First Year Scouts gone to camp

[sctmom]

This is one of those mushy Mom emails..lol.

 

Eleven years ago today I was bringing home a little bundle from the hospital. Yesterday I packed him up and sent him away to summer camp. I'm not sure who was more nervous, me or him! It was tougher on me than I thought it would be. I know that he will be well taken care of, just concerned he will get homesick or upset about something.

 

Found myself figuring out how long it would take me to go get him if they call me from camp. When the phone rang about 8:00 last night I almost jumped out of my skin!

 

The troop took 26 boys to camp, 14 of them new scouts. A lot of nervous boys and parents in that parking lot yesterday morning. A few jealous younger brothers there too.

 

I'll be going up on Friday night (Family night) and staying to bring some of the boys back on Saturday. Until then, I have to keep repeating "he will be okay, he will have fun, he will be okay, he will have fun....."

 

[OldGreyEagle]

Mom, I dont know if this will make you feel better or not, but dont worry, it never ends. On sunday I saw my 17 year old Eagle Scout off on a week long trip his Venture Crew is doing for Habititat For Humanity. They will be working around coastal Virginia in Craddocksville ( I think, close to Oley?. Just as nervous as ever (thats me, he couldnt wait to go). If you think packing them off is hard when you think they will miss you, wait until they want to leave you in the dust.

 

Then again, think about what the goal of raising children is, to produce self-suficient adults who can take a vital role in society. Unfortunately if we do our job they wont need us, but hopefully they will still want to be around us.

 

Here's hoping both the boys have a great time and come back better men that when they left.

[rlculver415]

Mom - I have to second the above. He is going to have a ball this week, you can count on it. As a scout mom, I know how you feel. I realized this summer that I was really getting carried away when I caught myself checking the weather online to be sure he wasn't getting flooded, baked or blown away. (The mileage and time I'd already figured out.) Oh, well, it's a parent thing... My father says you never get over it...

[sctmom]

I think the worst part is just knowing that I can't check on him. He spends the summer weeks with his grandparents and I never worry about him getting homesick there, even though sometimes he does. But I always know I can call and check on him.

 

I figured he would be glad to go by Sunday morning just because I kept reminding him of things -- "don't be left alone with an adult, if any of the boys talk about sex tell an adult, there are plastic bags for your dirty clothes, don't use all your shampoo at once, change your socks every day, yada, yada, yada".

 

He told me the other day that he was going to get a motorcycle when he got grown since I won't let him have one now. He said "and you will say "that's dangerous" (say that with a smirk). I said "yep, that was a rule of parenthood, when you were born I had to agree to say things like that, it's my job." So is worrying, that's my job, I'm a parent.

 

The scoutmaster was taking directions, notes, extra money, prescriptions, etc. from 24 parents yesterday!

 

Rlculver, thanks for reminding me about the weather! At least it is not tornado season, the camp got hit by one in May.

 

I would be a nervous wreck even if I had went with them. At least this way, no one else is subject to my panic except my pets. And I get to feel needed by taking a treat for Friday night -- satisfies that mom-instinct.

[Quixote]

Mom, i know exactly how you feel, we sent our oldest to camp yesterday (my wife and the 4 year old stayed home).

 

I helped the boys get settled in with swim checks, campsite, blue cards, etc. It was 9:30 before i finally left to come back home - i know that 1 hour of that was spent going to the opening campfire just to see the looks on the new scouts' faces when they were finally given a chance to relax with their friends for a while.

 

All day today i've been thinking about his schedule and what he's doing and how much fun he's having. I'll be going up on Wednesday afternoon and staying till Saturday morning so i'll get a chance to at least ensure he's alive .

 

Brought back lots of good memories.

 

They're not as fragile as we think.

 

YIS

Quixote

[eisely]

We have three sons. I always let my wife (30 years married to the same person today) do the worrying for both of us. When our youngest became old enough to go to camp, we breathed a sigh of relief, and stopped worrying.

[eagle90]

Sctmom -

 

It never will change! I am a 52 year old SM who will be leaving for camp this Sunday. When I go to my parent's house to say Goodbye, I will get the usual from my 74 year old mom - Be careful, Stay dry, Get enough sleep, etc., etc., etc. I've been hearing it since the firt time I went to camp as a scout back in 1961! God bless her!

[sctmom]

Come to think of it, my mom does the same thing. I went with my son's class on a 2 night trip a few months ago. My mother emailed me to remind me to take bug repellant and rain gear! I've only been living on my own for about 20 years, the last 4 as a single mom. But I can't blame her, she learned from the best. My grandmother was the Queen of Worry. Once we were sent home from school early because of snow, my granny called to see if our mother had gotten home yet, said to call her in an hour if mother was not home. Granny lived 40 miles away with no car. My sister asked what was Granny going to do if mother had not gotten home, Granny replied "Well, I can worry!".

 

Eisely, Congrats on 30 years!!!

[eagle90]

Sctmom -

 

I hear ya! Reminds me of my grandma! My mom tells the story of having to learn how to dress herself at age 3 because Grandma was dieing soon. The typical worry wort. Of course Gram lived to 94!

[eisely]

sctmom,

 

thanx

[sctmom]

I was contacted last night by my son's 2 grandmothers and his dad -- they all wanted to know if he had called, did I know how he was doing, did I know the weather at camp, etc. LOL

 

So, at least my son is well-worried-about.

[eisely]

It is good that they care. We all have seen situations where nobody cared about a kid. The kid seldom said much but it showed in a variety of ways, generally not good.

[sctmom]

Well they all survived camp. By Friday afternoon the ones that still had money were trying to bribe arriving adults into taking them home or at least let them sleep in the vehicles. They said the food was not bad and was plentiful. Yes it rained, really stormed. But that made it easier to catch the frogs!

 

When I arrived on Friday afternoon, my son was a pro at the ax, lantern lighting, fire building and frog catching. Also, knew his way around camp and was speaking to everyone he met as we walked (pretty good for a kid that the school says has social interaction problems). About 2 hours after I arrived he realized he was homesick.

 

A couple of boys had a very hard time with getting homesick. Lots of bug bites. Lots of wet and dirty clothes. Lots of dirty boys (showers? where? ummmm....I took one..uhhh...yesterday?).

 

As we were packing up Saturday morning the rain came. It poured, it didn't let up. By then most of the ponchos were lost or packed up. By the time we loaded up everyone was muddy from the knees down.

 

Today some of them are resting up so they can go to 4-H camp on Monday -- should be a piece of cake since they stay in buildings with electricity!

 

Oh and did you know that if someone is in the latrine, the ground around the OUTSIDE of the latrine is a good target. (eeewwww)

 

All the boys were so appreciative of the fried chicken and ice cream we brought up Friday night. Many were also very glad to see a mom, even if it wasn't their mom. I got to see a lot of crafts, hear about the best parts of camp and about what they were going to do when they got home. Showering was tops on most everyone's list. Even my son admitted that shower made him feel good.

 

 

[justmomof3boys]

Scoutmom,

You sound like me! My oldest son, 13 and almost a Life scout just returned from Catalina Island, Ca. (Camp Emerald Bay)on the 13th. this was his 2nd year at camp and I didn't hear from him once. ( a pro by now) He had a great time and enjoyed the letters and box of goodies I had sent (I mailed them a few days before he left) He survivied and I survived.

My middle son, 11 years old and a New Scout just went to transition camp this past week in our local mountains. it was his very first time away for an extended period of time with NO family. He called once but I wasn't home. My 13 yr old answered, asked if he was having fun and then hung up. (big brother's-ugh!) I figured since I didn't hear from him, he was having fun, keeping busy and NOT hurt or else I would have heard. We went up on Friday for family night. He asked if we were staying and I could tell he was homesick. He loved that we were there. He showed us around, introduced us to staff, etc. We didn't stay...hubby had to work. On the way home, he said he had a great time, couldn't wait to take a shower (he said swimming counted for getting him clean), and when I asked if he was ready to do it again he hesitated and then said "probably". I guess I should have waited a while to ask him. He also loved getting letters, silly postcards, and goodies. His grandparents even wrote and sent "extra cash".

Anyway, what I learned most about my sons is that even though brothers argue and pick, they really miss each other. With my sons' camps almost overlapping, they didn't see each other for almost 2 weeks. They missed each other I could tell. 2 days later things are back to normal!

I found out they had kept the boys soooo busy with activities, rank requirements, and duties that they really didn't have time to phone home. They were even begging to go to bed they were so tired!

 

Wishing everyone the best...

T~

 

[sctmom]

My son can easily sleep 10 hours a night. He said the adults would not let him go to sleep early! I guess they were afraid he would wake up too early. Haha -- they don't know him well.

 

The day after BSA camp I heard "well, next year at camp...." So, I guess he's planning on going back!

 

I sent my son a card last year when he was at his grandparents during the summer and he was NOT impressed. He said "Mom, you REALLY don't have to do that." Maybe if I included cash it would be more appreciated.