Camp Mom

We are two weeks into vacation now, and so I feel qualified to call this summer's experiment in home-camping a modified success. 

For the past 3 summers I've had both kids in some kind of camp or day care for part of the summer.  Mostly for my own sanity, but also because each summer I had some kind of big project to accomplish. 2012: Painting and moving the kids bedrooms. Lots of Ikea furniture assembly.  2013: Moving (So much for all that hard work painting our condo.) 2014: Dealing with the fall-out from moving and construction. Lots of cleaning.**

This year... I really had no big reason to send them off to camp, nor the extra money to pay for it. So... 2015: "Camp Mom"!

I made up a schedule, I assembled some games and notebooks. I researched free and fun summer stuff to do (no shortage of that here in NYC.)  I even pondered making t-shirts.

So each day for the past 2 weeks we've started off the mornings with some school work. Daniel (I mean I) am determined to memorize those multiplication tables before 4th grade. So each day he cheerfully sits down with his notebook and flash cards. Actually there is a fair amount of grumbling and foot stomping, but not as much as I expected.

Here he is trying to think of other ways to make the number of the day. Lily is fooling around avoiding eating, which is her new favorite pastime.  I have no idea how she got so big, because she eats nothing. But that's another post...

After chores we head out to do something fun. Like this:

Lily flying away on a ride near the beach. She went on this one 4 times.

After our fun in the sun, we head home for our "screen time"* and while away the afternoon til Daddy comes home and rescues me we eat dinner.

*If it was up to me (and many doctors and researchers) I would eliminate screens from my children's lives completely. BUT, those screens do offer a tantalizing prize for managing behavior. They really will do anything to earn their screens, even CLEAN. So at the end of the day, they veg out while I make dinner. So far the fact that they know they can have screens at the end of the day keeps them from whining for them all the time. Mostly.

Here we are, being silly with fruit. I'm starting to do anything to get this girl to eat anything besides buttered bread.

This week, Daniel is away at sleep away camp for the first time. We dropped him off Sunday and I was a very brave mommy and did not cry. So far they have not called to tell me that he's refusing to eat the bland food, nor has he fallen off the cliff or developed some weird rash nor has he called home weeping. I'm sure he's having a wonderful time.

And that is what I will keep repeating to myself until we pick him up Saturday morning. Until then Lily and I will be brave together and have lots of fun fights about eating vegetables.

** I do have a long list of mini- projects I want to finish this summer. Like fix the whole in our bedroom ceiling and clean out the closets. Not surprisingly, I've got none of those things done.