• Keeping a group of seven 7-12 year old boys together for 2 hours while changing rooms 12 times (circuit training) is a challenge.
• Keeping your cool even more so 😉
• They are amazingly willing to please, as long as you tell them EXACTLY what you want them to do and why… Ok, so they still don’t always do it, but they’re a whole lot better than if you think they’ll figure it out by themselves (“When this training session is over, I want you ALL to wait for me at this door *points*, so that we can all go to room x – that’s the room next to the kitchen – in one group. If you run off, I’ll have to waste time coming to find you, and then we won’t be able to start on time and that means you get less time juggling/jumping/balancing/etc.” -> “this door?” “where’s the kitchen?” “Soandso’s missing” “hey! come back, you’re supposed to wait for the rest of us!” :)). I only worked this out 20 minutes before the end of the session. I was fed up of chasing them in 7 directions, round them up and herding them back to where they where supposed to be so I had a small headfit told them it wasn’t working and explained what I expected of them when we left the next room.
• I’m much more likely to cheer on the ones who are struggling, than applaud the ones who can do it first time round (may have to work on that..)
• Girls are more likely to make fun of my accent.
• I still can’t juggle.
• Or use a microphone properly – but I’m learning 🙂
• But I CAN still twizzle sticks in the air and catch them again (I think they’re called devil sticks? not sure)
• AND whizz poi about 🙂
• I can’t follow instructions (and there I was, thinking I was such a great leader-by-example ;)). My group and I had a ‘magic lesson’ involving a piece of rope and the instruction to “do EXACTLY what the magician said/did”… I only figured out why I was stranging myself instead of having the ropes fall off me when he explained it to me. The second or third time.
• I can survive standing in front of 130 odd kids leading the actions from the action-songs (even if I don’t know the words or half the actions ;)).
• I can also survive being one of the leading roles in a mini-theatre..
• My phone can’t play Youtube videos.
• Making sure 2 tables of 6 small people are kept fed and watered is a lot of work. The benefits are the extra icecream you get to eat 😉

So. I think that’s it for the day. I’ll keep you posted.