First Week Down, Seven To Go

Camp started this week here in NY. Aaron graduated pre-k at the beginning of June and had two full weeks of being home. Due to my current crappy work situation, the kids were mostly home with our nanny while I was off dealing with bank reconciliations and unpaid bills. Our nanny, although very nice, is not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, if you know what I mean. Here's an example. While at work, I receive a phone call; it went something like this.

Nanny: Aaron threw up.
Me: Threw up or spit up? (Side note - Aaron has been known to cough up some pflegm and wind up spitting up a little bit, yes, even at 5 years old, but it's not full on vomiting. Sorry if that's TMI).
Nanny: Threw up.
Me: Alot or a little?
Nanny: A little. Umm....maybe alot. Yeah, alot.
Me: Was he coughing?
Nanny: I don't know. He came into the kitchen and said he had to throw up. Then he threw up. On the carpet. I put the carpet outside.
Me: Does he have a fever?
Nanny: I don't know.
Me: Does he feel sick?
Nanny: I don't know.

I'm sure you get the idea. Before anyone jumps down my throat, our nanny is totally capable, I obviously wouldn't leave my kids with anyone who wasn't. The kids are safe with her, and that's pretty much what matters. The fact that she's not a brain surgeon, well, it sort of just is what it is. She's the mom of three kids and she does know how to take care of children, I'm not really worried. She's just not becoming a member of Mensa anytime soon. Moving on.

My kids spent these two interim weeks with their friends around the block and our two nannys, who are also friends. They did all have fun going to the park, swimming in the kiddie pools and playing at each other's houses, but towards the end of the two weeks, it was clear that the nannies the kids were very ready for camp to start.

This year Aaron is going to a new camp. No more nursery school camp, he's hit the big time. The 2,000+ campers range in age from 3 to about 15. There are a gazillion counselors and specialists, 7 swimming pools, ponies, golf, electric jeeps, water slides, huge playgrounds and fields, basketball, golf and pretty much any other sport that you can name. All of the kids have a blast (hell, I would love to go here every day for 8 weeks) and it's very well worth the 2 arms and 2 legs money that it costs to send them there. Monday was the first day. Aaron was nervous, I saw him doing the thing with his hands that he always does.He got dressed and we applied the sunscreen as we waited outside for the bus. When we saw the yellow of the bus peeking around the corner, I could tell he was putting his brave face on. The bus came, the bus counselor was great, and Aaron got on the bus, buckled in and off he went. It was 840am, and I was off to work. When I came home, I met the bus at 445pm. Long day for a 5 year old! But the smile that bounded off of that bus was absolutely priceless. He had a great day, did a million things and got to spend the whole day playing with his friends. And the best part was that he was so exhausted that when my clock read 745pm, he was fast asleep.

Tuesday morning, he wakes up and he's all ready to go to camp. The catch today (because nothing is ever that easy) is that it's Cami's first day of camp. Cute little nursery school/gym camp where she's going to spend 3 hours twice a week for eight weeks. She definitely is on the receiving end of Second Kid Syndrome - she's getting dropped off, we never met the teachers and we don't know another kid that's going. Understand that I never - I repeat NEVER - would have done this to with my first kid. So although I am worried about how she's going to separate, she's going to camp. Although she's spent a good part of her two years with a nanny, it's always been in our house with her stuff and no other little kids. Here, she was being dropped off at a place that she'd been to about 150 times, but never by herself. We talked about how she was going to go play at camp and have fun, see other kids, eat lunch and then I would come back and pick her up. She was all for it, but as soon as she saw the kids going inside without the mommies, she started to cry. The teacher brought her in and later told me she was great after about 20 minutes. Today was her second day and apparently she thinks she's the teacher's purse and started to cry each time the teacher put her down. Poor teacher, but she'll probably build up some great muscles this summer, carrying around a 24 pound two year old.

As of 5pm this afternoon, our first week of camp is officially over. Aaron passed a swimming test and is now a "Guppy 2" which is apparently better than a "Guppy 1". He's played basketball with "a really, really, really tall guy, like a tree", scammed a counselor into buying him a Snapple from the vending machine, eaten pretty well and made some new friends, even though he doesn't remember their names. Cami, well, not so much. "I don't want to go to camp" she said, in her 2 year old speak. My hope is that by the time she starts school in September, she'll be over it.