Our baby is off to Summer Scout Camp. For a full week he will be sleeping in a tent and enjoying the great outdoors with his buddies as they all learn from their Leaders and advance in the acquisition of Merit Badges. For the past two Summers he has gone to the day camp, sleeping over maybe one or two nights at a time- and with Jim there too. This is his first full week away for any reason. He was so excited, and so very meticulous about packing for the trip in his new foot locker, for the week before he left, Camp was the only thing on his mind.
The badges he hopes to earn include fishing, for which he needs to catch two fish, one to release and one to eat. Upon learning that he was expected to actually eat a fish he was immediately grossed out. Eat something that he had caught alive?! He declared that he would be fine with that if it was a Salmon- which I highly doubt he will pull out of the lake at the camp...
Friday I'll carpool up with some of the Moms and we will have a chicken dinner with the campers and get a peek at all they are doing up there. Then we will come home without the guys, picking them up on Saturday from the meeting point. We have been sternly warned to not bring our Scout home on Friday night. Leaving early spoils the bond built all week at camp and few who do so continue in Scouting. We certainly want him to continue. Scouting itself is character building for a growing boy who is otherwise surrounded by influences that would tear him down, and this group in particular is just a great bunch, from the kids to the Leaders.
When I took him on Sunday to send him off with the group there was some bit of flurry as last minute forms were filled out and his trunk was loaded. But I was given a spontaneous hug and "I love you Mom" from him before I left. Dear words indeed.
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