Hot Mess Mom » Family, Travel » Happy Camper?
Happy Camper?
Number One is going to camp for the first time ever.
I never went to camp. Well, I did go to camp once when I was in high school but I got kicked out for drinking and smoking and was banned from all YMCA sponsored camps or activities for the balance of my youth. So, let’s just say I never went to camp.
My complete camp impressions have come from Meatballs. That is honestly what I think camp is like. And, of course, I think that is awesome! Panty raids and sneaking out and paddling across the lake to the girl’s side (I guess in my camp impression, I am a boy.. I’m pretty sure I’m Bill Murray). Awesome counselors who encourage the kids all day… help the weakling win the race… then drink around the campfire, bitch about the asshole kids and sing.
We are the C.I.T’s so pity us
The kids are brats, the food is hideous
We’re gonna smoke and drink and fool around..
We are the North Star C.I.T.’s..
And that is totally the type of camp Number One is going to.. I mean, I’m not sure about the panty raids but it’s a camp in the mountains of North Carolina– 400 acres with a huge lake, canoeing, riflery, archery, art, drama, water slides, zip lines, rock climbing, horseback riding, relay races, campfires, those big puffy things that you put in a lake and then jump on and send others soaring– do you know what I’m talking about? Never mind.. but it’s really cool….
Anyway.. it’s exactly what my mind’s eye says summer camp should be. And I am so flipping excited. I totally wish I was going.. I really do. I told him last night :
OMG.. I soo want to go.. I seriously wish I was going.. I mean, not as your mom… but as a 12 year old girl…. it’s exactly the kind of camp I’ve always dreamed of.. and then I could meet you and we would be friends. and you are pretty cute.. maybe you would be my first kiss.. oh wait..this just got creepy, huh?
Ya think? Please stop talking.. you are grossing me out.
Okay. I’m sorry.. that was weird. but I still wish I was going.
Noted.
So, I’m packing all of his stuff and writing “Number One” on all of his t-shirts and undies… I spent $104 at The Dollar Tree buying stuff for care packages to send him (the camp is 6 days). I may have gone overboard. And this also may be why Seven thinks I spend too much money on stupid shit. Whatevs..
I’ve never not been with my kids for 6 days.. I think the longest I’ve ever left them was 4 nights.. maybe 5.. but they were with my parents and I talked to them every day. This is 6 days of silence. Well, not silence.. I’ll still have the other two, but ya know what I mean.. 6 days of no correspondence from my eldest.. No way to ask if he’s having fun.. no 5 minute recaps of the day.. nada.
And he is not a journal keeper. Or letter writer. Or even a good communicator. When I pick him up I’m pretty certain he will say “it was so fun” and that’s all I’ll hear about it.
I have to keep reminding myself..this is about HIM, not ME… but it sure FEELS like it’s about me… I really want to live vicariously through him… at least for 6 days…
I want him to make friends that he will keep in touch with forever.. I want him to count the days til next year. Omg.. I want him to be Adam Sandler in grown-ups.. so make that TWO impressions I have of camp… Meatballs AND Grown-ups… OH! AND Indian Summer.. I loved that movie too.. another one about adults going back to relive the glory of camp!! I apparently have serious camp envy.
Question: Do your kids go to camp? Did YOU go to camp growing up?? I’d love your comments/ thoughts on this!!
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It’s called a blob! I love blobbing!!
I went to camp once. It was horrible. I don’t know if that will be something for my kid(s). Sorry…totally a Debbie Downer on this one. lol
Ahhh, I just wrote 6 paragraph and lost my comment. Will reply again later tonight. Bottom line: Sleep away camp rocks!
I went to camp for the first time when I was 10 and it was for a month. I LOVED it!!! Now my son wants to go and he is only 8, but I’m going to let him go next summer for 3 weeks. I know it will be so much fun for him and great for him to be independent.
I never went to camp, but always wanted to. My linked my favorite camp movie’s imdb page as my website. Happy Campers. Maybe while Number One is off having a blast you should marathon some terrible camp movies. Sleep Away Camp (80′s B Horror), Heavyweights (90′s awesome kids movie along the lines of Mighty Ducks), Parent Trap, any Friday the 13th… There are probably a crap ton more but those are the ones I thought of off the top of my head.
I never went to camp but, my kids (both 12) are currently at camp for 2 weeks. It is their third year going and they look forward to it all year long. They think it is the best two weeks of their lives every. single. year. I was so nervous the first year and now I’m just jealous that I can’t go too! They have made great friends, learned indepedence and made some wonderful memories.
My son went to a local Christian camp a couple years ago because they had awesome activities. He said he really liked it except for “all the bible stuff”. And when they’d sit around the campfire talking about the bible, he told them we were Buddhists and he didn’t have anything to share. We aren’t Buddhists. But he made me a wicked cool chain mail link bracelet.
I went to a sleep away camp in NC the summer between 5th and 6th grade years. I was so homesick that I could not see straight. It was for 3 weeks though…but I was kind of a wimp. To top it off, my Michael Jackson cassette tape broke…it was my favorite tape to listen to on my walkman…and I was devastated. Mom had to fedex me another one. Number one will have a great time…I was just a wimp. Just make sure that his MJ CD is working. LOL
The only camps I went to were Camp Wewa weekend retreats in HS and Dance Camp in HS. Zachary is returning to overnight camp this year after a year hiatus. He had a great time the first time he went, but got sick the second year and it has taken me a while to convince him to go back. I am sure Number One will have a great time.
I went to sleep-away camp in Hendersonville, NC for either four or eight weeks for every summer of my childhood. It was the absolute best times of my life. It is where I had my first kiss, my first beer, and smoked my first joint. When I was a CIT and Counselor it was where I first used a fake ID and went clubbing! It’s where I caught fireflies, had color war, did panty raids and shaving cream fights and snuck over to boy’s hill. I would not trade those experiences for the world. Sometimes, I still have dreams that I am at Camp Pinewood. My best friends in the world went to camp with me.
But, my kids haven’t really gone to sleepaway camp (Leyton went for a week last year – but I really think anything under a month doesn’t count). We’ve had summers together to hang and travel and swim and just be a family. Looking back, I never had those summers (my parents both worked, anyway) and I’m really sad about it.
As with everything, there’s a downside too.
Also, I know the Camp Pinewood lyrics to every song made in the late 80′s – early 90′s. If you’re lucky, one day you’ll be near me when one comes on and I can really belt it out for you.
I went to sleep away camp once for a week. It was in the mountains, I was with a bunch of friends (I think I was 10 or 11), and I was not homesick at all. I remember having so much fun – the cookouts, the latrines, the s’mores, playing in the river, the outdoor showers, the campfire songs, the ghost stories, the fun crafts, and the spiders. Spiders freaking everywhere. Ugh. But I loved it. I bet Number One will too.
All my kids went to camp This is my youngest last year 4 weeks…They all went 2 weeks This is the first 4 week They all loved it!!!!
They have camp Friends that went back every year and they still keep in contact with!!!
I went to camp once when I was little Girl Scout but my mom had to come get me cuz I was scared and crying!!! So I never went to camp again!!LOL
Conclusion: Sleep away camp rocks for the kids and the parents. Growing up, we spent every day at the beach, that was our camp. My husband was sent away to camp at 8 years for 6 weeks every summer, WTF? He said “That’s what Jews do!” Whatevs. My 11 year old son is going for 3 weeks, my 9 year old, 10 days leaving Tuesday. They are psyched!!! This will be their 3rd summer. It sounds like our camps are similar. My heart broke and I cried as their bus pulled away, coming back to an empty house was strange. I got very used to it
Their camp has pictures put up every night online of their activities and believe me, I trolled thru every one of them and screamed with delight when I saw them. We can also send care packages (very important!) faxes and emails get handed to them every night. It is truly a gift of independence you are giving Number One. My guess is he will come back saying he wished he stayed longer!
Just picked my daughter up from camp yesterday. It was harder leaving her camp then her first day of Kindgarden. Total surreal feeling. It was the longest week of my life lol. She had a blast. It taught her tons of Independence ans she loved it.
I went to camp. Once. It was horrible. But here’s hoping your little guy has a blast!
I went to camp almost every summer from age 10 all the way through college and I loved it! I am still friends with some of my camp buddies. When my daughter is old enough (she’s 2 now) she will definitely get the camp experience. Number One will have a blast and will make memories he will keep for a lifetime.
I went to church camp a few times when I was in middle school. Loved it. We went to the Ozarks it was sooo much fun. I knew all the kids I was going with. We already had friends and made new ones when the other groups got there. It really was a blast.
I also went for a week when I was younger to a girl scout camp and it was HELL. I was too young..maybe 8or 9. The girls were mean and I spent most of my time in the infirmary with the nurse saying I had a headache.
None of mine have gone to camp. They haven’t asked and I haven’t pushed it. You seen those prices now?! Holy crap! I mean mine did go to DAYCAMP at the Y last year…and it was affordable…if you have ONE…but TWO…that’s more than my house pyment a month!! Little hated every minute of it. He went because he had to. I was in school everyday all summer long and he wasn’t old enough to stay home alone (IMHO)…so off to camp he went. The director let him hang out and watch tv in her office a lot. He was just miserable the whole summer and that was just DAYS…Don’t think I want to try overnights.