The Summer Camp Shuffle

Wow, summer camp sure is hard work for the parents. On the plus side, Ander seems pretty happy with it. He still doesn't like getting dropped off in the morning, mostly because he prefers to sleep in and watch movies all day (a la daddy ;)), but he gets an extra 15 minutes of precious sleep in the morning. ('Course, mommy sucks at math, since his bedtime is still between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. and he doesn't get a nap at summer camp...sigh. Perhaps that explains the whiney and the stupids and the obstinates?)

But each day is different and everything is carried by my skinny, weakling of a nerdy kid. (Apologies to child-who-will-not-be-named in the future, should he ever read this, for the nerdy shout out. Surely, he will grow into a cool, strong, manly man.) (Maybe.) Lunch box, complete with two snacks, lunch, utensils, drinks, and ice packs. Ice packs that, I might note surily, have to be refrozen every night and once exploded in a sticky blue cloud in his lunch box. Backpack, with spare clothes and sunscreen every day. Water bottle, with ice. And purple lanyard for carrying it, with pink and baby blue paisleys. Yep, HIS choice.

On Mondays, he needs a bathing suit and towel, labeled with his name. He'll need it again on Wednesday, and we have to wash it in between, because he only owns one suit. It seems silly to buy two suits just to swim twice a week. Well, it SOUNDED silly until each Tuesday night, around 9 p.m., when mommy says, "oh shit! His suit is wet and dirty." {rolls eyes at own genius}

Tuesdays are field trip days. Not only does lunch need to be lighter for carrying on the bus, but he MUST wear his purple shirt, or they don't let him go. And he MUST be there on time. Note that, in my household, purple and red is an entire laundry category. If we would have skipped that batch of clothes, we cannot now.

On each Wednesday, we have to pay $5 cash pizza fee, which sucks because we get out cash on Thursdays, and never in $5 increments from the drive-though $10, $20 or $50 bills only cash machine. Plus, he needs a separate check for tuition.

Friday is sometimes, but not always, theme day. This week? Safari. What do we wear? An elephant nose? It has to be cool and comfortable, so probably a green t-shirt. Because as you know, grass is green. A+ parenting!

Alan does drop-off and pickup, added an extra special layer of fun. He forgets things and gets stressed, so while my darling husband is KING of doing the laundry and dishes (bless him...and I don't mean that sarcastically), I pack everything. I leave for work before he does, so I leave a DAILY list (sunscreen on kid, lunch from frig (dry stuff is already packed in lunch box), backpack, and water bottle) plus a daily list (swimsuit, towel, $5 cash for pizza, check for tuition). I prepack the lunch box and unpack it when he gets home. I have an area of the counter prepared for child's stuff. I am organized like crazy. Crazy? I was crazy once. And they locked me in a little rubber room. There where daily and weekly lists in that room. Daily and weekly lists make me crazy. Crazy? I was crazy once...

Etcetera.