Summer Camp

Today was Ben's first day of summer camp.* Since he was a little nervous (even though half the kids in his group he knows from preschool and it's in the same building) I walked him inside instead of using the carpool dropoff lane. He was shy with his new camp counselors at first, but soon was eyeing a bin of dinosaur toys and didn't give me any problem about leaving.

When I picked him up at the end of the day he was overflowing with excitement to tell me about his first swimming lesson and how he had put his head under water and not been scared (he has been really stressed out about swimming lessons because he is afraid to put his head under the water). He also told me about his first science class, which apparently involved balloons, an egg, a bowl of water, a paper clip and soap. I really could not follow what he was telling me, except that the lesson was about "fressure." ("Pressure?" "Yes, fressure." Uh, ok). Somewhere in his long and convoluted narrative about balloons and air and eggs and paperclips he threw in the word "evidently." It was too cute. (Yesterday he used the word "securely", which cracked me up also).

So I am very proud of him for (maybe) conquering his fear of putting his head under water, and relieved that he enjoyed his first day. Most of all I am excited that I don't have to pack a lunch for him for 6 weeks (it is provided at camp). Yay!**

*Ben's preschool likes to make life difficult in a number of ways, one of which is to close for 6 weeks in the summer, forcing families that require year-round care to enroll in summer camp at the JCC. Being arguably the best preschool in Charlotte, I suppose they feel they have that right.

**Another way in which Ben's preschool likes to make things difficult is by requiring a vegetarian lunch which is kept refrigerated and not allowed to be re-heated. Ben likes to make things difficult by refusing to eat most cold, vegetarian options, such as peanutbutter and jelly.