The Tremors
Flash had an overnight Lock-In at church last night. Otherwise banished from All Things Great and Wonderful, I allowed him to go because it's an outreach effort by the church and he had at least three friends from school that were going by his invitation.
When I dropped him off at 8 last night we could barely get in the doors. Kids with duffels, sleeping bags (that they would never use), sleds and more were standing at the registration desks ready to sign in. I had barely handed over his permission slip when I heard a brief "See ya!" and Flash was gone.
I returned home to a glorious evening spent with the pets, a movie and the solitude of the house. Ahhhh....peace.
This morning I returned to church to pick him up. I arrived about 10 minutes early and was prepared to wait in the car thinking the kids would be embarrassed to be the first one picked up and surely would be savoring every last minute of the rock wall, the obstacle course, the game room, the snacks, the Wii's, the...yeah, you get it.
But as I pulled into the parking lot I saw many vehicles already there and leaving. There were students coming out of the church with their parents so I figured it was safe to go in and retrieve my child.
But I couldn't get in the doors. The kids were so packed into the entry way, waiting for any sign of their parents that you couldn't actually get IN the doors to get the child you came for. I began to wonder if it was a first-come, first-served and you just went home with whichever child was next in line.
I must have said excuse me a thousand times as I tried to make my way through the pre-teen crowd until I finally saw Flash coming down the hallway to the doors of the church. We thanked his youth pastor and made our way through the crowd once more to get back to the parking lot and the car.
I had to laugh at the sight and mentioned to Flash how funny it was to see them all clamoring for the doors, just wanting to go home. Flash was pretty certain, after pulling his first official all-nighter and lasting 27 hours, that they all just wanted a bed.
I'm not so sure myself.
As we walked out of the doors, I saw the sign at the registration tables that had posted the night before. "No Cell Phones". All the parents had left with their child's cell phone in their pocket. I think these kids were just in text-withdrawal and were not anxiously awaiting the arrival of their parents, but were starting to twitch and shake after not having been near their phone for the past 12 hours.
In either case, Flash was reunited with his phone AND his bed around 8:30. All seems well with the world for now.
When I dropped him off at 8 last night we could barely get in the doors. Kids with duffels, sleeping bags (that they would never use), sleds and more were standing at the registration desks ready to sign in. I had barely handed over his permission slip when I heard a brief "See ya!" and Flash was gone.
I returned home to a glorious evening spent with the pets, a movie and the solitude of the house. Ahhhh....peace.
This morning I returned to church to pick him up. I arrived about 10 minutes early and was prepared to wait in the car thinking the kids would be embarrassed to be the first one picked up and surely would be savoring every last minute of the rock wall, the obstacle course, the game room, the snacks, the Wii's, the...yeah, you get it.
But as I pulled into the parking lot I saw many vehicles already there and leaving. There were students coming out of the church with their parents so I figured it was safe to go in and retrieve my child.
But I couldn't get in the doors. The kids were so packed into the entry way, waiting for any sign of their parents that you couldn't actually get IN the doors to get the child you came for. I began to wonder if it was a first-come, first-served and you just went home with whichever child was next in line.
I must have said excuse me a thousand times as I tried to make my way through the pre-teen crowd until I finally saw Flash coming down the hallway to the doors of the church. We thanked his youth pastor and made our way through the crowd once more to get back to the parking lot and the car.
I had to laugh at the sight and mentioned to Flash how funny it was to see them all clamoring for the doors, just wanting to go home. Flash was pretty certain, after pulling his first official all-nighter and lasting 27 hours, that they all just wanted a bed.
I'm not so sure myself.
As we walked out of the doors, I saw the sign at the registration tables that had posted the night before. "No Cell Phones". All the parents had left with their child's cell phone in their pocket. I think these kids were just in text-withdrawal and were not anxiously awaiting the arrival of their parents, but were starting to twitch and shake after not having been near their phone for the past 12 hours.
In either case, Flash was reunited with his phone AND his bed around 8:30. All seems well with the world for now.
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