A Week at Camp Run-Amok

Every year, my Mom Friends lament the rapid passing of Summer. "It just flies by," they moan as first July, then August disappear in a cloud of sunscreen and a puddle of melted ice-cream. In the past, I just nodded my head sympathetically and made vague statements of agreement, but really I was thinking "are you kidding me? Between the boredom and the bickering (and these apply to all of us, not just the boys) I'm ready to send them back to school by August 1st!" I was stymied as to why--for us--Summer seemed to drag its heels rather than hurtle along. However, this School Hiatus has been radically different, and I think I just might have figured it out: perhaps I wasn't keeping us quite busy enough to help pass the long, unplanned hours of Summer Break. Luckily I figured it out in time to schedule a boatload of activities this year, with the goal of minimizing downtime and maximizing funtime. (And the added side-effect of running us around like crazy, but whatever!) Well, it must have worked, because (holy guacamole) it's the middle of August and we can't quite figure out how the heck that happened!

So here it is, the second of two Camp Weeks I arranged for Derek and Riley, to avoid having too many days on end of them being stuck in the house with each other...because that's when things tend toward fighting (them) and yelling (me). After I drop them off for their Sports Camp, they frolic and play for 5 hours and I gain a precious block of kid-free time. Since it's the last opportunity for me--before the next academic and work year begins for all of us--to accomplish tasks without the distraction and interference of tag-along "helpers", I decided the Theme of the Week would be: Putting Things in Order. And what sort of items did I include in the agenda of "stuff that needed to be organized and/or fixed"? Here's a sampling:

--Body parts: I hadn't been to the chiropractor in over a month, and I desperately needed some manipulation to put my neck area back into proper alignment (too bad he doesn't do attitude adjustments as well, or I might bring all 3 of us sometimes!) Aahhhhh...and on a less-therapeutic but equally-important note, it was high time for another one of those delightful leg waxing/enzyme treatment appointments, so I squeezed that into this week as well.

--My car: after 8 days hauling 4 people (plus snacks and gear) through 7 states, the Forester strongly needed...decluttering and freshening. After the full-service carwash, not only have all the crumbs and clods of dirt vanished (like magic...or the work of very talented Detailing Elves), but it now smells fresh and lovely (at least until I pick up 3 sweaty tweens from camp...do you think I can get away with squirting Febreeze directly onto them before allowing them into the vehicle? Hmmm...)

--The Storage Room: we're overdue for a visit to the Consignment Shop/Thrift Store to pass along things that can potentially be re-used by others. (Besides, it usually nets me a little bit of pocket change, just in case I want to have a nice lunch by myself--shhh!)

--The Fridge: because although I put it off for as long as I could (since we've been back from our trip for, oh, 2 weeks now) we need a serious stock-up on food and supplies. As you can imagine, obtaining groceries with the assistance of two Junior Operatives from the Stealth Shopping Team can be...challenging in the best of circumstances. When I'm diligently trying to follow my list and Special Agent Riley is stalking Criminal Mastermind Derek with the scan gun...well, you can understand the problem, right? So I seized the chance to hit both Costco and Giant S-O-L-O and actually came away with (pause) a week's worth of food! From my actual list (gasp)! So that's how it's supposed to go, who knew?

--Fall Scheduling Items: without the usual commotion swirling around me, I was able to make efficient phone calls (and even sound like a civilized, well-mannered adult while doing so) to figure out absolutely critical information, such as the date and time Hip Hop Class will resume. While the darlings were otherwise occupied at Camp, I also managed to enjoy an unhurried, productive meeting with the new Principal at Riley's school, to bring her up to speed on procedures and timelines involved with publishing the Student Newspaper.

In order to achieve all of this (not to mention the routine jobs--like laundry and workouts--that still needed to be crammed in somewhere), I zipped around like a lunatic from one place to the next on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The sweet payoff happened on Thursday, when I was able to steal a couple of hours to sneak off to the movie theater by myself to see an Adult Film...no, wait, that sounds totally wrong...I just mean a Non-Kid-Friendly-Flick! And I got my own popcorn and soda. (Memo to Self: when you don't have to share, a Small popcorn will probably do. The Medium could have fed my entire family, and seemed to contain approximately the amount of sodium I should consume in, say, a WEEK. That brings me to the Large soda...which served to wash down the popcorn, but resulted in a bathroom break...but do you know they'll refill that sucker for you while you're out there? Did I mention I poured down enough caffeine for, say, a MONTH?) Anyway, I felt completely decadent catching a show in the middle of the day--and man, was it worth it! Tomorrow is the last day for the boys to go do their own thing...I ought to start pondering what else I can get into while they're gone!