Parenting Column: This week – Vacation Bible School to the Rescue!

Ian had Vacation Bible School this week. Or VBS as the cool kids say. He was there last year as well but this year was a big difference. He is now old enough to participate in everything and the crafts he brought home look a lot better too. His skills are improving.

The theme this year was ‘Pandamania.' Panda’s everywhere, bamboo everywhere and lots of tie-ins everywhere as well.

This was a good break from the first two weeks of running errands and swimming at the pool in the morning and crashing for a nap in the afternoon.

Our involvement actually started last week. Amanda and I drove around looking for goodies on a list for snacks for the week. Apparently people give you a funny look when you buy 25 boxes of blue Jello at one time. Amanda found those. I found some of the extremely specific cheese crackers and rainbow cookies that were needed. All of this went into making the story and theme related snacks for the kids throughout the week.

The first day started off a little funny. Monday morning while dropping Ian off for his first day I ran into a guy I knew from way back when. After our initial pleasantries I reminded him that he once prided himself as being an agnostic. He said, “Things change and kids change YOU!” He and his wife were trying this out. I didn’t see him at all for the rest of the week. His wife must have done most of the pickup and drop off duties. Hope I see him again soon to see how his daughter liked VBS and how he and his wife did as well.

The first things the kids get when they walk in are a name tag and a shirt. When it comes to Ian the oversized shirt goes on immediately. He won’t take the off one he wore in; he just wears two for the day. Ninety degree heat or not, he’s wearing both don’t try to talk him out of it – just make sure he stays hydrated. 

Nate and I stayed for the first 15 minutes every day. Nate loved hearing the songs and seeing all the kids getting involved. He even danced and swayed when he was feeling the beat and got into the groove.  Nate and I then had some one on one fun time and then an errand or two. We came back to early everyday to pick up Ian so Nate could see the last 20 minutes of songs and have some more fun.

Thursday was the last day. All the groups came together for the final half hour to hear what some of the other groups had done. Sounds like the middle school kids had the most fun. They spent the night at the Atlanta Zoo. They were able to roam free for a little while, or at least got a private tour before the zoo was open to the public. Sounded like a lot of fun for all.

Everything ended with a nice picnic lunch. Since it was so hot outside the blankets were brought inside and we had our sandwiches on the floor of the Great Hall. Much better idea.

As we were leaving Ian said he wanted to come back next week. I told him we’d be back at the pool for pre team, we’ll just have to wait until next year. I also told him that Nate would be there next year with him as well. Ian said that it sounded like fun for both of them. I was thinking that will be fun for daddy too.