Tuesday
Jun172008
CAMP MOMMY 2008 - Perfect Parenting & Girls
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 11:08AM
Week 4 [only?!]/ Day 17 of 55
Not-so-great-day from the beginning today, but that's going to happen, every once in a while. I was trying to hide away in my bedroom and just focus on finishing the laundry and reading, but I finished my book. The laundry is still in progress.
Last week, for the first time ever in five years of CAMP MOMMY, we had all three kids camped up in different programs -- which required an insane amount of driving time, but it was worth it, because all three (four of us, including Mom) had such a great week and thoroughly enjoyed their camp experiences. That is awesome. (Cost = $615 -- and that's with one of the programs, Jr. Police Academy, FREE -- which is why we can't camp up all summer.)
So this week, 7yo ADHD Phenom is back for his second week at the ADHD Summer FUN Camp, having a great time.
10yo Drama Queen is back at Taylor Camp, with a brand-new tennis racket and real tennis shoes -- because she's good. She is naturally gifted for tennis: strength, coordination and ability, and I'm not just saying that, as The Mom. Her teacher/camp director/tennis coach has been telling us since she played tennis last summer. We got her into lessons this Spring, and now she has been invited to play on a U-12 (under 12) competitive girl's tennis team in the city league. She is really excited.
But so far, she's not having a great second week of camp, and I'm not sure why. She came home early yesterday, complaining of a stomachache and all-over misery, yet she was out in the pool, whooping it up with her brothers a couple of hours later, after some rest, reading and computer time.
She was a reluctant camper this morning: not happy at all. This is the drama in our Drama Queen -- usually some type of avoidance behavior to get away from someone or something, or a situation she is not happy with. Girls are rough; so complicated. I tried to draw anything out -- gently, with love and understanding, but it never goes the way it does on TV, with the perfect parents, in heart-to-heart conversations with their daughters.
Too much pressure with the whole tennis thing? Maybe -- but she dragged me out to shop for the new racket and shoes this weekend, which she really needed, even just for camp. We are happy and excited for her, to pursue her own interests and anything she wants to do, and it wasn't that big of a deal, as far as the money -- slightly more expensive than Target-brand, but no mortgage-sized investment or anything. We waited this long to buy new stuff, to make sure she was really interested in playing.
I don't know. But that kind of started the headache this morning; then a little, minor quibble -- a bristle, really -- with hubby, as we were trying to get out the door this morning (late), over nothing and over just as quickly -- it just put a little ripple in the smooth, peaceful surface of our day, and once it starts, it's hard to turn around.
I was trying to hide, to shut down and go back to bed for an hour or so, to read, to snap out of it -- and here I am, self-analysis by blog. (Thanks for listening.)
The third child, 13yo Puberty Angst Boy is home this week, and for the rest of the summer. I'm working on trying to get him out of the house for a while everyday, on his own initiative: Call your friends, go ride your bike, jump in the pool, get a job, go DO something! But, so far, I've only managed to annoy him (and myself) by nagging him, giving him chores to do, turning off the TV (as per the 10am - 4pm rule) and reminding him about his two-page daily requirement of Summer Bridge work (Grade 7 - 8). He's doing okay, really. It's only his second day home.
We're about to go out to lunch, run some errands and pick up the kids from camp. He is on the computer, but he's got the whole family room set up, with a blue sheet as a bluescreen, the camera and the iMac/iMovie, working on photography effects and a digital movie. I'm sitting here at the computer, writing this, so I really can't blame him for his tech-obsession.
We both need to move away from the keyboard now...
Not-so-great-day from the beginning today, but that's going to happen, every once in a while. I was trying to hide away in my bedroom and just focus on finishing the laundry and reading, but I finished my book. The laundry is still in progress.
Last week, for the first time ever in five years of CAMP MOMMY, we had all three kids camped up in different programs -- which required an insane amount of driving time, but it was worth it, because all three (four of us, including Mom) had such a great week and thoroughly enjoyed their camp experiences. That is awesome. (Cost = $615 -- and that's with one of the programs, Jr. Police Academy, FREE -- which is why we can't camp up all summer.)
So this week, 7yo ADHD Phenom is back for his second week at the ADHD Summer FUN Camp, having a great time.
10yo Drama Queen is back at Taylor Camp, with a brand-new tennis racket and real tennis shoes -- because she's good. She is naturally gifted for tennis: strength, coordination and ability, and I'm not just saying that, as The Mom. Her teacher/camp director/tennis coach has been telling us since she played tennis last summer. We got her into lessons this Spring, and now she has been invited to play on a U-12 (under 12) competitive girl's tennis team in the city league. She is really excited.
But so far, she's not having a great second week of camp, and I'm not sure why. She came home early yesterday, complaining of a stomachache and all-over misery, yet she was out in the pool, whooping it up with her brothers a couple of hours later, after some rest, reading and computer time.
She was a reluctant camper this morning: not happy at all. This is the drama in our Drama Queen -- usually some type of avoidance behavior to get away from someone or something, or a situation she is not happy with. Girls are rough; so complicated. I tried to draw anything out -- gently, with love and understanding, but it never goes the way it does on TV, with the perfect parents, in heart-to-heart conversations with their daughters.
Too much pressure with the whole tennis thing? Maybe -- but she dragged me out to shop for the new racket and shoes this weekend, which she really needed, even just for camp. We are happy and excited for her, to pursue her own interests and anything she wants to do, and it wasn't that big of a deal, as far as the money -- slightly more expensive than Target-brand, but no mortgage-sized investment or anything. We waited this long to buy new stuff, to make sure she was really interested in playing.
I don't know. But that kind of started the headache this morning; then a little, minor quibble -- a bristle, really -- with hubby, as we were trying to get out the door this morning (late), over nothing and over just as quickly -- it just put a little ripple in the smooth, peaceful surface of our day, and once it starts, it's hard to turn around.
I was trying to hide, to shut down and go back to bed for an hour or so, to read, to snap out of it -- and here I am, self-analysis by blog. (Thanks for listening.)
The third child, 13yo Puberty Angst Boy is home this week, and for the rest of the summer. I'm working on trying to get him out of the house for a while everyday, on his own initiative: Call your friends, go ride your bike, jump in the pool, get a job, go DO something! But, so far, I've only managed to annoy him (and myself) by nagging him, giving him chores to do, turning off the TV (as per the 10am - 4pm rule) and reminding him about his two-page daily requirement of Summer Bridge work (Grade 7 - 8). He's doing okay, really. It's only his second day home.
We're about to go out to lunch, run some errands and pick up the kids from camp. He is on the computer, but he's got the whole family room set up, with a blue sheet as a bluescreen, the camera and the iMac/iMovie, working on photography effects and a digital movie. I'm sitting here at the computer, writing this, so I really can't blame him for his tech-obsession.
We both need to move away from the keyboard now...
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