Post-Camp Exhale

Haaaaaah.....

As you may have guessed, that is the sound of me exhaling after my son's two weeks of sleepaway camp. Don't get me wrong. He was excited and I was excited for him. I was also nervous for him and hoping that all went well (aka no phone calls from camp). 

Just to recap, my very creative, curious, active, and funny son who is sometimes challenged by impulsivity, inattention, low frustration tolerance decided that he wanted to explore the opportunity and experience that is sleepaway camp. So that's what he did and we went all in by doing a full two week session. 

He's been back for two weeks now and we've both had time to reflect on the experience, the bumps, wins, and lessons learned. 

Lesson 1: "Mom please bring me sockes." (First letter home)

Before you write a letter home, double check your trunk to confirm that you don't actually have what you think you're missing. Needless to say, the sp Ms were packed in the trunk. Also, if you are writing with a request, you may also want to share a tid bit or two about things you're doing at camp. 

The win: he wrote to us

Lesson 2: Crochet, not croquet

It's important to pay attention and listen to the counselor slurs as they introduce each available clinic. My son ended up in crochet because he thought he was signing up for croquet. 

The win: he stuck with it, learned something, and actually enjoyed trying a new craft. 

Lesson 2: Cabin living is not without challenges 

My son experience homesickness the first night, but with the support of his counselors he got through it and was better the next day. Plus getting into a routine helps too. 

Secondly, living in a cabin means sharing a space to which you are all bringing different sleep and living habits. Hence letter 2.... "can I go home? it's miserable. Don't feel bad, I don't hate it. I haven't slept a lot lately. Someone keeps waking us up during the night." We received this letter four days before pick up. Our son going away to camp meant no extraction efforts would be employed regardless of sentiments expressed in letters. 

The win: he knows he has to figure it out since his parents won't bail him out at the first sign of discomfort and challenge. 

As concerned as I was about possible behavioral issues, my son walked away from camp having earned four beads for embodying each of the camp values: Caring, honesty, responsible, respect. #proudmommy

On top of the beads, he embraced many new experiences like sleeping in a cabin, fishing, crochet, polar bear swim (lake swim at 6am) and an overnight on treehouse. His curiosity makes him willing to try new things and, in this case, it's a good thing. 

The major win of the whole thing (outside of us receiving no calls) is that my son wants to go back next year and the next; he's even already starting thinking about wanting to be a counselor in the future and he'd be fabulous, if I do say so myself. 

Camp D-Day

Last Sunday was D-Day. Thanks right, the big camp drop-off day. My little guy is at camp for the two weeks. A destination two years in the making. 

My son proposed the idea of going to sleep away camp when he was seven years old had had been hearing kids at his day camp talk about how much fun they'd had at sleepaway camp. First, he asked about going the next year and I pushed it back one more and said we'd consider him going at nine years old. So, fast forward a year from his proposed idea. He hops in the car after day 1 of session 1 of his day camp and says:

P: "Mom, remember how last year you said I could go to away camp next year? Well can I go?"

Now, let's keep in mind that he can't remember to clean up his toys five minutes after I've asked him, but he can remember the conversation from a year ago. Typical. 

So, a promise of consideration is a promise of consideration. Plus, I wasn't opposed to him going, I just worried about some of his impulse control challenges and difficulties following directions, but we had a year to work on strengthening those skills. I wasn't sure what we were going to do about the him singing himself to sleep. That may just have to play itself out. So, I began researching. I cast the net wide to camps colleagues worked at in the summer, camps my students had attended, and ADHD camps. Brochures were requested. A few phone calls and email communications were had. Two site visits were done with my son in tow. Distance and costs mattered (i.e. The camp at the top of Maine on the way to Canada was a no-go for our first time camper).  Other than that, he got to make the choice. The site visits helped make it real for him and in the end he chose one of those, which I was glad about. 

As we drive the hourto camp, my son had what so many of us have experienced before - nervous excitement. He never admitted it out loud, but a parent knows. He was excited about this adventure and a little netvous about the unexpected. And like any parent on their kid's first day of anything new (school, camp, job, etc.), I too was nervous and just wanted him to have a good start, be treated nicely, treat others nicely, and make a new friend or two. 

Now, I don't really know how things are going. No news is good news in my book and calling the camp to check in, not my thing. I've seen some pictures from the first week on the camp photo website and my boy seems to be getting settled. 

What I do know for sure is the following:

* He's eating more dessert than he ever gets at home, so that's a win in his book. 

* He will ignore the self-addressed stamp envelopes and notes I included in his trunk despite receiving letters from home. (CORRECTION: we got one unsigned letter asking for socks, which were actually already packed in his trunk under his bunk; he provided no details about how camp was going.)

* He will have moments along the way and he will have to navigate through them

* He will most likely be dirty when I pick him up (he has plenty of underwear to offset the lack of showering...)

In the end, my son had an idea/goal, provided an argument for why he'd like to go, and now he's experiencing his first real adventure away from home. How can a parent not be proud? 😊