Categories: uncategorized
Date: 20 September 2005 18:58:39
One of the things I enjoy about youthwork is, to the annoyance of some kids, I actually enjoy joining in the fun and games. The fact I'm a 4th decade person with the body of a 7th decade person but a mind that tells me I'm still 16-18 takes some getting used too.
One of Pastor Chugabug's favourite pastimes is Balloon Volleyball. However we have now refined this too balloon badminton. The object is the same as conventional badminton.... except too me. My objective is to destroy the balloon (cue maniacal laughter and impressions of Dr Evil!!!).
This may sound easy when using a badminton racket but it took me a good 30 minutes to achieve my aim. Oh, the satisfaction of hearing that bang!! How you get pleasure from youthwork is up too you. Me, I'll settle for my continued childish ways; after all, it keeps me so young and fit ;-)
The other source of enjoyment is the kids. They don't understand how amusing I find them. They entertain me just by listening to them interact. Its good that they can relax with us, especially as 3 of the 4 helpers are parents of some of the children. Its good that there is no family squabbling or bitchiness in operation.
That's not to say that life is perfect. A discussion on fashions, the need to conform to others and the value of brands was very heated. We covered bullying and found that 2 of the youngsters bought designer labels because it helped them "fit-in". Another youngest had been abused by her friends for not wearing "labelled" clothing.
Then they began to take post shots at each other. especially when the "designer" pair defended their purchases on the "quality" issue (I seem to have an attack of "" tonight). (Apologies to all concerned for this.) Now I'm being attacked by ()'s. How do you stop this?
What makes me laugh is that I used to work for a well known fashion label in a previous life. I know what they pay for clothing, the quality, what they do with it and how much they inflate the price. Trying to get some of the kids to understand that a £40 designer t-shirt is as poor quality as a £4 supermarket one is hardwork.
The good thing to come out of the discussion was that I was thanked by one of the parents because her daughter had gone through the bullying experience in recent weeks. The fact that the majorty agreed that the expenditure was not worth it and that so called friends who could not accept you without expense clothes were, in a way, worthless.
That was a worth while Sunday afternoon....