halloween turned out happy
tonight i did fear factors for riverside's dream center peoria. it's a blaintant rip off of nbc's fear factor, but for kids. it's basically an excuse to hand out loads of candy for doing menial feats.
sarah and i had the bear-o-phobia game. you throw hoola hoops around a stuffed bear on a stick. everyone won. every time.
we did that for almost two hours then we rode a bus to the taft homes downtown. the bus was half chaperones, half kids from the housings.
as each kid got on, we took their name down for a permission slip and then they sat down with an adult of their choice.
a little boy sat with sarah and my seat was empty. right off the bat i hit it off with sarah's boy. he wasn't wearing a costume, but his shirt did say something about candy giving him ENERGY!
his name was eric, too! so he thought i was totally cool.
...until he asked if i had ever kissed a girl.
to his dismay, i have. he covered his face like only a five year old can and told me i was disgusting. i assured him i wasn't b/c i play sports with other boys. he told me to never kiss girls and this seemed to be all that was required of me to be a cool eric again.
he liked my glasses and my hair. and he liked to play with my hair, but i told him his was cooler than mine. he thought mine was cool b/c it was curly. (it's not curly... especially compaired to his but whatever.) i showed him pictures of millie on my phone and he asked if she could be our dog. and he wanted to play sports with me. at my house.
once we got in we went through the maze that is the dream center (the old YWCA in case you didn't know). we got up the stairs to the two gyms and there was a police officer standing there, and erich told me he was afraid of the police b/c they were mean. after that the held my hand wherever we went.
he liked to play the games more than he liked getting the candy, and even picked a piece up to give back to the lady handing out candy (she gave it to him anyway).
he was thirsty so we got him an icee and sat down for the little children's church to start. once miss aubry started talking, he told me that his mom went to God. and that God's your best friend. he's nice.
erich's right... God is nice.
so then it was time for the bus ride home. his older sister was there and took his bag of candy home for him.
that might have been a mistake... he told me his sister probably lied and was eating all his candy right then. i really hope she gave it to him... i felt like crap after he said that. but at least he had that balloon i tied to his wrist... right?
we get back to the taft homes and it was time for erich to go home. he stood up and headed for the aisle and realized i wasn't coming. he got that little kid lower lip sticking out and said, "i thought i was coming home with you."
i wanted to cry at that moment, but i told him i would just see him later.
for some reason, our bus didn't just take right off after the kids were off. we creeped along through the parking lot at about the same pace a five year old with a balloon now tied to his index finger walks.
i yelled, "BYE ERICH!" from the bus window and waved.
as we stopped before turning out of the parking lot, i saw him run up to a door and go inside... but the balloon stayed outside... and i said, "oh... erich... your balloon!" like he could hear me from inside the bus. and then the door opened and shut about 8 times before the boy and the balloon both made it inside.
a hilarious end to a sad turn of events.
thankfully, i found out, he's a regular at riverside. i think i WILL see him again when sarah and i start doing children's church on wednesday nights.
and i'm REALLY looking forward to it.
sarah and i had the bear-o-phobia game. you throw hoola hoops around a stuffed bear on a stick. everyone won. every time.
we did that for almost two hours then we rode a bus to the taft homes downtown. the bus was half chaperones, half kids from the housings.
as each kid got on, we took their name down for a permission slip and then they sat down with an adult of their choice.
a little boy sat with sarah and my seat was empty. right off the bat i hit it off with sarah's boy. he wasn't wearing a costume, but his shirt did say something about candy giving him ENERGY!
his name was eric, too! so he thought i was totally cool.
...until he asked if i had ever kissed a girl.
to his dismay, i have. he covered his face like only a five year old can and told me i was disgusting. i assured him i wasn't b/c i play sports with other boys. he told me to never kiss girls and this seemed to be all that was required of me to be a cool eric again.
he liked my glasses and my hair. and he liked to play with my hair, but i told him his was cooler than mine. he thought mine was cool b/c it was curly. (it's not curly... especially compaired to his but whatever.) i showed him pictures of millie on my phone and he asked if she could be our dog. and he wanted to play sports with me. at my house.
once we got in we went through the maze that is the dream center (the old YWCA in case you didn't know). we got up the stairs to the two gyms and there was a police officer standing there, and erich told me he was afraid of the police b/c they were mean. after that the held my hand wherever we went.
he liked to play the games more than he liked getting the candy, and even picked a piece up to give back to the lady handing out candy (she gave it to him anyway).
he was thirsty so we got him an icee and sat down for the little children's church to start. once miss aubry started talking, he told me that his mom went to God. and that God's your best friend. he's nice.
erich's right... God is nice.
so then it was time for the bus ride home. his older sister was there and took his bag of candy home for him.
that might have been a mistake... he told me his sister probably lied and was eating all his candy right then. i really hope she gave it to him... i felt like crap after he said that. but at least he had that balloon i tied to his wrist... right?
we get back to the taft homes and it was time for erich to go home. he stood up and headed for the aisle and realized i wasn't coming. he got that little kid lower lip sticking out and said, "i thought i was coming home with you."
i wanted to cry at that moment, but i told him i would just see him later.
for some reason, our bus didn't just take right off after the kids were off. we creeped along through the parking lot at about the same pace a five year old with a balloon now tied to his index finger walks.
i yelled, "BYE ERICH!" from the bus window and waved.
as we stopped before turning out of the parking lot, i saw him run up to a door and go inside... but the balloon stayed outside... and i said, "oh... erich... your balloon!" like he could hear me from inside the bus. and then the door opened and shut about 8 times before the boy and the balloon both made it inside.
a hilarious end to a sad turn of events.
thankfully, i found out, he's a regular at riverside. i think i WILL see him again when sarah and i start doing children's church on wednesday nights.
and i'm REALLY looking forward to it.
I am surprised that Riverside had a Halloween event at Dream center given your head pastor's view on halloween all together. especially the handing out of candy. hmmm....
sounds like it was an awesome event and a huge blessing to the kids and those that volunteered!
Posted by
Anonymous |
November 01, 2006 9:23 AM