Camping adventure
Back, tired and happy, from a terrific overnight camping trip with D, courtesy of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. D is totally obsessed with tents, loves nothing more than to climb in and out of the display models at REI, and has been begging to sleep overnight in one since last year. We did it, and he even slept reasonably well — much better than his mother.
But the highlight of the weekend, however, turned out to be just hanging out with the other kids, especially the older ones. For the first four years of his life, his father and I — or the other adults to whom we entrusted his care — mediated all of his interactions with the world. I’m just loving watching him learn to make his own way.
In her comments on Friday’s post, Jody points out some of the dangers of the peer culture for children. I’m sure there will be days when I miss my malleable preschooler. Even in less than 24 hours of hanging out with the big kids, D learned that such a thing as a "gameboy" exists and started calling me "mom" as well as "mommy." But I’m still feeling a bit like the mommy bird watching my fledgling start to catch the current.
April 17th, 2005 at 10:53 pm
One of the exciting parts of Sunday school this year has been watching the kids begin to emulate the “big kids.” There’s a heavy emphasis on teenagers guiding and assisting young children (in the Christmas pageant, the Easter egg hunt, etc.) and watching that interaction is quite, quite remarkable. There’s an amazing opportunity for older and younger child alike to revel in feelings of power and competence.
Okay, now I sound completely loony and utterly jargon-bound. But you hopefully get what I’m saying.
Of course David Brooks wrote an op-end in today’s Times about how teenagers are actually far less sexually active now than they were in 1990. But it doesn’t hurt my argument that much, because my concern about the sexualization of children (especially female children) actually has almost zip to do with their sexual identities as Amy outlined them. I want my children to be healthy sexual beings as teenagers, not chaste zombies chanting “abstinence now, abstinence now.” I simply don’t think the vast majority of pop culture’s sexual content has anything to do with sexual identity: it’s all about consumption.
We went camping for a single night in June 2003, but had to forego camping last summer because my brother got married in California. We’re already anxiously planning this summer’s trip. Do Virginia or West Virginia state parks allow advance reservations? I’m nervous about the first-come, first-served policy here in NC….
April 18th, 2005 at 2:11 pm
Heh, PK did that “Mom” thing for a while, and my reaction was mock outrage. “Mom? MOM?!? Mr. PK, I am your MAMA.”
Now he does it sometimes just to tease.
April 18th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
That sounds terrific! Does PATC have family camping weekends often? We would love to do that with our 5-year-old.
I am greatly enjoying your blog.
(signed, another federally employed NoVa mom of a pre-K boy)
April 18th, 2005 at 4:43 pm
I do think the state parks have reservations around here, but I’m not sure. PATC also has some cabins that members can rent, which is a nice way to “camp” without it being such a disaster if the weather is bad.
The family camping weekend is only once a year, but there seemed to be a lot of enthusiasm for having kid-friendly activities on the weekend once a month. PATC has weekly family hikes, but they’re during the week, which doesn’t help us working types.
April 19th, 2005 at 7:23 pm
How funny. We stopped at REI on Saturday because Seth loves climbing in and out of tents too. I’ve set ours up in the yard a number of times.
April 20th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
>PATC has weekly family hikes, but they’re during the week, which doesn’t help us working types.
I noticed that too. Got all excited about them before I realized they were weekday.
I should contact PATC some time, I guess, and say I’m another one who’d be interested in weekend kid-friendly activities. Or at least I can keep an eye on their forecast, now that I know about it. Thanks!
April 20th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
Genevieve, email me with a valid address, and I’ll let you know when I hear further from the group at PATC organizing stuff.
April 21st, 2005 at 2:32 pm
Thank you very much, Elizabeth! Where on this site is your email address? I couldn’t find it, and I don’t get it when I click on your name in the comments.