS tales this week. I will be teaching the Kindergarteners at my church's VBS at the end of July...I am hoping to gain lots of patience between now and then. Thanks for sharing your great stories!

Tammy said...

This was hysterical!!! You are truly a dedicated VBS worker, Melanie!

See? I was right...you rock. And I expect to see that award glimmering from your sidebar soon...:)

Susanne said...

LOL! Now that is true dedication.

Sista Cala said...

Dumpster Diving could be a new sport for the olympics. The VBS olympics that is.

You asked, 'why does it always have to be red?' The only other choice is purple.