The Difference Between the Two

I know, I know... you're skin is probably crawling in withdrawal! It's been quite awhile since my last post, but that's what happens when one suffers from a full social life. What can I say, it's a curse!

The Bean was at sleepaway camp this past week. Watching her pack was like watching Private Benjamin prepare for a week in the woods: new gold flip-flops with little heels on them, twelve different shades of lip gloss, hair dryer, curling iron, straightener... I asked if she remembered her swim suit and towel and was met with the scowel of a lifetime: "We don't swim, mom. Our hair will get ruined." Since I am Mom and therefore all-knowing and right all of the time, she ended up packing her suit. "So," I started, chest puffed out in righteousness. "Did you wear the suit?" "Yes, mom, okay? I did wear the suit - but only to stick my feet in the pool. I wasn't going to mess up my hair. Do you even realize how long it takes me to do my hair?" (Well, that was a week well spent with full access to a pool.)

Her daily schedule, as she described it, sounded something like this:

6:00 am - Wake Up. (Wait. You actually woke up? You never woke up earlier than 7:00 for school - and we had to leave by 7:15!) She explained it was more difficult to do your hair in a cabin than in a fully functional bathroom.

7:00 am - Breakfast

8:00 am - Back to the cabin to clean it... and to further expand on hair & make-up.

12:00 - Lunch

1:00 pm - Free Time... she usually went into another cabin of friends where they did each other's hair and make-up.

5:00 pm - Dinner Time

6:00 pm - Shower Time.... and then pick out what they're going to wear the next day and experiment with how they should do their hair.

10:00 pm - Lights Out


I guess I don't feel like I really missed anything by not going to camp when I was young....

***

Much to my amazement, Dotter also went to sleepaway camp! I dropped her off Thursday morning and picked her up Saturday morning, worrying constantly every second in between. What if she was scared? What if she got hurt? What if she panicked and no one knew how to help her? What if the other kids were mean and picked on her? What if her counselor shouldn't be around kids? What if she missed me? What if they went swimming and she was teased because she's still scared of the water? What if she almost drowns and then never goes near water again?

I need not have worried. I brought my cousin with to pick Dotter up, and the second we were spied Dotter went running up to my cousin, leapt into her arms and announced "I WANT TO GO TO CAMP AGAIN!"

Dotter's recollection of camp is a lot more detailed than Bean's. She remembered all the activities they did (holding snakes, picking wild berries, going down water slides - with a life jacket), all the food they ate (hot dogs cooked over a big camp fire, bacon for breakfast), all the songs they sang (with all the appropriate arm movements) and everything every young camper said for the entire duration of their stay...

Her excitement was contagious and I can't wait for her to go again next year!

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