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ww: away she goes [w/linky]
yes, I let my 7 year old go to camp, so what?
Two things happened over the weekend that shows me how much Rachel is really growing up. These things also showed us how much we have grown as parents too!
“I’ll give you my email address to give to your new friends from camp. Or maybe we could just get you your own!?!”
I said these words over breakfast on the morning that Rachel was leaving for camp. I hadn’t really thought about it before that. Craig and I agreed that this wasn’t a bad idea. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we left to make her her own email address, but we will.
This will give her a little independence and a lot of responsibility. We will work with her to stay safe, but have fun at the same time.
Last night a comment on Facebook (which has since been deleted), really got under my skin. Someone posted that they felt that Rachel was too young to go to camp and that she couldn’t imagine letting her son go. Her son is almost a year older than Rachel. So because she is hesitant, she feels it’s okay to publicly question my parenting choices? I explained that I had gone to camp when I was 6 and Rachel is now 7 1/2. Her response was “would she jump off a cliff if you did?”
Give me a break!!
I would not send my kid to a place if I didn’t trust them. I would not send my kid to camp if she didn’t want to go. There are many things that I have done in my life that I would love for my children to experience but if they don’t want to then they won’t!
Why do I have to defend my choices for my kid? I don’t!
And if Rachel wanted to jump off a cliff, and I knew it was safe, maybe I’d let her! I recently jumped off a cliff myself.
And climbed up one (thanks to Ford Canada!) …
I can’t keep my kids in a box. They need to explore the world…with us…and without us. I can’t shelter her forever. By letting her go out into the world, it will show what successful parents we are, that what we have taught our daughters will help them be successful when we’re not there for every step….or jump.
big kids and little kids are a lot of fun! [w/ video]
What a weekend!! We had a tonne of fun with the “big kids” from our church and ended the weekend relaxing with our “little kids” (and there’s a video below of one of our kids).
Craig and I spent the weekend with 9 “big kids” from our church’s Senior Youth Group (grades 9-12). It was a lot of fun! We headed to Emerald Lake campground on Friday night. After checking in, the kids got to work setting up their tents and getting organized. We had a late dinner followed by relaxing around the campfire.Saturday was spent at the lake. They had huge, blow up water toys! There were trampolines, log rolling, teeter-totter and rock-climing-type thingy (not sure what it was called). The kids spent a lot of time trying to run from the big trampoline to the smaller one across the “moonwalk” to get to the smaller trampoline on the other side. A few kids were successful…but we all had fun trying to get across.
We also jumped off the cliff. That was a LOT of fun!!
Dinner was late that day with an even later campfire. A few kids stayed up chit chatting around the fire until the wee hours of the morning.
After a few hours sleep, we got up and started packing. The sprinkles of rain kept us moving because no one wanted to be stuck outside if it decided to rain harder. After a quick stop at Timmy’s we were on our way home.
Craig had taken some of the kids back to Oakville but I head to Niagara Falls to get our “little kids” who were very happy to see me when I got there. Once were were home, unpacked and took the trailer back to the storage stop (we can’t keep in our drive way for the summer anymore because some crazy person in our neighbourhood called by-law and they tried to slap us with some ridiculous fine.Fortunately, our friends down the street were having their Sunday night gathering so we didn’t have to cook! The kids played in the pool and we were able to relax!
I did hop in the pool for a bit and helped Rachel learned to dive! We started on one knee and after 3 times doing that, she tried from her feet! Way to go Rachel!!!
It was a great weekend!!
How was your weekend??
and come September I will remember our camping days and friendships true.
If you didn’t go to summer camp, or maybe specifically Girl Guide camp, you might not know that the title of this blog is a line from a camp song.
Linger is one of the songs that we would sing at the end of a campfire, especially on the last campfire of camp.
Linger
Mm-mm, I want to linger
Mm-mm, a little longer
Mm-mm, a little longer here with you.
Mm-mm, it’s such a perfect night
Mm-mm, it doesn’t seem quite right
Mm-mm, that this should be my last with you.
Mm-mm, and come September
Mm-mm, I will remember
Mm-mm, our camping days and friendships true.
Mm-mm, and as the years go by
Mm-mm, I’ll think of you and sigh
Mm-mm, this is good-night and not good-bye
Mm-mm.
Camp songs hold so many memories for me. We sang them while on a 10-day canoe trip through Temagami or while doing chores on site.
Last weekend I spent time with my mom and the girls camping. One night sitting around the campfire, Rachel started singing the songs she learned when we were up at Muskoka Woods for the weekend a few weeks ago. This led into me singing songs that I could remember from when I went to camp.
The memories started flooding back… singing “Keep on the Sunny Side” while paddling a canoe through Algonquin park on a 10-day canoe trip. Rachel’s favourite from our Muskoka Woods trip was “The Moose Song“. She and her new friends got to sing it during campfire. It’s nice to know that when she goes to camp this summer she’ll know a few songs but she will learn so many new ones.
I’m so excited for her! Rachel is going to get to do a lot of new things at camp this summer…more than just learn new songs.
On OurKids.net there is a nice article about singer-songwriter Amy Sky (one of my favourite artists) where she talks about her time at summer camp:
“Camp broadens your horizons, because you meet people from all over,” says Sky. “And it increases your confidence since you get positive feedback just for trying something new.”
And when she comes home from camp, she’ll have a whole new list of songs to sing, and a lot of memories to go with them.
Do you have a favourite camp song? What does it remind you of?
I’m an Our Kids Brand Ambassador because I love Summer Camp!
Our Kids is Canada’s trusted resource for everything kid – http://www.ourkids.net
gearing up for camp — teddy bears and all
With only one month until the end of school, the race to be ready for camp is on!
I’m sure parents everywhere are making lists and checking them twice! It’s amazing how much stuff one little person needs when they go away.
Rachel’s going to Muskoka Woods and they were very smart to include a list of “what to pack” on their webiste:
- Hat Bathing suits (no bikinis)
- Towels (beach and shower)
- Underwear and socks
- Pajamas
- Several modest shirts/tops and shorts
- Several sweatshirts and/or sweaters
- Jeans and/or sweatpants
- Jacket, raincoat and rubber boots
- Flashlight
- Sunscreen
- Insect Repellent
- Toiletries (shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant)
- Pillow Blanket/Sleeping bag/ Sheets
- Labelled water bottle
- Lockable suitcase or trunk
- Spending/trust account money
- Do not bring valuables such as MP3 players, jewellery or cell phones as Muskoka Woods will not accept responsibility for lost or stolen items.
That’s easy enough. And I would think that most camps are pretty similar.
Sunscreen and a hat would be number one if I was writing the list but I’m fair-skinned and sun isn’t usually my friend.
(And don’t forget to label everything — Mabel’s Labels – Labels for the stuff kids lose!® )
But Rachel has her additional items that she won’t leave home with out:
- China – her stuffed dog that she’s had since forever
- Books to read
- notebooks for journalling or doodling
The fact that she wants to bring China pulls at my heartstrings. Everywhere I went, my teddy bear, Knickerbocker, came with me. Every summer camp, every sleepover at friends’ houses, trips to Grandma and Grandpas. He was my best buddy.Knowing how much Knickerbocker means to me, my mom even smuggled him into our wedding.
So now my little girl is off to camp, and her best buddy is going with her. Guess he’s moving to the top of the list!
What items do your kids bring with them to camp?
What are your priorities when preparing for camp?
I’m an Our Kids Brand Ambassador because I love Summer Camp!
Our Kids is Canada’s trusted resource for everything kid – http://www.ourkids.net