Camp musings

Cyrus spent last week at camp - Mon- Sat. It seemed like he was gone for a very long time! We all missed him. He had a blast and was so glad he went. He seems more sure of himself - a little more independent. When I dropped him off and was saying goodbye it was the very first time ever that he didn't really hug me back. We were surrounded by kids - many of whom he knew from baseball or tennis. I understood. It was bittersweet. But he hugged all of us individually - big bear hugs - when we picked him up at the end of the week. We were still surrounded by the same folks, but then he was hugging them too! It was a joy to see him stand up in front of all of the camp and parents and give an account of the day they had visiting musicians. He also performed wth his "ohana" cabin group their haka - or war chant. Now that was something I would never have thought he'd do!

Of course, we have heard story after story about his week away. Many of is stories are about the adults and the things that made them crazy and, as Cyrus said, made them "get mad at us for no reason". The way he tells the stories it is apparent that much of how and why the adults reacted as they did was mysterious and curious to him. I was reading at the Blog of the Zombie Princess today and looking at her photos of the RU Fun camp out that happened this past week on Salt Spring Island in BC Canada. All Radically Unschooling families - oh the bliss! One of the photos captions reads: "Glow sticks anyone?". It made me smile. Cyrus told a story from camp about the director's youngest son who had found her stash of glow sticks that she had brought and passed them out. The whoops of joy caught her attention and apparently she was miffed! "Where did you get those?" Blah Blah Blah. The kids were having a blast, but she couldn't get passed being pissed that they had been passed out before her intended time for them. Cyrus said she finally said, "Well, I guess you should just go ahead and use them now since they are already out!" But she said it in a heavy, annoyed, "but I don't approve" kind of way. What a waste of joy! And then there are the RUers - playing with glo sticks because it is fun, and they feel like it, and they want to, and nobody is telling them, "No! Wait! It isn't time for glo stick fun yet!"

I am so glad he went. But next year I want RU Fun camp!