6TH GRADE CAMP - lessons learned

The PJ party on Thursday night made it all worth it!

I wish I could have called her.....

Taylor is always happy by the animals

Grandfather Oak - it survived the fires in 2002

It was a hard week for me (and Taylor - but keep reading).  I knew that I would miss all of her help at home but I had no idea how much I would miss her.  I can't tell you the number of times I went to tell her something and it would hit me that she wasn't there.  It was so weird for me to not have any contact with her.  Actually I really didn't like it.  :)  It was a long week.  I just kept hoping that she was having a great time.  Taylor doesn't even like spending the night at her grandmas - light bulb moment maybe 6th grade camp might be too much for her.   I kept thinking that if I didn't get a phone call that was a good thing - that meant that Taylor was doing OK.  Little did I know that even when your child was bawling and yes she had some sad moments - that they would not let the kids call home. She said the kids kept asking her if she was sunburnt and she would have to explain that no she had just been crying a lot.  Luckily one of Taylor's teachers was coming down on Wednesday for a conference and she called me.  She told me that Taylor was having a very hard time and asked if I could make her a care package.  Mom panic/guilt/pain/fear/more guilt etc immediately set in and I immediately tried to find my supermom hat - the hat I somehow keep losing even though I set out every day with it squarely on my head.....Once I found the elusive supermom hat I tried to channel what all the best mom's would do, sew a picture quilt in 20 minutes, make a scrapbook, make a fully edited family video etc.  So once again the supermom hat slid off and I decided it was time to head to the toy store which can ease many tears and assuage a guilty mom in moments.  Since Taylor LOVES school supplies I found a few cute school supplies, we all wrote her  a letter and made a tiny candy gram and wrapped it up as inconspicuously as we could so other kids wouldn't be sad.  Once I realized that I could not wear my supermom hat without help Iimmediately turned to the one who can help me the most - I said a quick little prayer and a thought immediately came into my mind that I should put a picture of the Savior on one side and tell her that even thought she feels alone that really she is never alone.  I wrote her a letter saying that even though we can't physically be there with her that she isn't ever alone as long as she can pray and ask for help.  I hoped that the package would help her get through the last 2 days but I still didn't think it was that bad because if it was she would call.  It wasn't until I picked her up that I realized how hard it was (on Wednesday) and that the camp counselors told her to "suck it up" and wouldn't let her call home.  Now this was the camp counsellors not her teachers.  Her teachers were wonderful.  They gave her a lot of pep talks and brought faith and courage into the equation until it became a challenge to stay.  They also helped her switch cabins to be closer to her friends which made i much easier for her.  She ended up having a lot of fun the last 2 days and was very glad she stayed.  We were so excited to see her Friday afternoon.  I couldn't stop hugging her.  It was great to get caught up, see all her pictures and keep hugging her.  She told us some fun Indian Legends and about some new friends she made. To sum it all up I asked her if she would do it again if she had the choice.  She said "no but I am glad I went...."  Lessons learned.