Adulting is a bitch lately, right? The violence in the world, the continued murder of black men in the streets with no apparent consequence, this goddamn slog of an election cycle. All of it is just getting to me. It was piling up so badly the week of 4th of July that I actually cried. I don't cry, generally. But I was at my old Girl Scout camp, one of the most sacred places in my life, and I walked down into the hollow to see the waterfalls and started tearing up. Later I climbed up into the cave to have a quiet moment, and just lost it for a minute. Full-on ugly cry. I guess I needed it. The weekend following, I took the boys on a one-night camping trip with a few families from my Navigators group. It was the first time I've ever taken both kids camping without MB, but it went great. I wasn't stressed (other than by the aforementioned adulty life crap, which I did my best to ignore all weekend), the kids were well-behaved and had a ton of fun. A+++ would do again, basically. It was pretty much exactly what I needed to get my brain right. I'm still low-level cranky and probably would do well to just unplug completely, but I don't feel like I'm close to cracking like I did before we went out there.
What else is up? I finished up my last week of half-day camp at work and got a kickass review on facebook from one of the parents. Nico is SUPER excited about school starting. I'm pretty sad about the summer ending, because I feel like I blinked and missed it, way worse than last year. There are so many things I wanted to do that we didn't have time for. Getting Nico's supplies and new backpack and new shoes is kind of exciting just like it was when I was a kid, and I am glad he's happy about going back. I had more fun than I ever expected narrowing down backpacks for Nico to choose from (he really wanted a pack with two big zipper pockets. I required one with water bottle pockets.) and ordering new shoes for both kids. (backpack and shoes if anyone else likes to peek at other people's school stuff like I do)
The local UU church did a Hogwarts-themed evening camp last week, and I volunteered to teach Care of Magical Creatures two nights. It was SO much fun. Both boys got to go, and even though they know zero about Harry Potter (I know, but Nico is way too sensitive.) they had a good time. Elliott especially seemed really thrilled to be running with the big kids. We have two weeks left until Nico starts school, so if the days could go by slowly, that would be nice.
Reading (just finished):The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
One of my coworkers mentioned a few days ago that her four-year-old daughter had been smelling really bad lately, for no apparent reason. My coworker had tried brushing the kid's teeth more often, she was bathing her regularly, but nothing helped. As she was telling me about it, I remembered that my music teacher had told the class a story in seventh grade about her daughter putting a bean up her nose, and how no one knew until the kid's breath started to stink and no one could figure out why. My coworker took her daughter to the doctor and sure enough, she had a piece of grow capsule sponge in her nose. The more you know! So maybe now someone can google "why does my kid smell bad" and find out that said kid might have something up the nose.
A thing I finally got around to
I finally started listening to Hamilton, about forty years after everyone else. And holy shit, it's just as good as everyone says. I didn't even actively resist it, I just never got around to it and didn't know where to look for it (I don't have Prime). Then I saw this carpool karaoke video and decided I wanted to hear the rest, and I finally realized, duh, the library surely has a copy. And they do, and now I've listened to Act I three times all the way through. I need to move on to Act II, but I just keep replaying my favorites.
A thing that has been great
I've taught two of my three weeks of half-day nature camp at work for the summer and they've been so much fun. I'm so lucky that this is my job. I had a brainwave the other day, and next summer I think we're going to offer a day camp for grownups. (probably just one full day or two evenings, not a full week) My coworkers and I are already making lists of the things we want to do.
A thing that has been satisfying
We spent Saturday taking every single toy out of the kids' playroom, sorting it all, and then moving their old train table and all their Legos (previously mostly stored in Nico's room and scattered across various other surfaces in the house) in for them to share. So far this has been a huge hit - Nico popped out of bed at 6:30 a.m. Sunday and Monday and woke me up (thanks, kid) to ask if he could go downstairs to play with the Legos. I said sure, but you're not allowed to ask me for help with any of it until 8:30. Elliott asks to go in the "Lego playroom" all the time (we put up a baby gate to keep the dog out, and E can't open it on his own). They spent hours of the long weekend playing cooperatively and imaginatively in there, and it is fantastic. THIS. THIS IS WHY WE HAD TWO KIDS. I've also done a satisfying amount of decluttering, which snowballed from the outgrown toys to a leftover stash of outgrown clothes to a bunch of unused stationery to a huge box of VHS movies. I have learned that when I get on a decluttering kick I should just ride the wave as long as I can, just to see how much I can get done.
Obligatory holiday kid photo:
Reading: (just finished) The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater and Free to Fall by Lauren Miller / (just started) Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
