Tonight Counselor Friend J came over to help figure out how to make duct tape wallets. We are going to do them as a project for activity centers at teen boy camp.

We found an instructional video. Counselor Friend J made leopard print, Younger Boy flame print, Older Boy hot pink, and I made turquoise. It was a good test to see if the boys at camp will be capable of being able to make the wallets.

What became very evident was the emotional and maturity levels of the boys in relation to each other. Both boys were working on wallets with us. Older Boy struggled a lot and Younger Boy didn't have much trouble. Younger Boy was able to do the steps after watching the video just once. In fact in many cases he was able to "work ahead". Older Boy struggled just to keep the tape from sticking together. He got frustrated easily.

To his credit Older Boy did not give up. When he first moved in he would have yelled about how it was stupid, thrown the roll of tape, and gotten mad. Last night he simply asked for help. He didn't always remember to say please, but he asked for help. He even thanked Younger Boy when he offered to help. This is generally cause for an explosion.

It was a blatant reminder of the paths these boys are on. It was a beautiful reminder of the little steps forward we are making.

Praises for progress.