A week of sanguinity

Well, she is off. Sydney has left us for an entire week of camp. I will, of course, miss her but I have to be honest. I am more excited for her than anything. This is one of those huge milestones in life. She is off at camp on her own. Wow.

I can remember back when she was 4 and 5 when she went to this camp for just a single day. Lynley and I were nervous wrecks. That was just eight hours. Lynley and I spent an entire day with our stomach in knots. If you remember, Sydney did much better than we did. Once again, she showed us what an incredibly self-sufficient little girl she is.

There is no doubt in my mind that is the way that she is right now. I am confident that she is having a great time. I am surprisingly calm and at peace. I guess you could say that I am full of sanguinity. I miss her but I know down deep in my heart that she is having a wonderful time. She is old enough and strong enough to care for herself. I have no fear that she is tearfully pining away for us - at least Lynley and I. However, I am pretty sure she will be mopey at some point thinking of her brother and sister.

Sydney is at Camp Sanguinity which is actually a camp at Camp John Marc. If you are curious as to where she is and what she will be doing all week you can read a little about it on the website at http://www.campjohnmarc.org/.

Now, Sydney might be fairing well but her brother and sister have lost their leader. They aren't quite sure what to do. Graham has tried to step up to the plate in the meantime but it is still pretty clear that they have no idea what to do without being told. Sydney was the source of their entertainment. She told them what to do, how to do it, and when. She had them trained. The closest analogy that I can think of to describe it is an ant colony. Normally the travel in orderly lines right behind each other. There is order. However, if you take your foot and drag it across the line all of a sudden the ants start milling around randomly in all different directions. They lose all sense of order and purpose. That is a little of what it is like for Sydney and Graham. The are wandering around aimlessly.

Going to bed last night was not easy. Ainsley was sure that the monsters would come and she is as positive as the sky is blue that it is Sydney that protects her from them every night. Ainsley being riled up only did the same for Graham and the next thing we knew we had two kiddos up and out of bed hiding from monsters. Eventually we got the both of them to sleep but it is clear that this has been a large adjustment for them.

A little of our purpose has left the building and we are all just trying to figure out what to do.