Okay, our first outing as Rain Angels. Simi Valley YMCA Adventure Guides Summer Camp, one of the best camps of the year. I wanted it to be sparkly, a bonding event, and fun with my daughter. I was even planning on leaving Friday to make it a three day weekend.
My five year old sweetness had been packed for three days. My nine year old son, a seasoned camper, has packed the night before. I learned belatedly my daughter neglected to include underwear in her planning. Well, you think I would have checked her packing, do you? Well, of course not! I love to swing from vines and live off the land while camping. It's the native Hawaiian in me. But honestly, I was so excited, I forgot. I was mentally prepared for my son forgetting something: he knows it's his burden if he forgets underwear or socks. If he smells, I just turn away. I feel duly justified as the mature parent and well, we've been through enough campouts, that he won't complain about his mistakes to my face. My daughter, on the other hand, I wasn't mentally prepared: she still occasionally bed wets so to be without underwear is akin to being without food. Mid-weekend, typical Adventure Guide style, we used swimming bottoms and hand-washed some clothing in the dim hope they would dry enough in two days for a Sunday pick me up (didn't happen).
I had also picked up an Angel flag from Freecycle.org, and at the campsite, with the help of my fellow Rain Angel parent, we cobbled together a pretty flag for our site. I was determined to "camp pretty" this time around. I'd been to various camping events, and I've seen some wonderful ways to spark up the campsite. I brought a miniature rose plant, a brightly colored orange and lime tablecloth, and, of course, our angel flag. By the time I brought out the wind chimes, my Rain Angel parent partner eyes widened then chuckled, "Well, I guess, this is being so totally green… planting roses and listening to chimes!" She was a good sport about it all, but I suspect she was a more hard-core camper than I. In fact, I KNOW this. She has even camped where they had to "make a potty". Woah. Now THAT's camping.
I made the mistake of announcing to my son that he can be a little more free now, since he's been camping with me, and setting up tents and campsites with me for three years. "Yahoo!". I think he almost got whiplash as he left the campsite, half shod, so excited he forgot his shoe. He came back and, properly shoed, went yelling thought the campsite, like a wild … child. I was so stunned I couldn't finish… "… just help me with you sister…". Oh well. When it got dark, I got irritated because I had forgotten to remind him to tell me where he is going. The neat thing about the AG is that EVERYONE knows you in the campsite. The not so neat thing is because your child KNOWS everyone, he or she may forget to come back. It's a little creepy, when the paranoid parent in me raises her ugly head. Several stern lectures later, and sending our nine and ten year old children search parties for him ("Have you seen my son? Would you look for him? Tell him to come back?"), he finally relaxed enough to tell me where he is going before he leaves the campsite.
My daughter Shooting Star Rose also wasn't used to this new style: previously in campouts, she was the little tag along, the little extra. Now, unused to being needed, she had wandered into the next campsite. I quickly saw where this was going, so I gave in, and quickly set up my tiny two man tent, and threw my flowers and wind chimes around. It took nearly the entire weekend before she seemed to realize she is "with me" and sat on my lap. She spent a good amount of time at other campsites. It was almost embarrassing but I held my chin up: I wanted my new Rain Angel Parent Partner (only one of the two could make it this weekend) to see that I was calm, mature and, dang it, not embarrassed. Adventure Guides don't get embarrassed: they endure all pain.
