Change is in the summer air

School ends. We say goodbye to teachers and wonder who Sam will have next year. Will the new ones understand Sam like Mrs. Holland? Will they be patient, loving and help him stay on the path to wonderfulness that he's on.  I so hope so. The final day of school comes and we wish classmates and mommies a happy summer and cross our fingers that some of his friends (and mine!) will be in next year's class. I hide it from Ben and Sam but I always cry as we drive away on the last day. They don't ever seem as nostalgic as I feel but I kind of hate change and am super sentimental  and couldn’t turn my waterworks off even if I wanted to.

A few days later camp begins.  This will be Sam's fourth summer at this camp. Each year I worry that it's not the right place for him. Is it too competitive? Are the boys going to be kind? Are the counselors going to understand Sam's quirkiness? Camp is all about things that are hard for him - sports and social skills. Co-campers couldn't care less that he's a great reader and quick with numbers. What matters is how he gets along with his group. For nine periods they travel from activity to activity with a group of 12 boys. They move from walled hockey and tennis to nature, cooking and swimming. A day full of fun but potentially challenging for my cerebral boy. We chose Willow Lake because it would expose Sam to all sorts of activities he would normally shy away from and they would be offered in a not too intense environment...it's not a camp full of jocks. The campers like sports but care more about having fun and the focus isn't just on winning.

Last summer Sam didn't get along with a few of the boys in his group.  The camp worked hard with us to improve the situation and by the end of August he was happy and intended to return for another summer. In the Fall, Sam took a class after school at a local venue. He loved it and begged to go spend the whole summer there building rockets, creating video games and websites and solving crimes like he was the main character on CSI.  Like I said before, camp is hard for Sam. It pushes him out of his comfort zone which makes it a critical component of his development and one I don't want to walk away from. So I compromised and told him he could go sit inside in Montclair for two weeks but that the other six weeks had to be spent outside at camp crossing some items off his bucket list.  

Two weeks before camp kicked in he announced a switch of plans:  

 

Mom, he said, I love it at Willow Lake. Why wouldn't I want to spend the whole summer there? 

While I hate change, especially at the last minute, this is one is welcomed. So I smile and agree. And once again I wonder - who is this changed boy?