Confessions of a Summer Camp Wife

We are halfway through Overnight 1.

It's been so interesting seeing and experiencing camp as a camp wife and mommy--not an employee.

Tuan took over my program responsibilities when I "retired" and I now am privileged to vicariously live program through him.

I thought it would be hard and that I would cry a lot and all sorts of things would happen.

But it hasn't been difficult--okay, mostly not. I think it was harder during the year when he would come home and tell me about the plans and ideas and I'd help him, then cry.

The kids are keeping me busy. Prepping and teaching two Bible studies is keeping me busy. Hosting and baking for family groups is keeping me busy. Company is keeping me busy. And to think! I had these grand plans of a summer of leisure and projects.

Perhaps after Overnight 1 ends--staff training part two is really what it is--things will fall into a rhythm and I'll get more done.

Confession: one thing that is extremely difficult is keeping my mouth shut. All around me this week folks have been trying to figure out camp details. I usually do know the answers to their problems and queries, but I feel that I need to keep my mouth shut and be a wife and not a former pd. So, I sit and try to not speak up--IT IS SO HARD. There. I admit it.

I did speak up tonight. One of the breakers tripped on an inflatable and there were kids in it as it began to slowly descend.

I walked over to the guy running the inflatable and said: "this thing is collapsing. You should get the kids out"
He nodded at me like I was someone he might have once met and sort of expressed a non-verbal--"yeah, hey!"
"No, the breaker is tripped and the thing is collapsing."
"uh-huh" He continued his conversation.

I wanted to yell "ARE YOU NOT LOOKING AT THE JURASSIC VOLCANO AND PALM TREES WHICH ARE IN A DOWNWARD PATH OF COLLAPSE!? DON"T YOU THINK THAT IT WOULD MAKE SENSE TO GET THE CHILDREN OUT OF THIS?!"

But I didn't. I got Tuan and he flipped the breaker and the palm trees, dinosaurs, and volcano sprang back to life. I still don't think the poor young man ever caught on to the situation. It was funny.

So life is a good blessing of busyness. I am daily learning what my role here looks like (now) and am daily learning that it can pretty much change from day to day. It is absolutely wonderful and freeing to sit back and enjoy the benefits of camp life. Taking Johnny and Aubrey to programs and playing with them rather than running about, running them is just so much fun. Seeing camp through Johnny's eyes is a blast. Monday night we went to the Cabin's Choice event: he got a tiger painted on his face--this was a Very Big Deal. Then we took Tuan's golf cart for a ride and discovered the Twin Lakes Tour Company ( a hay-less hayride). Johnny was so excited and pumped up about the tractor that we followed it ("Mama! I see twactor!) and of course, took a tour of Twin Lakes. He was very serious the entire time, but I could tell he loved it.

Today was Wild Wednesday. We went to the afore-mentioned giant, Inflatable Jurassic Jumper and played with friends. Johnny ate that up, then after supper he got on the inflatable slide and probably slid down it twenty-plus times. He at his first ice cream Wednesdae with great sobriety and earnestness and was so dirty that we had to leave early for baths. After bath-time, I dressed the kids in their pajamas and we strolled over for the Goliath/Giant movie and popcorn. He was a happy kid.

Aubrey likes camp, too. I think if she could speak sentences, Aubrey would tell you that her favorite activity is hydration. She is seriously obsessed with the water coolers and cone cups. Since I refuse to fill her cup repeatedly, Aubrey has learned that if she stands by the cooler and acts cute and helpless, every able-bodied person at camp who passes by will take pity upon her and fix her a cup of ice-cold water. A seventeen month old and a cup of water=a very wet seventeen month old!

Aubrey also enjoys the basketballs and tries most earnestly to throw them at the basket. She's got a bit of growing to do before that happens. She does not care for the inflatables. When one has only been walking for a few months, solid ground is much preferred to shifting vinyl. She spazzed out when we first got on the inflatable, then would take a few tentative steps until the ground bounced, then she would run back to me. So cute.

This, dear friends, is a faithful account of all my dealings as a summer camp wife. When I complain tomorrow that I'm tired, you may all remind me that I stayed up until 12:30 writing.