It was a busy day at Takajo. This morning, over 50 families came to camp to allow their sons to jump into our program for Rookie Day. There to greet them were our Okees along with members of our staff who were committed to providing these little guys an excellent day. Our Okees, our oldest campers, volunteer to spend the day with these children because they see this day as a way of creating a seamless thread between the outgoing group of boys and Takajo’s future campers.
As I looked at our Okees taking on this leadership role, recognizing many of them have spent seven to nine years in camp creating deep and meaningful friendships, it was easy to imagine that this first experience for our rookies could turn into something magical. There was great energy in camp hosting these families— it got us all excited for our upcoming visiting day on Saturday. I’m reminded of a story that I’ve told in other blogs in previous years, but I think it bears repeating…
When my son Jack was a camper, my wife Joan went into Jack’s bunk during rest hour on Visiting Day and went back to the cubbies to assess what he had. When Joan opened the cubby door, there were shelves littered with clothing. Frustrated, Joan reached into the cubby with both hands and swept all the clothing off the shelves and onto the floor. Jack stood by his mother’s side and watched her pick up each item of clothing, folding it neatly and creating piles of shirts, shorts, socks, and underwear. After Joan put the last pair of folded shorts on the shelf, she turned to Jack and said, “This is the way your cubby should look. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Without hesitation, Jack turned to his mother and said “That’s not my cubby.”
While there’s great humor in this story, it points out that it’s not your cubby, it’s your son’s cubby, and he has managed to get dressed every day for the last four weeks without any assistance from his parents. While this may be a big ask, I would suggest you celebrate all of your son’s accomplishments with him on Saturday and not focus on the little things. Celebrate that he wakes up at reveille every morning and makes his bed, cleans the surrounding area in his bunk. Celebrate that his dirty laundry does get to the laundry bag and that he wears clean clothes every day— almost. Celebrate that he makes it on time to his activities and usually has the necessary equipment to participate. Celebrate that he can navigate around our dining room and never leaves hungry. Celebrate that he has made some great friendships and that he has likely had to show compassion and empathy to build these meaningful relationships.
When you arrive on Saturday, our staff will be there to greet you. At the welcome arch, there will be counselors who will have your son’s first-period activity— your son knows to meet you at that location. Savor that first hug, hold him for an extra minute knowing how incredible that first embrace will be. Encourage your son to show up to all of his activities— you’ll take great pride in witnessing how much your son packs into a day. Please know that no matter how challenging the goodbyes may be, your son will be surrounded by our amazing staff and redirected back into our program before you’ve even hit the Maine Turnpike.
