A Mommy Story

Yesterday was the first day of summer camp for Cordy and Mira. I worried Mira would have trouble adjusting to a new location that wasn’t her normal preschool. I worried that Cordy wouldn’t be able to cope with the demands of being in the older kid class this year, and that her teachers wouldn’t know how to handle her or wouldn’t like her.

Thankfully, most of that worry is now gone.

They both had a great first day. Mira’s teachers said she’s a ball of energy and fun to be around. Although she started the summer by putting a few well-placed gashes and scrapes into her leg on the playground that morning, she still kept a smile on her face throughout the day. Seeing how she’s such a social butterfly, I have no doubt that she’ll be running her class before the week is over.

At the end of the day, I found Cordy on the playground away from the other kids, laying on a bench and holding a ball. Her teachers reported that she was great all morning, and then a little difficult to deal with in the afternoon. She looked tired, they said, and I can believe she was. A new environment is very stressful on Cordy, so it’s likely she hit her sensory threshold by midday. But they handled her the best way possible – they gave her some space and let her rest for a little while.

She was also very thirsty, probably from not drinking any of her water in the water bottle we’re required to send each day. While I understand their reasoning for asking that kids only bring water (other than lunch), we’ve had this battle of wills with Cordy in the past and she will pass out from dehydration before drinking water. We may have to start spiking her water with a splash of juice to convince her to drink it. I’d rather she drink an ounce of juice in 10 ounces of water rather than drink nothing at all.

But the artwork in her backpack proved that Cordy didn’t mope all day. There were beautiful, full-color drawings of people and animals, and she made a series of flags with each one containing a drawing of one member of our family. (OK, the cats all had to share a flag.) I’m not sure how well she interacted with the other kids, but at least she enjoyed expressing herself artistically.

As we drove away from camp, I asked the girls if they had fun. They both said yes. And then I asked if they wanted to go back tomorrow. They again both answered yes. (Which is a rare moment for Cordy! She generally never wants to repeat something that is new to her.)

I am now cautiously optimistic that they’re going to have a great summer.