Yesterday afternoon my Boy Scout came home after eight days at camp. He had a great time. He was also exhausted, sleep-deprived, bug-bitten, blistered, sore and achy.
But he cleaned up and went to church yesterday evening. I am not sure how much he got out of the sermon, but he was there, he sang, he bowed his head and I assume he prayed. Maybe he was praying it would end soon.
He didn't want to go, but he went without too much complaint. On the way home we talked about the lack of time to recover from one thing before it's time to move on to the next. I remembered returning from vacations and having to get up for work the next day. I didn't want to go. Sometimes the jobs were even ones I hated. But I went.
He went to bed early, because this morning I had to wake him up at 6:30 for soccer camp. This afternoon, he has to go to the orthodontist to get new braces put on. No downtime.
It turns out he didn't make it to soccer camp. He got up all right - the smell of bacon was irresistible (at camp all they got was turkey bacon which he described as disgusting). But everything hurts and he can't stretch his legs. I cut him a break: he'll start soccer camp tomorrow. This is just a fun day camp; he's not playing in the soccer season this year. He enjoys the camp and I am all for increasing his soccer skills. Still, I wonder: should I have forced him to go? He won't always have the option of staying home when he's feeling sore and tired from a previous activity. But isn't soccer camp supposed to be fun?
Still, he's getting a taste of what real life - adult life - is like. We don't always have down time between activities. We have to be ready to get up and do the next thing. Sometimes it's hard. Next summer he will be old enough to get his working papers and get a job. It's time to start learning the realities of real life. Kid life is coming to an end.
3 comments:
I have two children that would be up and at 'em in this situation and two that would not. I wonder if some of it is a personality thing? I know I need a lot of down time and recoup time, but my oldest daughter can go from one thing to another with no problem, and I mean strenuous things like doing Bible clubs all day in this heat and then go off and swing dance or work. I would be dying on the inside. If my son had made a commitment like promising to mow the neighbors yard or something like that I would have made him go, but something that is just for fun I probably would do like you did. The only exception to that is if was something that really stretched our budget but he had really wanted to go then I would have probably made him go. I hope he has a good day at home!
"Kid life is coming to an end."
Yep, and now you get to say to him what I often say to Stephen - "Welcome to the grown-up world, Baby boy!"
I think cutting him a little slack is just fine. We all need a vacation day once in a while. Though there will be times when he will have to plug on without the benefit of a break, in this situation it doesn't sound like anyone was dependent upon him being there and it was more of a fun thing than a serious committment.
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