Our beautiful weather pattern continues, and we are enjoying Maine the way it should be during the summer. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and the temperatures remain in the low eighties. Our rookies are visiting camp this weekend and are having the time of their lives.
We also toured a number of prospective families today who are considering Takajo as their sons’ summer home. At the end of one of the tours, the family made their way into the dining room for a snack and something cold to drink. The little boy seemed excited about his tour, and the mom seemed pleased with her visit. Walking a few steps behind the mother and child was the dad, who had his young daughter cradled in his arms. I could not help but notice the love and intimacy between the father and his daughter, and it reminded me of similar moments that I have had with my children when they were that age. I commented to the parents that while we are sometimes stressed and tired from the energy that it takes to care for our little ones, it seems that within a blink of an eye, our children are independent and transition to young adulthood.
As parents, there are countless, daily details that go into raising our children, but it seems that the child-rearing role vanishes before we realize it. As a father of two sets of twins only twenty months apart, there was a time in my life that I felt I always had a child in my arms. However, I cannot remember the last time I had my child in my arms. In what seems like a brief instant, that need simply vanishes. My children were independent and functioning on their own before I recognized the transition.
Seeing the young rookies, only six years of age, running around camp gleefully, reminded me that those child-rearing years past by in an instant and that camp provides children with the life skills that they need when they begin to gain some independence from their parents.
As I reflected on my visit with this lovely family, I thought back to the tears that rolled down the faces of some of our Okee parents who celebrated their final visiting day with us last weekend. This was just another reminder of how precious life is and how important it is to make the most out of each and every day.
Camp Takajo is a microcosm of the real world. While we all want our children to have a euphoric experience, although we all know that in reality, not every day is perfect. What we teach in camp is an extension of what you are teaching in your home, teaching your children critical life skills that they will need beyond their camping days.
Today was another incredible day at camp. I witnessed our Intermediates and Subseniors play in a soccer challenge. The skill I observed would rival any sporting event that I have ever seen at this camp. We hosted a head-to-head intercamp tennis tournament for our Warrior and Junior campers against a friendly competitor. I had the opportunity to see our boys compete to their greatest potential while showing sportsmanship that would make you proud.
For those boys, today was a ten, but for a few other boys in camp, there were age-appropriate struggles: a squabble in the bunk, coming up on the losing end of a game, or the frustration of feeling that you’re the only one doing all the work during clean-up. These are all moments in a day that do not define one’s camp experience but rather define how we handle moments in time that are not going our way.
I reflected on the father carrying his adorable daughter and thinking that most parents would be asking the question, “How much longer?”
I ask myself whether our boys who are being challenged in camp by those difficult moments in time are asking themselves a similar question. I come up with the conclusion that, just like parents, those struggles eventually and quickly come to an end. The same resolution will be true for our boys when those struggles naturally fade away into distant, if not forgotten, memories.
As we end our fifth week of camp, our boys relaxed together for our weekly Saturday Night at the Movies. A cool breeze made for perfect sleeping weather, and tomorrow our boys will enjoy their favorite Dunkin’ Donuts breakfast.
