I've been freaking out about the prospect of summer camp for him. Partly because it's my nature to freak out about things like this. But mostly because deep down I don't want to send R to camp. My own limited childhood experience with camp, both day and overnight, was not good. SO not good. I liked spending summers at home with my mom and sisters and being bored out of my skull. I liked the laziness of that time. Of going to the beach nearly every day, of blueberry-picking in the woods near our house, of going to the library's children's events. Of doing nothing!
But R doesn't have that luxury. So, we have to find him a camp for at least seven weeks of the 10 he'll be on summer vacation. And, as I've discovered, camps around here aren't cheap! In fact, when I figured out how much we'll need to pay, it made me a little nauseous. Oh, and most of the camps run from 9-3. If they offer extended hours, that's extra. And, most of the camps aren't in our town, so we'll either have to drive to pick up/drop off in the opposite direction of our work commute or pay for R to take the camp bus (if there is one).
So it's a bit of a challenge. I want this to be a great experience for R, so I want to find him a really good camp that we can afford. Yesterday, we went to one camp's open house. Some of R's friends from his old school went there last year and loved it. And, there's a bus stop for it just down the street from us. It sounds great, although it is on the more expensive side. Everyone was so nice at the open house, the director made a point to come and meet us even though we weren't in his tour group, and R LOVED it. Now, he's basing his love on the fact that he got to play in the gym for half an hour, they gave him a free frisbee, and there's a waterfall on the camp property. His standards aren't that high. :-) But it is a beautiful campus (on the property of a private boarding school), and R was very excited that they offer swimming twice every day, once for lessons and once for free swim. I think it also helped that we ran into three other families that we know during the open house, even though the camp is three towns over.
This weekend, there's a summer camp fair that we're hoping to attend to check out some of the other camps. But we can't take too long to make a decision because, apparently, if you don't get your application in before the end of January for most of them, you end up on the waiting list. Isn't that crazy? I know we can make a decision by then, but sheesh. I don't need this kind of pressure! :-)
p.s. Last week during my afternoon off with R, I hurt my tailbone. Here's a clue how.
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