This weekend we were roughin' it. Well, I wouldn't go that far. As my babysitter said "You weren't camping... you were GLAMping."
Tink's Brownie troop went on an overnight 'glamping' trip to a beautiful nature center in Delaware. Fifteen girls, twelve moms. Uncomfortable, squeaky metal bunkbeds with mattresses as thick as ritz crackers lined up in one giant room. But there were toilets, there was electricity, and there was this....
Nature. Everywhere. And it was beautiful.
There were 2 programs, one in the evening upon our arrival and a morning program the following day. The evening program taught the girls about noctoural animals and even showed them some snapping turtles, tarantula, vipor, and a mini alligator. Then it was time for s'mores around a campfire and a Night Hike after the sun went down.
The next morning (after eight seconds of sleep for the grown-ups) was another program with more cool animals and a Marsh Hike.
The girls were allowed to catch tadpoles and slugs. One even found a mini baby snapping turtle. The camp leader found us a newt. You know, even with the stinging nettles, poison ivy and ticks, I have to say - nature ROCKS.
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We also celebrated a birthday this weekend!!!
CB is now 19.
The birthday itself was rather subdued. Except for a candle on top of dessert, the singing of the Happy Birthday song (her favorite), and a few small gifts, it was... I don't know... quiet.
Which is my nice way of saying lame.
I feared it was lame. She asks for nothing, she wants nothing, she doesn't even seem to understand what a birthday is. So, the birthday thing doesn't go the way it does with her sisters and that never really sits right with me. I feel like I need to be doing something more. Like, I didn't do enough. I gypped her. I cheated her.
It wasn't enough.
Of course, that is just part of being her Mom. Living with the guilt of wishing you had done something more, been someone better. The birthday just takes those feelings out from where you shoved them and parades them through the confetti and sprinkles.
But even when that empty pit turns my stomach, I see her happy and think for a fleeting moment... maybe it was all enough. Maybe it still is.
Maybe.
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2 comments:
Love the photos of the camping! And that was one gigantic frog - yeesh!
As for the birthday celebration, I swear our kids wouldn't have ever learned to enjoy these huge celebrations we put on for them if we hadn't taught them to. With my girls, there is this inevitable disappointment because not everyone they invited was able to come, or someone got upset, or couldn't eat the cake, or whatever. Every year I am reminded that the things they enjoy most about their birthday are the simple things - the re-telling of their birth story, the homemade cards from friends, and the voice mails from family members singing Happy Birthday. I love seeing CB's face lit up in those photos - something tells me she enjoyed every minute of it. Nice job, Mom!
I feel the same about Polly's birthdays...and Christmas. She has never opened a present unless done hand over hand, and she doesn't even like cake! It's almost like I feel gyped, if that makes any sense. I just try to take comfort knowing that she enjoys the toys she gets after they are in her environment a week or so.
I also love the first pic of CB, it's as if she's saying "I must eat cookies!!" Lol!
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