The kids spent this past week at "camp". Ok, so it wasn't exactly a camp. It was, in fact, a group babysitting program for the children of parents attending the Enki Education Early Childhood Homeschooling Conference. But to the kids, it was camp. The conference was held at an honest-to-goodness camp in New Hampshire, and we stayed in a cabin and were served meals in the dining hall and had activities at the rec hall and swam at the lakefront, and did crafts and outdoor games with a dozen or more other rollicking children. So, heck, why NOT call it camp?! (My boys are the two on the right in this photo of the 4-amigos, all wearing the tie-dyed shirts they made in "camp" -- see, another camp activity!! The best news about my boys hooking up with this pair of brothers is that they live in RI -- totally doable for occasional playdates and get-togethers!)
The kids spent the week gallivanting around the camp, painting, making candles, tie-dying, doing circle, listening to stories, and spending free play time in nourishing indoor playspaces like the one in this photo. Several days they were able to swim in the lake, although the "swim every day" plan was put aside when it decided to rain for three of the days. But that's OK, there was plenty else to keep them occupied!
Not unexpectedly, we had our challenges. Zoo Boy's sensory issues came gushing to the surface on occasion (but the set-up was flexible enough to allow him to join me in the adult session during those times he couldn't handle the camp setting) -- he wasn't able to handle the smell of the disinfectant they used in the playspace, so whenever they cleaned, he needed to be removed. And the combination of having to wear water shoes (which of course allow sand and, heavens forbid, water in) while swimming due to sharp shells in the water and having to wear a lifevest even if he didn't want to swim made it all too much for him to handle being at the lakefront. And neither boy wound up being able to tolerate the sensory assault that was the dining hall, so we ate meals in our cabin instead (here's a photo of one such dinner). But most of the folks were pretty cool about us doing food in our own way, and the kids really didn't miss out on much (although it ran ME a bit ragged busing food and dishes back and forth between our cabin and the kitchen).
The overall tone of the week? Joy! The look on Zoo Boy's decorated face (the 'counselors' did face-painting one day, he has a frog on his right cheek and a sunflower on his left) says it all. The boys are already talking about about camp next year, and how we really MUST bring The Map Man along next time. (We would have this time, but farm help is a bit hard to come by....)
J, on the right in the orange sweatshirt, casually chats with a couple of his friends before morning Family Circle. Those of you that have been on J's journey with us the past 5 or so years know how much a scene like this one makes my heart sing! At one point I asked him about some of the sensory challenges that drove Zoo Boy from the camp groups, and he told me "That stuff bothers me, but it would bother me more to not be with my friends, so I just try to ignore it." The child has come a LONG way....I'll post about the conference when I get a chance. Right now I just want to get off this computer and enjoy being home!
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