A Kind of Adventure

Ok, I know I complain a lot about how busy we are, but truly, truly this year and particularly these past few months we have been busier than ever.  I always think that when summer rolls around and school is out, we'll have more time for family, for rest, for travel, but we usually end up doing very little to none of those things while our schedule fills up with so many other things like covering for co-workers who are out doing those things, that by the time school rolls around again, we're glad for the break.  

Determined that one of my children would not sit at home alone all summer, face glued to a screen that's sending her all sorts of wrong and horrible messages, I asked if she would like to go to a week long summer camp I'd just heard about.  She didn't say no, she said, .....maybe.  I asked her not to think too long, because I'd heard about it late and the deadline was the very next day.  My daughter had just spent the afternoon bemoaning the fact that according to their social media accounts, all her friends were out doing things she wasn't invited to and she was stuck at home waiting for that invitation and feeling worse about herself by the second.  I told her as I will now tell you, dear reader, it is absolutely no one on the planet's responsibility to entertain you or give you an interesting life but yours.  If you sit at home, it's because you choose to.  If you're bored with your life, it's because you choose to be.  If you want adventure, go out and find it.  I told my daughter this, and later that night she came to me and said she'd like to go to camp.

The first couple of days went well, but by Wednesday evening a disaster was brewing and by Friday, there was no denying it.  I won't go into the details; suffice to say that she acted the fool and should be ashamed of herself although seemed vaguely proud, and I was thoroughly embarrassed because many of the people hosting the camp are also my co-workers and I could tell when I came to pick her up that disaster had indeed happened by the way their reception had gone from cordial on Tuesday and cool/hostile on Thursday.  By Friday, a camp instructor pulled me aside and kindly said that if I ever needed to talk, she was here for me.  Sweet baby Moses in a basket! There are some parts of parenting that I am never prepared for, and this is one of them.

It's harder to forgive, forget, and face my co-workers when I know all the shameful details of this meltdown, and forgetting in particular is what I really want to do.  So, I did not ask for details.  I would just like to move on.  Everyone does embarrassing stuff, everyone's kid does embarrassing stuff.  Mine seem to do more than their fair share, but I am still hopeful they'll grow out of it.  And, who knows, maybe a seed was planted here for my daughter that will encourage her to seek out new opportunities and maybe do better next time.  But regardless, she cannot say she had a totally boring summer, because good or bad, this was definitely one kind of adventure.

As for the rest of summer, I am still (perhaps foolishly) holding on to the hope that things will slow down at least for a few weeks so our family can enjoy some rest, sunshine, and family time before school starts up again.  And who knows, maybe we'll even have time to have another (hopefully better) adventure or two.