Ohmystinkinheck

This morning I dropped off my kids at Tractor Supply. No, not because we needed more chicken scratch, but rather, because that’s where the Day Camp bus picks up. They could hardly sleep last night for being excited about Day Camp.

I’m looking forward to their stories of swimming, canoeing, riding horses, doing arts and crafts and learning silly camp songs, signals, and stories.

Did you go to camp as a child? I went to church camp every summer and LOVED IT. Yes, we snuck out and wrapped the boys’ bunk and yes, we’d always have a deep crush on someone we’d not see again…ever, but we just KNEW we’d write until next year. Um…yeah, right. And there were scorpions to tend to, the showers were always excruciatingly cold in the morning, you almost always got a burn the first day, and if you weren’t careful, someone would hang your undies or bra from the flagpole.

Man I loved camp.

Camp food was always questionable, but there was always cereal or soft serve ice cream…and a kid can live off those two ingredients for a week.

Two of mine are too young for overnight camp, but Day Camp was right up their alley. As I watched the bus drive out of the parking lot I wondered, “Will they make friends?”, “Will they like their camp counselors?”, “Will they remember to use sun screen?”, “Will they miss me?”

And I said a prayer of protection and then came home to work, because my camp days are over and there is a house to tackle, a vacation to prep for, and clients to catch up on.

*sigh*

11 Responses to “At a Tractor Supply near me…”

1. clistyB

   my friend and I were just talking about this…is there really a sleep away camp like Camp Inch in the first Parent Trap? I grew up in CA, and I only saw places like that on the big screen.

2. Claire in CA

   I went to Girl Scout camp a few times. One time, I got to bunk with the older girls, and they made me laugh so hard I peed in my sleeping bag. That was not fun.

   My friends who grew up in Christian homes almost all went to camp each summer with church. That would have been cool. My daughter (14) has been to camp and to a Bible ranch in Wyoming (they drove from So Cal); my son (12) is going to camp for his second time this year, though last year had its problems. He wants to try again, so I’m okay with that (though the cost is ridiculous).

   Sounds like your kids’ camp is really neat. I wish I lived in TX.

3. Coco

   I did mostly day camps with girl scouts. The few overnights I had, one grandmother nearly fainted because it was the “dirtiest” she’d ever seen me get :)

4. OMSH

   clistyB - They are EVERYWHERE around here. We are in the pineywoods of Texas - a very plush, green area and wow do we have the camps.

   Claire in CA - I remember that kind of laughter. On occasion I experience it now as an adult, but there is something about childhood laughter that is absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the greatest laughter of all time.

   Coco - HAHAHA! YES! Dirt-dirty!

5. Corey

   I’ve been lurking around for a while now…but I can’t help but comment on one of my favorite things in the world. I went to the same overnight camp for 9 years and worked there the next year. That place really made me who I am. I also went to two different day camps. I also ended up working those for about 3 years. Camp has been a life-shaping experience that I wish everyone could have. Your kids are so lucky!

6. bethany actually

   Summer camp was a HUGE part of my growing-up! I attended the same sleep-away church camp every summer from 1st through 9th grade, and then worked as a junior counselor and counselor-in-training through high school, and then worked as a counselor. I LOVED camp. I envy your kids this week. :-)

   And clistyB, I visited a friend of mine at a summer camp she worked at in Maine one year that looked EXACTLY like Camp Inch in The Parent Trap! Camps like that are all over Maine and New England, for reals.

7. Mr. OMSH

   As a kid, I wished I could have gone to Girl Scout camps…I know I would have found a girl there that I would have had a crush on. I would so mistreated as a child…(poor me).

8. Mr. OMSH

   Truthfully, the only camp I ever went to was for deaf children. And I only went to work at the camp (I was still a kid myself). I had great fun…but I talked a lot to myself. Just kidding.

9. Kate

   I went to a week-long church camp three summers growing up. A couple little friends from church/school went too and we had a blast. It was on a lake in Idaho and the week was FULL of fun. You could choose to concentrate on one activity during your primary activity time: canoeing, water-skiing, swimming, arts & crafts, BMX, nature, windsurfing… The rest of the days were spent swimming, playing, singing and watching skits in the evenings in the outdoor amphitheatre. We were graded for the cleanliness of our cabins and for being on time and got awards for being Cleanest Cabin, etc. It was the HIGHLIGHT of my summer when I went and I have such fond memories of it that I’ll definitely send my kids to a similar campwhen they’re older, even though I’ll miss them like crazy. I won’t deny them that joy.

10. Erin

    Alas, I never went to camp as a kid. My parent’s divorce/custody arrangement required that I spend 6 weeks in Michigan every summer. It was fun, but I always wished I could go to camp.

    And, Tractor Supply? Mecca to my husband. He would spend all day there and then happily go back the next day, just to look around.

11. the planet of janet

    i want to go to camp now! seriously! what a great way to spend a day as an adult ;-)