I went camping. And not just camping--tent camping. If that's not proof to them that they are loved, I don't know what is.
The whole packing up a bunch of stuff to prepare for every eventuality and then doing my mommy job just, you know, outside without the comforts of home has never been appealing to me. BUT my kids have been asking to go camping. And my mom's club group was going, and they are experienced campers. So I sucked it up and went.
The most stressful part for me was all the preparation. We have a tent and sleeping bags because my son's in Scouts and camps. But we don't have a bunch of other camping-related stuff. Cue (or queue...I don't feel like looking it up) wonderful neighbor! Thanks Michelle for letting us borrow things Ethan wanted us to go out and buy and therefore guilt me into camping again since we'd have the "stuff."
Meal planning it's my favorite thing when we're home. But it's kinda necessary when camping. And then figuring out how to cook the meals when you cant just go into the kitchen. Ugh! Yeah just typing this up is stressing me out again, and we're back home.
So anyway, I went. Ethan took care of most of the set up. He managed to build a fire once. Lucky for us we were camping with knowledgeable friends with gear because we needed said gear to cook the hot dogs for lunch when he couldn't get a second fire going. Thanks Erin! And we needed to borrow a lighter when he used all the fluid in ours getting that first fire going. Thanks Laura! Oh and let's not forget the air pump we forgot and both bikes needed air in the tires. Thanks Laura! And it was so wonderful to have someone else make the coffee so I didn't have to remember how to use the percolator I borrowed. Thanks Janet!
Overall it was OK. We had running water and a clean bathroom nearby plus we were across from the playground. My kids had fun and that was the point. Don't know that I'll be doing it again any time soon though.
