Saturday, August 1, 2009

Update: Home from Camp

Image: The sign is kind of hard to read, but it basically says Roadside Park. This sign looks much like the one that stands by the park we stopped at yesterday. My son always notices signs, especially one for roadside parks or rest areas! He knows those signs are always blue.
Thank you all for your support as I prepared to pick up my ten-year-old from Summer Camp. I was a little nervous on the way there, but relaxed by listening to calming music. Upon arriving at his cabin, I found him pretending to be asleep on a sofa in the commons room, but he bounced up as soon as he heard my voice. He was ready to come home. I gave him a big hug before gathering up all his stuff for the big return. Before I started up the van, I mentioned the roadside park I planned on stopping at and mentioned that would be our only stop.

He agreed to the plan and the ride home went smoothly. I did have a recording from his dad that reminded him to try not to melt down in the van, but I didn't need to use it. I'm particularly glad we avoided any incidences involving flying shoes and had a safe ride home. He tends to throw them at people when upset. That, as you can imagine, can be more than a little distracting when driving.

My guy had a little trouble adjusting to the transition once he arrived home--fighting with his brother (who was being really ornery as he too adjusted), yelling at me for pulling out his camp photo instead of letting him do it, and insisting that we go to the grocery store immediately to replace the corn on the cob that we ate while he was gone. All that happened in the space of an hour, but then he settled down.

Today, his dad will do the usual Saturday grocery shopping. Corn on the cob will definitely be on the list. The grocery shopping is an indication that things are going back to normal (normal for us, anyway) after three weeks of irregularity. Three weeks ago his dad was at a week long conference in Vancouver Canada. The next week we went on a mini-vacation. Then finally, C1 was off to summer camp. This upcoming week no one in our family is planning on going anywhere. It sounds a little boring, but I'm kind of looking forward to the relaxed change of pace!

1 comment:

Saja said...

Julie, I'm glad the ride home went well! And that your family is getting some "boring" down time. I know how good that feels after busy weeks.

I still have a hard time with transitions. I just had a week alone while my husband was away on business and the kids were at their grandparents'. It was fantastic having the week to myself, and it was hard for me to adjust to being with people again--even people I love and enjoy. It took me a few hours to "warm back up" to my husband (the kids come home today). Fortunately, he understands my task-switching difficulties and he doesn't take it personally. :-)

Saja