A lot going on this weekend, both personally and in the world. It seems like that's the new normal. On the personal front, school has ended, and we are getting ready to send the kids to sleep-away camp. It's for two weeks this time, which they've never done before. I'm not worried about Lil' S2, as he's good in these types of situations, and he'll be there with a whole cadre of his buddies, anyway. But I am a bit anxious about sending Lil' S1 for that long. None of his friends will be there, and he's aged out of the little-kids section of the camp, so he won't even be around anybody he knows, family friends and the like, as they are all younger than him. Given the type of kid he is -- quirky, nerdy, sensitive -- it could go really badly if he gets the wrong mix of cabinmates. He's not into sports (the cheat-code for male bonding), so if the kids are really jockish, he might struggle to find people to hang out with, and if they are mean kids who cope with their own insecurities by belittling others, he might find himself a target, which would be really awful.
On the flip-side, navigating these types of situations is a social skill everybody has to learn, and it's much better to be the awkward tween than the awkward thirty-year-old. Also, I don't know if kids are mean in the same way they were when I was that age. So much of the bullying we see and hear about now is online, and the kids at this camp won't have access to their devices. Maybe that's one of the few good things about everybody being addicted to their phones now: Kids aren't as adept at being mean to each other in person as they used to be.
It's also possible, of course, that he finds a kid or two to connect with and has a great time. I should allow for that in my hypothetical visions. But that's not typically my way. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I'm a bit of worrier -- well, to a point, anyway. I'm sure in this situation once we actually drop him off it will be "out of sight, out of mind." Plus, S is like ten times as apprehensive about this as I am, so I've been playing it cool and reassuring her, so as to forestall a full-on double-barreled freakout. That's a thing I've learned about being a parent. It's really bad if you're both crazy simultaneously. Anxious times are much more manageable if you can learn to stagger your neuroses.
In other news, there's a lot going on in the world and not much of it seems great. Hopefully I'll get a chance to comment on it all (I have thoughts!) at some point in the not too distance future, but not now. It's a busy weekend. In addition to getting the kids off to camp, S and I have to prepare for a little kids-free getaway we have planned. We haven't had one of these in forever, so I'm really looking forward to it. We meant to do it last year, but we ended up having to go to Florida instead to help out with her dad. He had some sort of mysterious ailment and needed to go to a bunch of doctor's appointments and neither he nor S's mom drive that much anymore. (He was properly diagnosed and is feeling much better now.)
Alright, gotta go. The rest of the family is watching A Minecraft Movie, and even though I have little interest in seeing this film, I should join them. If I don't, I will be shamed by them for sitting by myself with my nose in my laptop instead of spending time with the family before the kids leave for camp.
Until next time...
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