Why We Take Our Sons to Day Camp

Day Camp starts next week and things are pretty crazy at the Cruse household. There's a 7-foot dragon living in the kitchen.  There are piles and piles of plaster chess pieces covering the kitchen table.  There's a sock 'em bopper blow-up man in the living room, waiting to get pounded by "knights in training."  There's everything BUT room to walk.

This has me wondering "Will it all be worth it?  What are we doing this for, anyway?"  

And today my sister, whose son had a dear friend killed in a senseless hate crime last year, sent me this message. Her son's friend, Reat Underwood, was an active Scout in the Heart of America Council.  My sister sent me a link to a website for at his Council website.  You can check it out at http://www.hoac-bsa.org/remembering-reat. 

Here is a fragment of what Mindy posted about her son Reat's time in Scouting as a Cub: 

"The fond and now cherished memories of each and every campout are so important to me.  .  . Camping with Reat slowed me down.  It helped me stand still, breathe and watch with gratitude as he learned to be kind, paint, shoot a rocket, throw a Frisbee, tie a knot, start a fire, shower with his shorts on, kill a spider, use a lolly, clean a lolly, pet a snake, clean a table while singing a song and shoot a BB gun." 

Our sons go to camp and earn belt loops and pins, and they may bring a bunch of stuff home. More importantly, though, they have experiences that shape their character.  This year, they will learn to value the outdoors.  They will learn the importance of preparing for experiences that could be coming their way in the next couple of years.  They will make friends, sing songs, play, and fill their heads with knowledge and try their hand at skills. 

WE gain something from Cub Scout Day Camp, too.  We gain moments with our sons. We gain time to slow down our lives.  Like Mindy, we get a chance to stand still, breathe, and watch with gratitude as we see our sons in action.  

Day Camp will be here as soon as we blink, and it will go by quickly.  Let's treasure the moments as it happens and embed those moments as memories that will bring us joy for the rest of our lives.