Middle School Lock-In

Church lock-ins are always exhausting, especially for the parents who feel the moral obligation to stay awake the entire time, watching over the younglings like a mother hen. And generally the next day is a complete wash, as the better part of it is spent in bed making up for the lost sleep-time.

This lock-in was no exception, with the result that it is now Sunday afternoon and I'm still exhausted, and the kids are complaining that they're too tired to do any chores (yes, we have chores on Sunday!), and we'd all be better off by just taking naps this afternoon. But there are activities to attend this afternoon, and high school devotional time tonight, and no rest for the weary.

Adam, James and Deb had a great time at the lock-in, playing the games and eating the food and watching the movies and just hanging out. [Mary, as a pre-teen non-Middle Schooler, stayed home with Mom.] Adam and Deb at least had the good sense to take a nap when they were tired, sometime around three in the morning. James didn't nap at all. He kept asking me to run out to the store for him and buy him an energy drink. Which I didn't. Until eight o'clock on Saturday morning as we were leaving. And then it was donuts and drinks for everyone. Yep, donuts and Monster, the breakfast of champions.

While we were there, we watched "Monsters vs. Aliens", "Up", "Igor", and "Monsters vs. Aliens" again. Hoping that some of the kids would get tired from the monotony (and the darkened room) and fall asleep. Which some did. And some adults came close to falling asleep as well. But then there were those roving bands of young hooligans, just looking for an excuse to play a prank on an unsuspecting adult -- proving once again that one must remain vigilant around teenagers. I kept my eyes pried open with toothpicks.


James didn't sleep.


Deb found a cozy place to curl up in her sleeping bag during the movie.


After a couple hot games of Heroscape, Adam was ready for a nap, too.