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She Said, Z Said: There Goes My Baby ... Off to Camp!
Z: Koss was really stressed about going to fifth-grade camp this week. How about you?
She: Definitely. My sweet boy went off to camp for the week, his first extended trip away from us. It made me sad.
Z: Oh, you moms.
She: You weren’t sad?
Z: Me? Don’t be silly. I manned up.
She: Truly?
Z: Absolutely. I mean — I had a couple of dreams where he got separated from his hiking group, was lost in the forest for a week, and was left sobbing while eating grubs under a pine tree as the coyotes circled — but I wasn’t stressed.
She: But ...
Z: And then I also had some thoughts that this is what it will be like when he goes off to college, and then you’ll probably die in some horrible bathtub accident, and I’ll be left old and alone and untethered, and I started thinking I better get some more friends and maybe a couple of hobbies.
She: You ...
Z: But stressed? No, not at all. Don’t be ridiculous. Not like you.
She: I saw my whole life flash before me when I waved goodbye.
Z: See? You’re completely over-dramatic.
She: I remembered when I started kindergarten ... when I went off to sixth-grade camp ... when my parents went to Tahiti and left us with the Mulders ... when I babysat my sister for the first time and she did a flip through the front door ... when I went off to college ... when Koss started kindergarten ... then when he had his first sleepover.
Z: Were you waving goodbye for the whole day?
She: I had flashforwards, too, like when Koss gets his first girlfriend and I have to kill her ... when his voice starts changing ... when he learns to drive a car ... then when Koss goes off to college and I’m a complete wreck.
Z: For all that, I think we actually did pretty well while he was gone. Fifth-grade camp is, after all, all about us.
She: I was impressed by us.
Z: I pictured a deathly quiet first dinner, where I would say, “Wow. I guess we really don’t have anything to say to each other.”
She: Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad. You’re even mildly entertaining.
Z: And we managed to go to a movie every night.
She: It was weird to see movies that don’t star Dwayne Johnson or Jackie Chan. The pacing is very different.
Z: A Single Man was beautiful, and Jeff Bridges gave a killer performance in Crazy Heart, but I’m still not sure if I loved them or if I wanted to take a nap.
She: It takes some recalibrating. But it wasn’t all movies and dinner. We also wrote the boy some letters.
Z: I sent him a fax. I love that he went to a camp so Old School that you could send him a fax.
She: I sent him 12 letters. How many faxes did you send?
Z: This isn’t a competition.
She: Clearly less than two. I can see why you’ll be old and alone after my bathtub accident — which is a ridiculous fantasy, by the way. When do I ever have time to take a bath?
Z: If you spent less time waving goodbye, you’d have more time for baths.
She: I should have taken some long baths while Koss was gone. Why didn’t you draw me a bath? And if you do draw me a bath does that mean you’re trying to kill me?
Z: Not until after I have more friends and some hobbies. If I bring home a model train set, be afraid.
She: The best thing is that even though he was totally stressed about it, it turns out that he had a great time.
Z: Shocker.
She: He painted his face with rocks, saw wild turkeys, took night hikes, got bead badges, and bonded with his whole fifth-grade class.
Z: Yeah, he had a great time. And we weren’t so bad ourselves.
She: Makes me think we should look into a sleep-away summer camp. In five years or so, when I’m old enough to handle it.
Z: Someday, we might even be able to deal with the whole empty nest thing. As long as he stays away from coyotes, and you stay out of the bathtub.
She: Yes, dear.
— How do you feel when your chicks leave the nest? Tell She and Z by e-mailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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» on 02.01.10 @ 11:20 AM
Like always, I can relate to this column so much. I remember when my boys went off to the tall ships last year. it was just a night, but we were all so nervous. IT’s good to know that others feel the same way.
» on 02.01.10 @ 11:34 AM
So glad to hear you all survived the separation. It’s only just begun!
» on 02.01.10 @ 08:02 PM
Clearly camp isn’t as dangerous as it used to be. I’m sure that when Zak and I went off to 6th grade camp there were seriously painful wedgies and all hot cocoa psycho binges. Makes rock painting seem pretty tame.
Glad he had a fun time!
» on 02.01.10 @ 10:05 PM
Camp is definitely not like it used to be. I remember being “supervised” only by high school students who were much more interested in flirting with each other than doing things with the kids; Ah, how times have changed!
» on 02.02.10 @ 12:08 PM
My camp experience was pretty free form too. Mostly I remember not showering for a week. Hopefully your kid came home a little cleaner than I did.
» on 02.02.10 @ 12:53 PM
I was imagining all sorts of bad things happening when my kids went to 6th grade camp, but it ended up being a really good experience all around. I sometimes think these trips are about learning—or at least taking baby steps toward—independence more than any prescribed curiculum. Either way, my kids always enjoyed themselves.
-Jen
» on 02.02.10 @ 09:31 PM
I know camp is great but when schools have to scrimp and save for paper and pencils is camp really necessary?
» on 02.13.10 @ 12:10 PM
Too bad camp didn’t coincide with the film festival. Then again, it sounds like you did pretty good programming on your own.
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