Lapwai, Idaho

Hi Friends,
I would like to apologize for being late with my blogs. My excuse is a logical excuse, I've been REALLY busy annnnd a lack of internet. So this Blogpost is  way overdue. We were in Lapwai, Idaho during October 29th-30th, see waaaay overdue. Our week in Lapwai amounted to our week in Arkansas during the summer tour. We however knew how to handle the kids better and stayed positive the whole week but there were just somethings that were against us. Loretta and I actually didn't meet our Contact (the person who brings us in and organizes the week) until Wednesday. We met with other people though which made it rather confusing esp since more than one lady's name was Teri and it was a bit unorganized. Lapwai has brought in Missoula before but it had been years so we were starting from scratch. No. Big. Deal.

Loretta and I have faced that before and we realize that some concepts of what we teach is out of the oridinary in some areas based on the type of discipline (or lack therof) the kids recieve. What seems normally to us isn't always normal to a group of kids who are used to throwing fits and THEN recieving what they want because whomever is tired of dealing with the issue. What we do is we provoke the kids with love. We tell them they have a choice and give them an option of either listening and following directons or sitting out. When a kid makes the wrong choice we follow up our words with what we said. Seems simple enough? You'd be surprised.

I've learned a lot about myself with this job two things in particular. One: This job is a great form of birth control. Two: WHEN I decide to have kids (which won't be for a very long time) I now know what the right and wrong ways are to being a parent. Trying to be their friend all the time doesn't work. Threatenng them doesn't either. It can be a fine line but telling a kid where you stand and then giving them options seems to work best. It shows that you mean business and have no time for tomfoolery. Just a little advice since everyone on facebook is popping out more kids than a bag of popcorn in a microwave. I just made that up. HA!

Loretta and I did have a lot of fun that week. Lapwai is a small town and we actually stayed in Lewiston which is the town right next door. We actually go to Lewiston later on in our Fall tour so thats fun. We stayed at this hotel that was right next to a papermill, a lovely view indeed. Oh and it smelled AWEFUL! We recieved a love package from our TAD friends Nicole and Kelly which consisted of Huckleberry taffy and Cowboy and Indian men. Hahah we definitely set it up at the local Wendys. They must have thought we were so weird but we figured that we would never see them again. Why not?!?!? That was kind of our motto the whole week so we did all kinds of weird things in public.

Halloween was just around the corner and Loretta and I got really lucky and bought Fairy Costumes for $10! Friday afternoon we thought it would be funny if we wore them in public doing just everyday things and acted like nothing unusual was going on. It was soooo fun! The looks on people's faces were priceless! Loretta was Sparkle the Magical Fairy and I was Sprinkle the Warrior Fairy. I had a sword. Later that night, after rehearsal, we put on our costumes and met up with some of Loretta's friends in Moscow, Idaho which is about 30 mins from Lewiston. It was fun and awkward but I mostly just liked being a fairy. One thing is for sure, if Sprinkle the Warrior Fairy was a parent the kids would have a choice of either following directions or face DEATH. . . . .

-Jen