Have you ever had things to do that you just avoid? You hear the other moms talk about signing their kids up for camp months ago, but you can't bring yourself to be bothered with the enormous hassle of investigating camps, interviewing people, making the decision and forking over the cash. Then suddenly, its summer and the kids ask you where they are supposed to report to next week. Oops.
Its not that I don't want them to have fun and love their summers. Its that I am hassled all the time that future planning has no place in my life. If things are sailing along, that is chaotic enough that I can barely function. The idea of planning another detail is unbearable. Lest you think I'm a horrible slacker, only one of my four children is without a solid plan for the summer. And mostly its because of his age group and his inability to attend overnight camp.
I cannot imagine that in two years I will be helping my oldest choose a college. Aside from the whole emotional "where did the time go" aspect, the idea of adding on a year-long layer of planning into my life is horrifying. A conflict filled, stress inducing, disagreeable year of deciding the all important decision about college. When in fact, it really doesn't matter that much where you go to college.
I mean for the ninety percent of us who will go on to lead a normal life, it really won't matter that much whether you went to BYU, BU, AU, UT, NYU, AM, or any combination of these letters. As long as they have a good program in your area of study, most people will make friends, make mistakes, discover a little of who they are and hopefully discover love. Maybe for a very specific few it really matters if you go to MIT or not, but honestly, there are plenty of Harvard moms in the preschool pickup line with me. Thats right, standing in the same line, going to the same birthday parties and dealing with the same tantrum issues.
Still, you cannot possibly explain this to a teenager who thinks that the tank top she wears today will greatly impact her life for the foreseeable future. Afterall, the shade of purple needs to compliment the eyeliner- C'mon people. It takes a lot of work to make it look like you don't care about anything.
Anyway, I'm looking ahead too far. Lets get through the next couple of weeks and see what camp I can find for the 12 year old. Some of the computer camps wanted to charge over seven hundred dollars for a week long day camp. Hell, I will take a leave of absence from my job and open a camp for seven hundred dollars a kid. It will be called life camp. I will teach kids how to grocery shop with coupons- but somehow not be able to get everything you need in one store. I will teach them to multitask being on the phone, cooking, doing laundry, wiping a nose (kid, yours or dog), cleaning and answering ten questions about frogs all at the same time. Priceless.