Sleep Away Camp = Too Hard on the Parents

We sure hope Collin is having a great time at camp this week because his Mom and Dad sure to miss him!  Oh, and Burke.  Burke looks at us with a sad look on his face as if to ask "What did you do with my friend Collin?"

Each day, the camp posts pictures from the day before, a quick video which includes activities throughout the day and a personal picture of each child.  These are not posted until mid-morning.  I was not patient Monday morning because I looked every 30 minutes to see if pictures had been posted not knowing when they would be.  I needed to see on Collin's face that he was having fun AND see if he was feeling OK.  When the pictures from Sunday finally posted, Collin was not in any of the pictures.  A personal picture of him was not posted yet.  I did see a few pictures of his friends but no Collin.  I could not help but cry a little.  "Where was my boy?  Is he feeling OK?  Was he having so much fun the photographer could not get a picture of him?" There were just a few questions I was asking myself as I looked through the pictures and the video.  Nope, I did not see him anywhere.  Finally later in the day, they posted this picture of him:

Each day has theme night in the late afternoon.  Sunday's theme was Holiday so I packed this fun hat for him.  He said he was not going to wear it.  I packed it anyway telling him that it was there in case he changed his mind or if Foard wanted to wear it.  I was excited to not only see that he had a OK-please-take-the-picture smile on his face but that he was participating in the activities by wearing the hat.  Not sure if he chose to or if his cabin counselor made him do it.  Also, I noticed he at least changed clothes!  Even though these are not the clothes he wore for a few hours that morning before we dropped him off, at least he did put on a clean shirt.  Let's not even think about the underwear.....

The picture from Monday was better because he had a genuine smile on his face and looked like he was having fun.  Yes, a little sweaty but I expect that this time of year and especially for him.  From the other pictures posted, I could tell this was a climbing wall that lead to a blue slide (you can see part of the slide in this picture).  He does like to climb around so I am sure he was having fun at this point of the day.

I try not to think about how he must feel at night going to bed by himself and not the usual routine he has at home.  He does still want someone (usually me) to lay with him for a few minutes...preferably until he falls asleep.  Also, he does like soft music playing and a night light.  I would think there was no music in the cabin at night.  There might be some light from the bathroom showing through to their room.  Also, are the pills working and helping him stay dry at night?  I did pack extra sheets for him to use in case he did wet his bed.  He knows where they are and is really good about changing the sheets by himself...well, he can pull them off.

Three more nights without my buddy and precious son.  I think I can make it.  Dad and I are keeping really busy with errands, eating out, watching movies and packing for our trip that starts this weekend.  All three of us are going to make it.  We can do this!