Camp Tanuga-A Place To Grow

Frankie, Floyd and I are up at camp right now. It's freakin' crazy here. There is a lot going on and no one wants to miss anything.

I get it.

I'm the same way.

Overnight camp is a special place where kids grow both physically and mentally in the time they are here. The days are long but the weeks are short. It's over before you know it. The kids stay busy trying new activities like the the trapeze or the high ropes course in a safe and supportive environment, they broaden and sharpen their creative and social skills, and they learn how to co-exist and compromise with others in very close quarters--all the while feeling out their own independence and new-found autonomy several miles from home.

Again... it's crazy here. It is not at all unusual for the kids to "forget" to brush their teeth or write a letter home and, in some cases, a few have been known to "not have time" to go to the bathroom.

I'm a little surprised by our newest addition, Miss Frankie Jade, though.

It seems my girl has been swept up by the madness as well.

My hope every day is that Frankie drinks around 20 oz of milk. That is usually a given, but these past few days she has just "had no time" for her bottle and she would prefer to be doing something else. No. Uh-Uh. Sor-ry. That is just not going to happen. Last I checked, one of the Camp Tanuga prerequisites is that campers don't crap their pants on a daily basis and seeing as though Miss Frankie still does, it's not looking like there is going to be space for her in a cabin anytime soon. Drink your milk, shortie.

Frankie has also taken a recent stab at standing (with help) up for her convictions. She is currently proclaiming herself as a vegetarian. Turkey? No more. Hamburger? No chance. Tuna fish? Are you kidding me? Chicken McNuggets? Paleez...it's your dime. Waste if you wish.

I'm not sure how or when this happened; Frankie definitely liked turkey a month or so ago. I have fond memories. In fact, I must still be in mourning those nostalgic turkey days because I still put it in front of her quite frequently, though my efforts consistently prove to be an exercise in futility. Sometimes I'll even throw down turkey and cheese together hoping her love for cheese will balance her dislike for turkey, but she just tosses the sad, unwanted turkey aside (or more likely, to the floor) and ignores its existence.

I am a counselor for one child this summer.

She's not even paying to come here and she is already proving to be quite the high maintenance camper-in-training. She pushes her bottles away and turns her nose up at any "food with a face," yet she always manages to leave the biggest mess behind in the mess hall. (She flirts hard with the K-Staff so they just don't have the heart to get mad at her).

My girl seems to be following the lead of the campers that surround her. Her little body is bypassing the shorts she has worn only once and her head is overflowing with new thoughts of determination every day. Do I wish she'd slow down and drink her milk and eat some meat? Sure, but she's not starving and I know she'll get to it eventually.

With each day that passes we see less and less of the sad, little, abandoned FuLan we picked up from the orphanage and more and more of the happy, sassy, secure Frankie Jade we are raising. I can already tell she will one day be running around this place as busy and preoccupied as the next kid...I just hope she takes a minute to say "Hi" to her Mommy every now and then.