Scout's Honor

I hated camp.

I attended a Girl Scout camp in the early 1960s and it was pretty rugged stuff – deep in the woods in a remote part of Long Island, with a boggy stream for swimming (ick) and lots and lots of bugs.  The campsites themselves were open air pavilion style “cabins,” off the ground but still pretty raggedy.  The only good food was served at breakfast, although there were S’mores after dinner (yum), a Girl Scout tradition.  And the main activities were hiking, firemaking and nature study. Ugh.

The first child in my family to go to sleep away camp, I had won a “campership” because I earned the most merit badges in my Troop that year, forever the over-eager overachiever.  Additionally, I wrote a compelling little essay about why I should be given the privilege of attending Girl Scout camp (“Camp Edy”) – how I would learn more about nature and wildlife and fellowship with my kid comrades in green.  I lied through my teeth in that essay, because I hated woods and all the bugs. But I still wanted to win that campership, by god.

That said, I did like wearing my official Girl Scout attire, which consisted of little green shorts with a white stripe on the sides, a white T-shirt with the Girl Scout clover-leaf and Camp Edy name and,  of course, Girl Scout socks and white sneakers.  I felt all cool camper-ish in my duds, as if I really did fit the image of the ideal Girl Scout.

But then I got to camp and got the lay of the land.  Grim.  My best friend at the time convinced her mom (our  Scout leader) to send her at the same time as me, but we were put in separate cabins far away from each other so we’d “make new friends.” She hated camp as much as I did, until we found an older counselor/mule who would deliver to our cabins heartfelt notes about how much we missed our home, hated our bug bites – my friend got poison ivy too, which was way worse -- and each other.  As I said, grim.

My most memorable accomplishment at camp was winning a cereal eating contest on my last day:  10 bowls of Wheaties!

Ah, memories are made of this.  They sure came flooding back today as I looked at pictures online of my beautiful daughter having a blast at a YMCA camp near Virginia Beach.  Archery, water sports and sailing, jewelry making, art activities, zipline fun – enjoyed by some pretty happy tweens who are likely experiencing their first extended stay away from home.  Lots of smiles, and not a single hiking or nature picture in the bunch! 

I’m so glad it’s everything for her that my camp wasn’t for me:  A truly fun, unusual, girlfriend-filled experience.  And, by the way, she’s in the same cabin as one of her best friends from home (which I requested but wasn’t promised to get); even sweeter.

My worries about ticks and bug bites and big drama disappointment are starting to ease, thank goodness.  My tween is having a swell time.

Scout’s honor.