Camp and Mommy Camp

My big girl won't be wearing
that shirt much longer!

Kalina loved her year of preschool! Yay! And now she gets to attend a week of summer camp at the same place with the same teacher and some of the same kids! Double yay!

Kalina was excited, too, until the first morning arrived. "I don't want to go to camp," she moaned into her Grape Nuts. Yet I coaxed her into the car, promising preschool-like adventures (by which I meant quiet crafting and stories) and awesome snacks (like a cookie).

But when we walked into her old preschool classroom, it all looked different. And to my sensitive child, different, at this point, was not okay. She burst into tears when I suggested I'd leave, ramping up her reaction until she was the hysterical child her teacher had never guessed was behind that sweet smile, and I was the unprepared parent, virtually powerless to stop the storm short of giving up and lugging her home (or following her home, as she was pretty much already on her way).

At Grant's Farm with my
friend Allison, who came
for a visit, much to my
girls' delight!

Elise, by the way, was delighted to be heading to camp (although not so much when she thought I was going to leave). She dug into the first-day activities with gusto, oblivious to the fact that she was the littlest "camper" in the room. And so "Mommy Camp" was born.


My original plan was to grocery shop, clean and spend quality time with my littlest while my oldest crafted, sang and explored to her heart's content. Instead, Elise and I played for three solid hours in the busy kids' museum (we were both really over-stimulated afterwards) while checking in with our emotional roller coaster whenever it seemed like it would help. A mom friend of mine, whose child, also at camp and super-attached but not nearly so loud, helped spy on my girl so I wouldn't upset the apple cart by sticking my nose into the classroom at the wrong time. Despite the fact that my nerves were shot by the end, Kalina managed to complete Day 1 of camp and Elise and I got the quality time we'd been hoping for. However, Kalina let me know she was done with camp and would just stay home tomorrow.

Allison, Julie (and her baby) and I,
all friends from high school.

So, what to do about days 2-5? Should I force it? Isn't camp supposed to be fun? Wouldn't we all be happier if we wrote it off as a loss and hoped for better days ahead with preschool this fall? Everything from, "It's good for her," to, "But we already paid for it!" ran through my head. Still, I have to admit that Matt was the main motivation for me to keep going, and as he has a desk job, it became my job to be Kalina's motivation. At which I failed, miserably.

However, Daddy did rescue Monday night in a stroke of sheer brilliance by reminding Kalina she only had four days left of camp. "But I will miss camp!" wailed the reverse psychology victim herself. And she resolved to march herself right in the door the next morning and push me out. Thanks, Daddy!

On Tuesday, Kalina darted off for camp and I, hardly able to believe my eyes, carted Elise out the door for our second day of Mommy Camp. We began at a shady park that wasn't too hot yet, and split a peach waffle to make it festive (yes, the park was selling waffles). After all, she was at camp. Back at home, I hauled some old favorite toys up from the basement and Elise happily strew them across the family room as I accomplished a sizable amount of housework.

Orange, purple and blue popsicle
tongues, respectively.

It was a good day for Kalina at camp: despite some self-proclaimed ups and downs, she got to play in the vet clinic, and she made a pumpkin from an orange and named it Leaf. Nevertheless, she wouldn't be returning the next day. Or so she told me. We ignored the issue in favor of having a pleasant afternoon: continuing on the summer fun theme, we devoured some popsicles and ran through the sprinkler.

Day 3 of camp, Wednesday, was our all-time low. Fueled by an indecisive mommy, Kalina's anxiety reached an all-time high. As did mine. Once the eyebrow-raising  kicking and screaming were over, Kalina managed to have a blast "growing" snow, pretend ice-skating and making a marshmallow snowman. After delightedly growing her own snow at home, she informed me she wouldn't go to camp any more.

My cousin and his family came for
a visit, at Grandpa's house!

Mommy camp was tainted by my pounding heart (camp is not for the weak), but Elise and I managed to have a nice enough time at another park, the farmer's market and cleaning the bathrooms (which she enjoyed so much that she even refused to go play in the "forbidden" realm of her sister's room). By this point, while Elise had gotten used to the routine of dropping Kalina off at camp every morning, she missed her sister and asked for her all the time: "This would be much more fun if Kalina were here!" Usually I agreed--but not while cleaning bathrooms.

On Day 4 eve, after some discussion, Matt and I decided to keep going with camp. Clearly Kalina was having some fun, and clearly she had some anxiety issues to overcome.

And on Day 4 morning, I used my best assertive voice to put the kabosh on any thought of skipping camp, or whining about it, for that matter.

Enjoying watermelon with
cousin Anna
(matching shoes!)

And do you know what? It worked! Kalina readied herself for camp in record time, and held off the tears until we had arrived. Once she'd been pulled away in a hug by her teacher, she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Elise and I did too! We vacuumed the upstairs in time for a trip to "Tot Time" at the local pool. Elise loves everything to do with water: pouring it, drinking it, bathing in it, wading in it--you name it. Plus, it'd been hot all week. And after 15 minutes of sunscreening, we were ready. We arrived at the kids' pool about when the clouds did, and shivered through 20-ish minutes of playtime before warming up the blueish toddler in a towel and diving in for a little more. Elise splashed with her hands and feet, practiced swimming until Mommy was too tired of being stooped over holding her to continue, and waded up to her chest. She wasn't thrilled to leave, but quieted on the promise that we'd bring Kalina with us sometime soon.

Elise's new friend, cousin Mary.

We dashed home to change and then picked up our cheerful Kalina. Who insisted that she would definitely not go back to camp the next day.

On Day 5, Kalina's anxiety again got the better of her, but she cheered up quickly after we dropped her off (according to her teacher). Meanwhile, Elise and I headed out to a park playdate with a few girls roughly her age, and then to pick up gift cards for Kalina's camp teachers for all their extra effort this week on my daughter's behalf. The teachers really appreciated them.

After it was all over, Kalina greatly missed camp. But would she go back again if given the choice? She'd much rather attend Mommy Camp with Elise--and Elise was thrilled to hear it!