Firsts

The girls and I had our first mother/daughter night on Friday, which means that Andrew and Scott had their first father & son ward camp out! I was so happy that Scott wanted to take him at such an early age. I had no idea what the camp out was all about or that Andrew could go. I learned that evidently a bunch of men get their boys out in the open to play with fire and spend a sleepless night in the cold. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Scott said Andrew woke every hour and I said, "I'm so sorry! What a dreadful thing to wake up with a child every hour during the night." Things were no better at home. Jac was awake most of the night and in bed with me for half of it. I know I'm encouraging bad habits by bringing her to bed with us, but after 6 years of getting up with our children, I am too tired to care. There have not honestly been 15 nights of sleep in all that time. No matter how close together you have your kids, you are too tired to perfectly parent that last one. They will be rotten. Spoiled rotten.

While the girls and I hung out and watched a classic chick flick - Beauty and the Beast - Scott and the boy got somebody else to put up their tent. I didn't get the details on it, but a few men were talking yesterday after Sacrament Mtg and one of them asked me, "Have you seen that tent of yours?" Just the picture on the box, I replied. He told me, "You can park your car in it." Well if you have seven people in the family, and need space for gear, shouldn't you buy a 12-person tent? It made sense to me and it cost about $15 more than the 7-person model. And who knows - maybe someday I'll need to park my car in it. "Be prepared."

The boys returned quite early Saturday morning. I asked Scott if they'd had breakfast; he had, but Andrew didn't eat anything... Did you do anything this morning? "No. Andrew woke up, stood up and said "We go home now," so we left." Those same men at church yesterday said that Scott was the first one out of camp Saturday morning. "He just took the stakes out, wadded up the tent and threw it in the back of the Suburban!" Yes, that sounds like my husband. And my son. I packed a bag for them and nothing in it was touched. Not even the flashlight. He may be an Eagle Scout, but I wouldn't say any of us are "campers." They didn't even roast a marshmallow. They unwrapped a couple of candy bars and ate them around the fire. Classic.