The Kids Are Back!

There are few things I enjoy more than running the afterschool program. Yesterday, we re-opened our doors after the holidays and an ice storm. 28 kids showed up! We helped with homework, played games, ate spaghetti, and then cleaned up.

While the whole thing is challenging and rewarding, the highlight is at the end, where our leaders stay after the other kids leave and help us get the apartment back in order. Everyone grabs a cleaning implement (broom, sponge, vaccuum, spray bottle, rag) and gets to work.

Usually, we get about halfway through the cleanup before those with shorter attention spans start sparring, joking, and telling stories. The rest of us push through, and we usually take ten to fifteen minutes after cleanup to hang with the leaders. Sometimes we play games, and other times we talk about whatever comes up.

Yesterday, we addressed sports, the DREAM Act, and linear equations.

Every time the kids come back after some time away, it feels like our home takes on new meaning and our lives take on new and rich stories which are way bigger than we are.

Here's a picture from yesterday's clean-up time. I had to lean in at the last minute to make it into the frame: