Now that it's June, I see summer vacations with a parent's eye. This of course, is far
different than a kid's viewpoint. Vacations for kids are seemingly endless days
of summer, each day lasting approximately 3.2 years. Those days allow for bike
rides, ball games, hours on the gaming consoles and double feature videos just
about every night. Throw in the one or two camping trips and the whole summer
vacation is complete (as long as there is an internet wi-fi site nearby).
Now it's all making sense. I remember seeing my folks looking a bit
wild-eyed around the middle of June - I mean, more than usual. When I did think
about it, I passed it off as one of those weird things parents do on occasion. Then
I went back to my Chocolate Coated Sugar Bomb and Marshmallow Cereal for breakfast.
I was happy.
Now I know.
The almost overwhelming panic that hits, when you as a parent, realize
that your little (or not so little) kidlet will now be with you 24/7 starting
the last day of school. This can paralyze even the strongest parent at times.
If both spouses work, the juggling of time and shift schedules resembles a
launch of the Space Shuttle. Why, oh why, didn't we enrol the darlings in
year-around schooling??
It only gets better when the camping trip week arrives. As a kid, we
were told to pack our things and bring them out to the car. This packing
consisted of the comic books, walkman (yes, walkmans. Folks, explain what
cassette tapes are to your kids), two t-shirts, a pair of underwear and the
swimsuit. This can hold a kid for at least two weeks, especially if you leave
the underwear on underneath the swimsuit. Once at the campground, the tent
appeared, the picnic table was set up and laden with goodies and we were off to
the lake. That was the extent of our planning.
Now it's my turn to be the parental unit. I had been looking forward to
introducing my kids to the joys of camping and communing with nature, with
marshmallows and campfire songs. So my darling wife and I started to plan the
trip.
The first three days of consisted of planning the menu and shopping for
supplies. The toughest part of that chore was keeping the kids out of the new
provisions. Then the locating of all the camping gear commenced in earnest.
Stoves, chairs, sleeping pads, tents with poles and pegs. Don't forget the
sleeping bags and pillows, cook stove and propane, cooking pots, wash basins,
utensils, wash clothes and the million and one other things required to
"rough it" in the wilderness of a provincial campground. Oh yeah,
NEVER forget the toilet paper.
On to packing the vehicle. The first time I packed the van, I made the
mistake of packing in the evening with the kids safely ensconced in bed. By the
time I was finished, we had to slide them into their seats via the front
passenger door. Lesson learned.
The second time, I had the kids help pack
everything. Leaving the only tent in the garage while merrily driving to the
mountains is not on the recommended list for comfort and family relations.
Lesson learned, again.
Third time lucky, I put the kids in their respective
seats and packed around them. This allowed for maximum cargo space as well as
building the requisite walls around each child to prevent the fights and
arguments from erupting, seeing that none of the kids could actually see each
other. Definitely a keeper.
While having the so-called relaxing camping trip, my wife and I got up
before the kids, made breakfast for them, helped them get the water to clean up
with and the wood to make a fire. Then it was hiking them to the lake, hiking
them back, making the lunch, cleaning up, getting more wood, hiking them
around, bringing them back, cooking dinner, cleaning up, setting up the
campfire, giving out marshmallows, retrieving marshmallows from the fire,
cooking new marshmallows and getting the kids to bed by midnight.
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