Take 2 Camp

This week was a big change for our family! Zach started his new summer camp! Beginning on Tuesday, the kids got up early (7am for Zach is EARLY) and headed off to Washington DC to drop Z off at camp. Yep, that's right... Dropped. him. off. For 5 hours. M-F. 4 weeks. 9am-2pm. YIKES!

And this isn't just ANY camp..... its called Take 2. check it out here.

Overall, our first week was a huge success in my perspective. We had no tears (him or me) no phone calls from the camp to talk him down from a meltdown, or worse ... to come pick him up. Despite the fact he would get pretty upset about 5miles from camp and start talking about how he didn't want to go- and then not want to get out of the van - He was smiling each day when I got there to pick him up.

So why send him to camp? why this camp? why drive to DC every day (when the other 2 kids have to tag along as well)? Here's why.....

1. He needs this. The skills they teach at this camp are critical for him. We recognize he really needs help in these areas an we are not equipped to teach him at the level he needs right now.

2. The teachers at this camp are really amazing. I do trust them. If I didn't, he wouldn't be there.We've had enough bad experiences to make us unwilling to risk something that may fail.

3. the other 15 boys at the camp also have struggles, in different ways from Z, but it helps him see he is not alone.

4. He is trusting that its ok to be away from me, and from those he knows.

This is his biggest issue. He was telling me tonight that " I just don't like to be away FOR 5 HOURS from anyone in my family. I have no family with me FOR 5 HOURS! What if something happens to me? Who will keep me safe?" so we had a talk about trust- and that this camp is a safe place for him to be. I tried (in a very articulate way... ahem....) to explain why he needs the skill of being independent from me, even from grandparents, or babysitters, for longer chunks of time. After a few minutes he responded by commenting on the patterns of the leaves outside an how it looked like Batman.

So, I tried a different approach: it involved Pokemon, and transforming from one Basic type into the Advanced, or Stage 2 type. It involved drawing on the white board and using his favorite character (Blaziken). It worked! I had full-on attention and involvement. This camp is helping even Mom, too!

So, if you think of it... pray for us as we continue at this camp! Ive been told by other veteran parents that their first year at the camp was exhausting for the kids and very overwhelming, so Im trying to give Z some space....but we are hopeful that there will be some real solid "take-aways" from the experience!