This lovely six year old girl is at camp this week.
I think I could likely write on this fact for hours. I will try to restrain myself. But not completely. And before reading this post, you might want to read this post.
As a family, this is our fourth year at the fabulous Camp Tanadoona. It's an awesome place, and our kids have loved the time they've spent at day camp there. However, this year when the catalog came in the mail, way back in the dead of winter when the ground had umpteen inches of snow on it and we were making the most of all nine of our degrees, Chris pointed out to all of us that there was a mini-resident camp for kids ages 6-10. Upon being asked, Elise responded without hesitation: I WANT TO GO. Not terribly surprising coming from her, especially when I think back to the fits she threw the year I was taking Jerod and she wasn't yet old enough to go (see the linked post above). Jerod's take on the situation was that he needed to see whether or not his buddies could go. He ultimately stayed home.
My response? Well, let's just say I was a little more on the fence. Six seems pretty young for this sort of thing; and when I was leaving her on Sunday, I was thinking six seemed REALLY young for this sort of thing. However, she was ready! She begrudgingly let us take the picture you see above, but all in all, she could not ditch us quickly enough.
I have talked before about the weirdness involved with leaving your kids at camp (again, see the linked post above). As a parent with kids at the ages and stages of mine, it is just beyond strange to have ZERO contact with them. My experience as a camp counselor does reassure me. I know kids love camp (what's not to love really), and I know the staff is well trained to deal with it if they don't. If there were a problem, I would be contacted. This is what I have to keep telling myself. No news is not only good news, it also likely means she's having the time of her life.
I know that opinions on whether a six year old should spend three nights at camp are likely all over the board. Ultimately I needed to be talked into it. I have a few thoughts for those of you who think I'm completely nuts.
1. You're right. I am 100% nuts. This is not up for discussion
2. No two kids are alike, and to make a blanket statement that no six year old should go to a camp like this would just be silly.
3. Parental fear is not a good reason to NOT let a kid do something.
(It's probably important that I mention here that I'm not writing this as a rant in response to someone who has judged me on this issue. I'm simply working through the oddness that is having only one child at home this week.)
I'm going to elaborate on number three a bit. I'm at a stage in life where I'm coming to the realization that I've probably let fear have just a little too much control over my life. Not that I'd change anything, and not that I'd really say that fear has ever debilitated me; but, in my life, I have trended toward doing what is safe and easy. I could go on and on, but that is a post for another day.
Thankfully, I have a fun loving adventurous husband who provides balance for my kiddos. I am thankful he brought up mini-resident camp and talked me into it, and here's why: I believe that there is some value in letting a kid take the plunge. Truth be told, Elise is too busy being her father's daughter to know anything about fear or doubt. I think that is completely awesome. She knew she could do it, and if I'd told her no, I'd have sent a message to her saying I didn't think she was capable. There's a big, bad world out there waiting to teach her all about fear and doubt; so I don't need to take on that task. My job is to say, "Yes you can!".
So, there you go. This is slightly deeper than my 'gee it's hot out there post.' My 2.2 readers must be completely dazed and confused right now.
Anyhoo... Elise is at camp. I hope she's having a heckuva time, but I can't wait to see her tomorrow!
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