There is a rite of passage for many kids across the US of a certain age—summer camp. The more rarefied version of this—sleep away camp. I had the benefit of getting to go to a few sleep away camps in my youth. Josh did not. So, when I floated the idea to him that it was time for us to send Sylvie, he was not necessarily on board. He didn’t understand why we needed to send her far away (or away at any distance). I found a beautiful camp, nestled in the high country of Yosemite–Camp Tawonga. I showed him the website. She could go for a week, a Taste of Camp, they called it on the website. Josh was not totally enthusiastic, but warmed to the idea.
Fast forward eight months. We just dropped Sylvie off at Camp Tawonga with her best friend Tali. They have known each other since they were two. Sylvie had a duffel bag with everything labeled (one night I wrote her name in sharpie on 6 pairs of socks and six pairs of underwear). We crested over the hill and saw the camp for the first time. I actually could feel my breath catch. It was so beautiful and Sylvie was going to get to spend a week here.
She just turned eight last week. She is growing up before our eyes. And now we left her at an incredible place with an organic garden, the Tuolumne river running through the camp, a pool—you get the idea. I was so proud of the way she was taking it all in. She and Tali held hands and strode across the field to their cabin. Tali’s mom said she felt like we were dropping the girls off a college. I know what she meant. They were going to have an experience entirely their own, without their parents.
Sylvie will do great. She is a ziplining, rock-climbing, small but mighty kid who does not lack self-confidence.
We were on a hike hours before her camp drop off. She told me that she was going to make healthy food choices (fruits and/or veg with every meal) and she would eat food with calcium. I just felt proud of the human being she has grown to be.
The theme for Sylvie’s camp in Hebrew is Heneini (I am here). It is a phrase meant evoke an appreciation for the present, taking in the moment. I think that it a very appropriate theme for our family sabbatical year together. Staying present and appreciating the moments as we live them. We are all so guilty of letting life just happen to us.
I can’t wait to pick her up on Friday and hear all about her adventures. Maybe by that time Josh will have stopped crying.