The other day Catie asked which camps I did when I was a kid.
Finally.
Ever since my life-changing experiences as a camper at Camp Lone Star and a counselor at Mount Cross, I’ve been waiting to teach my kids about the value of camp.
But no. She wasn’t interested in my stories about singing praise songs around a campfire or high-element obstacle courses.
“You know what I mean…did you do ballet camp? Soccer camp? Computer camp?”
Of course. Because this is what a kids’ summer looks like nowadays.
My kids are part of Generation Camp.
Okay, so we do live in a kid-focused community where every intersection has those little signs advertising camps. Right between the identical signs advertising businesses that will pick-up the dog poop in your yard and clean your house. Which makes me realize…you know what my generation did during the summer?
Picked up the dog poop and helped clean the house.
But I digress.
I’m actually a fan of the camps. Of course I am, I have three kids under six and am eight months pregnant. Most days in the summer we’re looking for a focus, and camps are beautiful at getting us out of our pajamas and into leotards. And buns. As you can see by the picture, Ellie’s hair wouldn’t actually fit into a ballerina bun, but that didn’t stop her from twirling around all week.
Another benefit of camps is that I don’t want my kids to be too scheduled. Ballet class and Tae-Kwon-Do lessons during the school year can get hectic. We prefer the two hours for a week strategy–more time for them to be home picking up poop and cleaning the house.
Kidding. Kind of.
The week-long camp is a beautiful thing because it allows kids to try out everything from Lego-model building (not kidding) to ballet and without the six-month commitment and huge expense.
Don’t get me wrong. Camps aren’t cheap. Especially since our kids seem lukewarm on all of them. Exhibit A…Catie at the “Huge! Last! Day! Of Camp! Show!” Grandparents and daddies and siblings crowded into a recital hall to see everything the girls learned in the past four days where they did approximately an hour of dancing each day. In this picture, Catie is the next dancer to perform, and she’s…
casually picking her toenails.
I would like to say she’s just that calm under pressure, but really, she might be a little jaded about the camps.
I’m glad she’s off from camp next week…
the floors could use a fresh coat of wax.
