I had a very busy distracting weekend. If you've already been to Reality's or December Baby's blog's you'll know why Sunday was fun. On Saturday Mr.C. and Mac and I wandered around the Toronto Outdoor Art Show and even picked up a few nice artsy things. We never ever get to indulge in non-practical items, so this was truly decadent.
Seriously, I'm so glad I've met great friends who will take my mind off my troubles. I haven't heard word one from my son at camp, except for one tiny postcard saying, "I'm alive" and unlike most other camps, this one doesn't communicate very much with parents, or frankly very well with parents.
For most parents in the stiff upper lip set, that's fine, but for me? Not so much....parenting after infertility & loss is always a different experience. I'll never just relax and kick back. I can't. For days now, I've been freaking out wondering if he's alive, happy, healthy, if they are following Doctor's orders, etc. etc. Turned out they were following some orders and ignoring others, sigh....so thank God I finally DID get hold of them. He's happy, but after I made it clear (issued orders, threatened, got pissed off) that he must be given extra food because he's underweight, they finally agreed to do it....what a joke, are they unclear whose kid he is?
Makes it hard to think about adult stuff, either job stuff, fun stuff, or couples stuff, which I'm putting in a separate post, so we don't mix our subjects. Hmmmmm.......
Yeah, the camp does seem to be doing an extremely poor job of communicating. In my experience, most camps these days are very solicitous of parents' understandable concerns about what's going on with their kid, especially since most kids are not all that good at writing home.
ReplyDeleteA lot of camps do things like set up a password-protected website and post pictures of the kids at their daily activities and have the counselors post summaries of what their groups are doing or email the parents individually about their kids. I'm sure you're far from the only one who worries about the lack of information and responsiveness.
Maybe this particular camp wouldn't be receptive to these kind of ideas, but if you're planning to send your son(s) to camp in the future, a camp's stance on providing and receiving information might be something to weigh heavily when selecting a camp.
Ooops, some how I got Kaz's note to you. Here it is:
ReplyDeleteDear Mom,
Thanks ever so much for sending me to this awesome camp. Did I mention it is totally awesome. I guess that I really lucked out and it has nothing to do with all your input.
I've been missing you so much, but you totally can't tell anyone. I swear that I'll deny it. I can't wait to come home and give you the biggest hug.
I'm totally filthy. The dirt is all stuck in my fingernails. That's not a big deal, while I'm at camp. Right? We're talking good germs.
It's amazing how much laundry that I've made. But it's not a big deal, because I'm just wearing everything over and over again.
Got to run and do something fun and really gross.
I miss you so much,
Love,
Kaz
xxxooooxxxxooo
PS Make sure that you burn the letter, ASAP!!!
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteSo sorry I have been absent for so long. I am trying to get caught up though. Glad you had a good time on Sunday. I am, of course, insanely jealous. :)
I remember so well the feelings I had the first summer Big J went to camp. It was so odd to have no idea what he was doing, if he was happy, if he was eating, if he was sleeping okay etc... It's so different than them going to school or being at a friend's house where you at least have some idea of what is going on.
ReplyDeleteBig J's camp does have the website thing where they post pictures and summaries of what's going on. I will admit to being obsessed with that website and scanning through rows and rows of pictures hoping for one shot of my son to prove he was still alive.
In the end, he did in fact have a wonderful time. He is going back in a couple of weeks for the fourth summer in a row, so I guess that says something...
I am more relaxed now, but I can promise you I will still be checking that website every single night!!
Thank god the camp finally got back to you. I couldn't imagine what would happen if they hadn't. I am glad he is safe. I hope you are feeling a bit better as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd the cone? Still waiting . . .
;)