YMCA camp

Laura has grown up a lot this week. She has been attending an all day Y camp, doing campy things like canoeing, archery, macaroni necklaces, swimming, and singing songs like "Black Socks" and "Hi, My Name is Joe". Its a bit strange when your kid learns silly songs that you sang as a kid. You have an urge to say "I know that one!" and steal her thunder.

The bus ride was the toughest challenge for her. I take her to a nearby middle school, where she gets on a bus with about 30 other kids, all ages up to 5th grade. Wow, 5th graders are big and my 5 year old is tiny! She (and I) cried the first two days because of the craziness and hugeness of elementary school kids, but she came home thrilled with the day, so we kept it up. Kim pointed out that she will be in the same situation when she comes home on the bus from kindergarten in a couple months. I guess now she's ready! The last couple days have been slightly better and the fun she has once she arrives at the camp seems to be worth it. No one has been mean to her or each other, as far as I can see. They are just big, loud, comfortable with each other and she feels alone, small, and confused. She's with a group of 4-5 year olds once she reaches the camp and likes to tell me about her new friends there.

The day is long. I drop her off at 8:30 and pick her up at 4 and she's outside the entire time. She's never done any group activity that long, and she's pretty exhausted and filthy when she comes home. That's part of summer camp, right?

So tomorrow is the last day and I will miss my quiet alone time during Adam's nap, but I'm glad to get my girl back too. It reminded me that our seemingly endless time together really will come to an end and there will be large chunks of her day that I won't know who she's talking to, what she's learning, where she's going. That's a big change for a stay at home mom! I guess that's life! She is so brave and strong, I think she'll do just fine.