My son and I just got back from camping. The weather was perfect and so was the company. We went with one of my friends and his son. It was his son's first time camping. We had an extremely good time and we had time to discuss kids today and their busy schedules. In a recent article, we had both read in the paper, the author wrote about how kids today have their schedules planned out to a "T" by their parents so they can fit everything in. The author also talked about how many parents feel the need to entertain their kids all the time. We both agreed that this was not good. We did agree that kids need time to be kids and learn to use their imagination. My friend and I both recalled our mothers forbidding us to come inside during many summer days and using the phrase "Find something to do!". We did, and most of the time ended up playing ball with the neighbor kids or brothers or sisters. Camping sure got all of us back to occupying our time when we didn't have a schedule to keep. My son rode his scooter for a long time and pretended to be fighting in "Star Wars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean". The boys later that night got a chance to play "flashlight" tag and run around in the dark. They had a blast! The next day my friend suggested we get a boat and row for awhile out on the lake. We (mostly my friend because my steering was less than perfect) rowed out to an island and the boys had a great time playing, and wondering, if pirates had ever been on the island. We found a couple of wild blackberry bushes and enjoyed getting "stained" and tasting summer. The meals we had consisted of basic camp food. We had hot dogs, chips, and smores for supper and bacon and eggs, cooked right over the campfire, for breakfast. There is nothing like campfire food to get you reminiscing about your childhood. My friend and I stayed up until midnight talking about other camping outings and growing up in general. I hope to camp a few more times this summer, and fall, and enjoy the no-schedule activities.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment