The girls had been excited for camping for a couple months. We'd been prepping them by having them come up with food they would like to make and eat (there is a cereal called Reese's Puffs, and that's what they wanted, but being from Cambridge with sophisticated palates, also informed us that pecorino romano is better on pasta than parmesan), and having them make a list of any safety issues that might come up while camping (on the list of 30 plus risks, nestled by "snake bite", "tsunami" and "quick sand" was a true issue-- "can't poop").
Friday rolled around and Rashmi, Amy and I had checked our lists multiple times. Rashmi and I waited for Amy, and when I saw her out the window I thought how prepared she looked, replete in jeans, hiking shoes and a vest. When we met her downstairs she was now holding an industrial sized coffee maker. We told her there might not be room in the car for it along with everything else...she paused and looked like we were asking her to sacrifice a beloved pet...but turned to take it back to her car. Three minutes later she returned still carrying the coffee maker and claiming she was happy to hold it on her lap, but she needed it.
We met the girls and their parents and were thankful that we had an actual mom also coming along to chaperone (ie, a "real" adult). We packed the two cars, and despite my assurance that the girls were small and could fit in amongst the stuff (summer memories of 12+ hour car rides, the car packed to the gills with my sister and I stuffed in amongst coolers and pillows and activity bags, across the plains in the Datsun came flooding back to me), we elected to bring Amy's car after all. The girls were divvied up and we set off for Camp Wabasso in New Hampshire. Half an hour later we were still in Cambridge since the traffic was so bad. We eventually all arrived at the camp and the girls were ecstatic. As the grounds keeper showed us around and gave us the rules, one girl asked him a question: "Is there a shower?" No. "But I wash my hair on Saturdays-- what will I do?" Wash it on Sunday. City kids.
We had them all unpack, and had half the girls start preparing for dinner. It was around 8:20 or so and we asked The Mom about what time the girls' bedtime was. She paused and said, "Well, it's a little later on weekends." And then her daughter chimed in saying, "I get to stay up until 8:45 on weekends!" Well, this would be an extra special weekend then.
I went to church camp for several summers and have some recollection of it...but most of my camp memories come from The Parent Trap starring Haley Mills and Haley Mills. Our lodge did not mesh with these memories. There were vinyl covered twin sized mattresses for to sleep on...on a linoleum floor. There was a 3 stall bathroom. There was (fortunately) a kitchen. As we got ready for bed, one girl broke out her dental floss. I asked her if she always flossed (because I know I didn't-- and still don't-- everynight as a kid) and she looked at me and said, "It's a good idea to do it at least once a day" and gave me a strand. In fact, she shared her floss with eveyone, so all nine of us flossed that night.
That night in my sleeping bag on my mattress, I hoped that I was being a good role model...and then as I tried to get comfortable and swatted away stray mosquitoes, I thought about Paris Hilton and how she too was likely trying to get comfortable in jail. There was a difference, of course. I had to wake up at 5:15 am to 5 wiggly and whispering girls. I'm sure Paris got to sleep in.
Saturday was cool and kind of rainy-- we took a short walk around the campgrounds and down to the lake. We taught (and learned ourselves) the girls about compasses and had them make maps of the lodge. Then they got started making the fire for lunch. We all made quesadillas and then we decided to give them some free time. I remember afternoons at camp where we would go exploring with no adult in sight. This camp wasn't so big so I wasn't worried. A few girls said they would go for a walk...but before starting, one remembered something in the lodge-- of course, her purse! Five minutes later their walk was finished and the rest of the afternoon they all stayed in the backyard area, making crafts. Again, city kids. Around 3:30 we noticed them being snippy and crabby. What should we do? Make them lay down? Take naps? Solitary confinement? "They need a snack", said The Mom. Ahhh. Of course! We gathered the granola bars and apples and again felt relieved at the voice of reason.
That night the dinner menu consisted of hamburgers and tacos (because why have one main entree when you can have two?). As the dinner prep team was cutting the watermelon, one girl asked, "is this for dessert?" To which Rashmi replied, "oh no, dessert is smackos-- peanut butter and chocolate chips melted in a quesadilla over the fire." That's right-- there was no healthy eating badge earned this weekend. The girls further proved their wilderness mettle by demanding and eating stove top popped popcorn after the double dinner and smackos. I did some quick math and realized they'd all been awake for 16+ hours...and showed no sign of wanting to go to sleep any time soon. After some skits and dramatic renditions of songs from High School Musical, the girls did start to wind down. At 9:30 we told them lights out in a half hour. In twenty minutes they were begging for lights out. Needless to say, no one woke up at 5:15 the next morning.
Sunday morning we cleaned and took stock of what we were going to tell the parents. One girl had chosen not to brush her teeth all weekend, another had marshmallow and sticks in her hair. We all needed showers. While they were packing and cleaning, Rashmi and I hid 5 bags of cracker jacks on the grounds, and created a treasure hunt using the compasses.
While we were packing the cars, one of our girls who is moving presented us a letter, with one sentence to everyone: One girl has the coolest hairstyle, another has the best laugh, Amy is awesome building fires, Rashmi makes girlscouts so fun and for me? "Andrea, you are the one I admire most." Inexplicably, I'm less like Paris than I thought.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment