Sam (almost 12) went away to camp this week. It was just for three days but it was a first for all of us. It was with a school group so he knew a lot of the kids there from school and it was held at a YMCA camp somewhere in Pennsylvania, in the Poconos. I don't really know what the Poconos are...mountains maybe? Anyway, I held my anxiety level down as much as possible as I'd had 6 months to get used to the idea of him going off to camp. I didn't even cry when I dropped him off at the middle school to get on the camp bus. Yea for me!
All that first evening I kept saying out loud, "Sam's fine, don'tcha think? I'm sure he's having a good time, right? He's not in a cabin full of bullies who are playing mean pranks on him, surely, right? Sam's OK, right Dave?" Poor Dave. He put up with me very well.
First thing the next morning, we get an email from the town "announcing" that there had been a tragedy the night before. A boy in our town was practicing with his recreational football team and collapsed shortly after the warm-up and died on the field. It was his 13th birthday and his mom was at home during the practice making his birthday cupcakes. Holy Cow. My heart goes out to this family. We live in a small town, relatively speaking, and everybody knows each other. Luckily we haven't lived here long enough to know this family but it has really hit the town hard.
ANYWAY, shortly after I read the email (and by shortly I mean within minutes), I get a call from the nurse at Sam's camp! I almost started hyperventilating but she immediately told me that everything was fine but that Sam had had a headache the night before and she had given him a Tylenol. They are supposed to call and ask permission first but since it was late at night she took the liberty of giving him the Tylenol and called to "report" it to us in the morning. She said that he was feeling fine now, was having a great time, and was a really nice kid. Whew!!! Crisis averted; it was only a headache.
We made it through the next two days (Caleb and Peter REALLY missed Sam; it was kinda cute) and he came home today. He had a grand time and said the days flew by. He felt like he'd only been there one day instead of three. They did all kinds of fun things: rock-climbing, canoeing, skits, survival training (building shelters), pillow fights, s'mores, etc. I don't think he missed us one bit; I don't think he had time to even think about us!
Anyway, I asked him about that first night with the headache and he has NO idea what I'm talking about. He swears up and down that he never had a headache, he never saw the camp nurse, and that he was never given any Tylenol! How weird is that? So now I'm thinking the nurse reported to the wrong parents...she distinctly said Sam's name and she even called Dave at work (when I didn't answer at first) and Dave said that she said Sam's name, too. Now I'm wondering really just how organized and professional WAS this camp? How competent IS this place? I'm gonna try not to think too much about that now. Especially since Caleb will be going there in two years. I'm sure it'll be fine...right?!?!?
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3 comments:
hahha! I love how you question the integrity of the camp and then say....but Caleb will be going in two years! te he! Totally cracked me up.
But in a way...that really was a sad post shels. For real. You were pulling at the parental heart strings with that one. It's like....you just can FEEL through the computer waves the devestation of having to have your kids grow up. Eeek! NOT. READY. FOR. THIS!
I'm proud of you! You're making some major headway with your.... issues! I bet he had a fantastic time. He's probably thinking: Who knew life could be so fun?! Heehee
I am sure it is just fine. Always tough to send them away not knowing what they are doing. I like to have a mental picture of the place and when I don't it drives me crazy like I dropped them off at the end of the world.
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