Monday, July 8, 2013

muddy socks

My 6 year old....my first born, my sweet, shy, and anxious darling boy went off to his first experience at camp. It's a day camp, so there are no cabins, overnights, or homesickness to deal with. But he was nervous, and unfortunately, it rained all....day...long while he was there. I was a mess. Lily and I missed him terribly and took to doing housework and cleaning rugs and mopping floors and washing sheets while we counted down the hours until we got to pick him up. Frankly, we didn't know what to do with ourselves. I watched the clock closely, and would often announce to Lily how many hours were left until we got to go get him. And the storms. They weren't too bad. But it rained and thundered all day, until the last hour where the sun came out and it got horribly muggy and humid out. I worried about him. If he were having a good time. If he was making friends. If he was being too reserved or shy. I worried if the storms were frightening him. And I cleaned. And kept my phone close by all day, just in case they called me to say he was ready to come home early.

But 2:30 came and it was time to leave to go get him. We got there...early, and there the kids were, playing in the grass waiting to be picked up. I could see Jonah, in his green raincoat, backpack on his back and rain boots in his hand. In his hand? Why wasn't he wearing them?

I pull up to the front of the line and tell them his name. They call it out and he comes running.

He is covered in mud and paint from his knees down. His shoes were sopping wet. His socks were muddy. He was all smiles.

He climbed in the car SOOOOOO excited to tell me about how they tie-dyed shirts and played frisbee and dodgeball in the rain! And threw rocks in HUUUUUUUUUGE puddles. And his counselor, Trinity gave him a white bracelet! And he won a pink bracelet for a game of tag! OH, and he barely ate any of his lunch. But wait, he did eat his fruit snacks. And he made SOOOOOO many pictures he just couldn't wait to show me! He made friends. And he had a great time. Oh, and it only thundered like ONCE.

And that was that. He had an amazing time. And I missed him an amazing amount. And i got to spend my evening washing his camp clothes and shoes and rearranging his backpack for tomorrow. I made his lunch and snack and got his water bottle ready. So he can do it all again tomorrow.

Growing up is fun.

But letting your kid grow up is hard.

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