CeliacCamp: Odysseus’s job is never done
2 years ago, we wanted to do some camping with the kids and since Gillian has Celiac disease, I wanted to see if anyone had anything up about camping with kids with Celiac - tips, recipes, must haves - things like that.
What I hadn't considered was what came as a surprise when I googled a bunch of terms together - a Celiac CAMP! We found it, checked it out, were really nervous about sending our 8 yr old, etc. She had an absolute ball. She was already talking about next year on the way home last year.
The forms had to be in by July 15th - medical, the registration forms, plus the check for the camp(which is TOTALLY cheap for a 6 day camp) - and around the 1st or 2nd, I was getting the rest filled out and getting the medical forms back from the doctor. Gillian came to me around the 5th and said, "Daddy, did you send in the forms for camp? I would be really sad if I couldn't go because you forgot to send them in."
My daughter is 9, going on 30, and yes, more organized than her 40 yr old father. "Yes honey" i said as I showed her the envelope I was just licking and stamping. "I'm all set. Dropping it in the mail this afternoon". Needless to say, she was pleased.
Aidan and I were at Kendo camp this week (see my blog posts tagged with kendocamp), so Fae took her shopping for a few new things and helped her pack. Aidan and I got home Saturday night, washed all of his clothes, re-packed them, and woke up Sunday and left around 10am for our trek to Rhode Island. Yeah, the camp is 4 hours from where I live. So we hiked out there, got a little lost, made it before checkin time, and got in line to get her all settled. Got her medicine to the nurse, had her checked for lice (yes, you'd be amazed at how fast it can spread in a camp if ONE kid has it), and we brought her stuff to her cabin.
She was a little bummed, thinking she'd see her counselor from last year, but Tracey was in charge of the older girls this year. She asked if her two friends from last year were in her cabin, and it turned out they were in the other 7-9 yr old girls cabin. She turned and smiled, a little disappointed, but still in a great mood, "Maybe I'll make some cool new friends this year". She's such a trooper. I could tell she wanted to be in the other cabin, but was determined to make the year fun. She unpacked and set up all her stuff just so (she is SO organized - each outfit was in it's own pile). When she was finishing up, I thought I would just see if it might be possible to switch her over to the other one. I walked out side and saw the counsellor talking to two mothers with two little girls who looked PETRIFIED.
"Hi, I'm going to be <girl 1>'s counsellor. <girl 2> is going to be in the other cabin, is that okay?" As soon as she started saying it, both moms said NO rather vehemently and the girls turned even paler.
"Hey, I can move Gillian's stuff to the other cabin, let them stay together, would that be okay?""
"Are you sure?"
"Oh yeah, lets keep the girls together, Gillian doesn't mind. Do you honey?" I said to the figure shouting NO as she ran thru the door to repack her stuff.
Needless to say, we got it all straightened out, both Mom's thanking me profusely and offering to help me pack. We brought her stuff over to the other cabin where Andrea, the counsellor of cabin 4 said that "Two of the girls were asking if Gillian was coming back, did they mean you?" she said, trying not to grin. Gillian just smiled and nodded, pushing open the door.
I still have most of the skin on my face, and the holes in my ears are slowly closing from the squeals of three 9 yr olds reunited fr the first time in over a year. Needless to say, I think everything worked out. When she was in the other cabin she kept hugging and kissing me, storing it up for the week.
When we moved everything over, I got a quick hug, kiss, and"Bye Daddy" and she was gone. Got profuse thank yous from the moms in the other cabin again, and drove to Long Island in a very good mood.
AND we stopped at Friendly's on the way there, so everyone was happy 