Camp Big Springs

Christian came home from school one day in March super excited about going to Camp Big Springs with his friends. I had never heard of it before, so I had to do some research. It turns out that the Provo School District offers 5th graders a chance to go to Camp Big Springs (in Provo canyon) for 5 days during the summer. The program is offered through the schools, and they have trained staff that teach classes on nature and help ensure the kid's safety and enjoyment. Apparently, it is quite the tradition in the area and spots fill up super fast. Jonathon and I were unsure if we wanted to send Christian alone for a week without us. 10 years old seems pretty young for something like that, but he was so excited, so we gave it careful consideration. 

As Jonathon and I talked, I kept coming back to a missionary fireside that was given in our stake a few months ago. They talked about how missionaries right now are really struggling with anxiety and depression because they have not been given opportunities to be away from home and on their own. The speaker kept emphasizing that kids these days haven't had to work much and haven't had the opportunity to do hard things. When they get on their missions, they are completely overwhelmed and can't handle it. Christian may only be 10, but it seemed like the perfect chance to start allowing him these important opportunities. The camp was a bit expensive, but we hoped it would be a great experience for him. 

On the Monday when he left for camp, Christian packed all of his stuff up and did such a great job getting ready. We followed the packing list that was provided by the school, except I couldn't find any chapstick to send with him. I wasn't too worried though because I had been camping many, many times and never took chapstick. Christian doesn't show many emotions, so I wasn't quite sure how he was feeling, but he quickly found his friends and didn't seem nervous at all.  

That night and the next morning there was a huge storm. It was super windy and it rained like crazy. I was quite worried about him sleeping in a tent in the mountains during that storm, but I figured that no news was good news. Later that day, the camp posted some pictures of all the campers on Facebook and said that everyone was doing great and not to worry. They must have had lots of worried moms! They posted pictures of each tent. Here is Christian's group:

It was a long week at our house without Christian. My best helper was gone, and Andrew was bored out of his mind without his best friend to play with. On Friday morning, I went to the school to pick Christian up. I was anxious to hear how everything went. When I saw him, I thought he had food all over his face, (that wouldn't be a huge surprise because he is such a messy eater) but it turned out that it was sores that had developed around his mouth from extremely chapped lips. I felt terrible that I hadn't sent the chapstick with him, but I had no idea that could even happen. It was so dark and crusted that it looked like a mustache over his top lip. He said earlier in the week it had been much worse, but the camp counselors had been putting vaseline on it all week. He told me that on Tuesday night, he had suffered from dehydration. He was shivering like crazy and felt nauseous. The camp counselors and nurses knew exactly what to do and gave him an extra sleeping bag and got him hydrated. Apparently, the water was a bit of a hike, and he was too lazy to go refill his water bottle. I have to think that is a big reason why his lips got so chapped. Poor Christian... he learned a painful, but valuable lesson. I'm glad that he was so well taken care of and that they didn't have to call me because I probably would have been a mess.

He also said that he was quite disappointed in the boys in his tent. There were two boys with potty mouths who used very crude language. Christian has always had an extremely strong conscience when it comes to right and wrong, so they drove him crazy with their disgusting, crass talk. He stood up to them several times, but it didn't stop them. 

I hated that Christian had to sit in that tent and listen to them using foul language and being disrespectful.  I hated that the counselors did not make more of an effort to stop them after Christian and several of his friends had told them what was going on. I wished he could remain innocent and didn't have to go through that. But since it had already happened, I really wanted to make it a good learning experience for him. We talked about how to deal with situations like that because no matter how hard we try, there will be times when we are around people that are doing bad things. We talked about how to tune evil out, how to pray for help, and how to bring good thoughts back. It was so discouraging to find out that the boys who were doing it were members of the church. The mama bear in me wanted to find their mothers and tell them what their sons had done, but I knew that wouldn't help Christian. Overall, he seemed very mature about the situation. He knew that what they were doing was wrong, and I know that Christian will never do the same thing because he saw how much it affected everyone else. Gah...The teenage years are coming, and it isn't going to get any easier. 

Thank goodness, despite all the problems, Christian said he had a great time! When I asked him what the best part was, he said "all of it!" He loved the nature classes that he went to. He loved learning to cook his own campfire meals. He had a fantastic time with his friends away from home. I heard all about his astronomy class where he got to see the moons of Jupiter. I heard about his predator/prey class and saw his wildlife drawings. He was able to deal with the pain of dehydration and still have fun. He was able to work through the emotional drain of crude boys and still feel positive about the overall experience. I was so proud of him! 

No, it had not been perfect. Real life never is. There were problems and struggles, but he was able to endure them and enjoy himself. In the end, that is exactly what we wanted from this experience. We wanted him to learn some grit... to learn to do hard things. I can't be with him all the time, hovering over his shoulder. He proved to me that he could make good choices on his own, and he knows right from wrong. We've got some vitally important years coming up as we raise these special boys, and this was a good start in our education and theirs.