A Campy Summer

So my "little boy" got back from camp all in one piece. Despite the fact I didn't think he enjoyed himself, he liked it so much he wants to go back again next year!  I dropped him off on a Sunday and he called me during my drive home.  I asked him how his roommate was and he said he hadn't returned from their outing yet as many of the kids were out that afternoon.  I asked him what he had done so far, and he said he was shown around by the kid who greeted him upon his arrival and helped him get settled in and unpacked his belongings.  It sounded like he was already bored.  Mind you, this is my 16-year-old.  And he gets along with everybody.  Only, it seemed like no one was around.

Later that night he calls me and tells me he finally met his roommate and they played some video games.  His roommate ended up bringing a Game-something, and another boy brought a Play-something and a 360-something.  All the stuff that I thought wasn't really allowed at camp!  As long as it doesn't interfere with their daily activities, he said it was okay.  He said he played a game or two and has decided to take his shower.  I was skeptical since it was still before 11:00 and I don't think anyone was really nagging him to do it, but perhaps he got worried about the early-morning wake up call they'd have at 6:30 a.m. ...for the next 2 weeks!

Much to my surprise, he ended up calling me everyday.  The first full day, he said his muscles were terribly sore from the weight training and running they did.  To make matters worse, the new shoes that I recently got him gave him blisters.  So here's where the guilt came really pouring in.  For the next week, he was sore from weight lifting and running, and his feet were blistered from all the walking and the new shoes.  I had a real bad case of the guilt trip and it wasn't because he was trying to make me feel guilty...I did that all on my own.  This was the first time he's been away from home for so long.  However, I was glad that he remembered called me, sometimes even twice a day.  At one point, I started to think that he was checking up on me!

One day, they went to Disneyland, but because of his blisters, he couldn't walk fast so he ended up going around by himself.  He also couldn't go swimming because some of the blisters had opened and were bleeding.  They went to a skate park where he did one lap and feared he'd fall, so he stopped.  I was feeling so bad that he wasn't really having a good time.  He never said he was having a bad time and wanted to come home, but I thought he was just trying to spare me the grief.

The final week, his muscles finally stopped aching.  His feet were still blistered, but he was enjoying his martial arts classes and other activities.  He was really having a better time than I had thought.  He was bummed that one of his new friends had to leave early to go to back to boarding school as many of the kids had school starting the following week.  Nevertheless, he made the most of the situation and called me one night asking if he could have the TV that one of the kids was giving away.  I said, "wha?"  And he explained that one of the kids that brought the Play-something also brought the TV to play it on and didn't want to take it home because he couldn't pack it.  I told my son the parents might have other ideas when they come to pick him up, but he seemed to think it wasn't going to be an issue.

Sure enough, when I came to get him, the friend had already left, and he was carrying out the TV.  Fortunately, it fits on the TV stand in his room.  I hope he knows that the real goal of this was the adventure and the enrichment, the health and nutrition classes (not to mention the weight loss!) and the new friendships, and not necessarily that he got a brand new (slightly used) TV out of it.  But, it is a nice bonus, I guess.