TEACHING MOMENTS THAT IMPACT A CHILD'S LIFE
by Malcolm Phelan

There are countless moments that would far surpass the level of a “memorable experience” this week at Dragonfly. So many in fact, that this week has just been a blur of joy, adventure and happiness. However, there is one experience that comes to mind about how I was able to make a difference in a child’s life.

This week we had a shy, reserved child who spent a lot of time in his room. When I asked him about it he said that when he slept, time passes more quickly. The quicker time passed, the sooner he would get to return home. I was a little troubled by this method of approaching camp, so I told him that there is another instance in which time passes quickly; when you are having fun. Needless to say, he didn’t believe me and we walked on to the next activity.

However, as the day went on, he spent less and less time in his room and picked his head up, engaging himself more in his environment. He began to enjoy himself so much that his appetite doubled (a sure sign of childhood contentment), he started talking more and more, and he tried harder at every activity he did.

At one point after the ropes course, I turned to him and said “How long do you think we were there?” He stopped, tilted his head and said “twenty minutes?” After I told him we had actually been there for two and a half hours he said, “Wow, time does go fast when I am having fun!”