Ten Things Tuesday - Camp Necessities

I write this from sunny Montreal, and my parents’ home, where my daughters are sleeping for their last non-camp morning of the foreseeable future. We arrived yesterday afternoon in Bob’s Prius (it’s pale gold but the girls better term its color as “pearlized snot”) stuffed to the point where I could only use the side mirrors and any sudden movement to the right or the left caused cascades of falling (soft) piles on either daughter. Boo and Monkey were compartmented by their stuff; one clothes bag not able to be crammed in the back sat between them, their sleeping bags atop that, and their backpacks at their feet. Each had their childhood blankies (Boo’s is green, Monkey’s is purple) and used them to sort of tuck in their possessions. And, list or no list, they have a LOT of possessions.

Packing and last-minute shopping took up most of last week, with my living room transfromed from fairly tranquil home of couches, plants and tv to clothes and crap piles central. Everything had to be labeled and washed, then packed into the army surplus or Walmart duffels (we’ll see which better survives camp!), or backpacks. Uncle Woody and his army-trained packing knowhow strongarmed unbelievable piles into those packs. I am foolish to think that all of this will be coming home, so packing to come home at the end of the sumer will not present the same sort of challenge to the girls!

In a descending order of importance, here we go:

1. Mosquito netting. I think camp would have been less irritating for me way back when if I had had one of these to protect me from unwanted nighttime partial exsanguination. The kids depend on them and I snapped some nets up on Ebay.

2. Bugspray. Yeah, the whole theme of unwilling attempted exsanguination continues here. I remember with great horror the constant taste of nasty, toxic bugspray. The stuff my kids are awaying to camp with contains nothing as dangerous to them as it is to the bugs. Ehem.

3. Stationary with stamped, addressed envelopes. And at least two pens. WHY, I am certain. (As I wrote that, a faintly wounded voice from over my shoulder said, “Hey, you know you would maul us if we didn’t write. It’s NOT our idea to write that much, or at all for that matter…” Aren’t they charming? We’ve since had a little chat and I think they may be reconsidering their position.

4. Crocs and other water shoes. EVERYone who is anyone had those hellaciously ugly shoes last year and I somehow damaged my children by neglecting to equip my girls with these shoes last summer. Fortunately for Boo and Monkey, in swooped in-laws to the rescue.

5. Towels. Much like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, my kids need towels to properly navigate in the alien environment of camp. They swim at least once a day and may occasionally bathe…

6. Sunscreen. Last year, Boo managed to forget her hat on a canoe trip and fried her nose to a nub. We’re talking scabs and oozing and there my description ends. This year, having learned from her mistakes, we can only hope the skin on her nose remains reasonably unscathed. Monkey doesn’t need it, being blessed with a lovely olive tone she gets from I’m not certain.

7. Stuffed animals. Also called stuffies, each has chosen one furred vestige of home to accompany them on their summer’s adventures. Boo has a cow and Monkey a horse.

8. Food from home. We’re sending cans of soup, breakfast cereal and a number of other both organic and kosher things (Jewish camp) to augment the things they have purchased for the kids so that the girls can continue to eat food aligned with the way we live: organic, minimally processed, no refined sugar, colors, dyes, preservatives or artificial ingredients. Not only has the camp been amazing about accomodating my daughters, next year the director will begin advertising his not only kosher, nut-free (just like almost everywhere in Canadian schools, daycares, etc.) camp but one that supports organic options. The camp has also found a farm right behind them that will supply organic vegetables to the entire camp for the entire summer. This could be huge.

9. Hair doodads. Each child has hair long enough to require the use of ties, bands and clips, so both lovelies are equipped with sufficient hair crap to keep their hair from getting in their mouths for color war.

10. Sleeping bags. Actual comfortable ones. No slinky, thin and excessively zippery ones. Target to the rescue.

It’s time for bed now. Kids are asleep and since I’ll be rousing them at 6 tomorrow morning to meet the bus at 7:00, my bed in my old room beckons. Happy Tuesday.