Happy Camper

Happy Camper

This was a big week for the little guy.

On Sunday, we had a Guest, our new neighbor, over for dinner. The Guest ("What was her name again?") has grown children of her own and was genuinely interested in what the children were up to. It was an obvious thrill for them, especially Jonjo, to share their projects and their views on baseball. The dinner ended with ice cream sundaes brought by The Guest ("What was her name again?").

An aside: Because I have attended too many dinner parties in which children are treated as a nuisance, it was also a pleasure for me to have a guest (I actually remember her name) who enjoyed the children as much as this one obviously did.

To be fair, Jonjo had gone into the meal excited because he had just finished packing for his first overnight school camping trip. Jonjo is a young gentleman who understands how to enjoy packing!

After the meal we learned that we would all be going to the Giant's final game in the race for the National League Pennant (and I think we all know how that turned out!).

Between The Guest ("What was her name again?"), the packing and the pennant our Jonjo was so excited he was shaking. He made a heroic effort to go to sleep that night, but "sleep" ended up being a slumber party in my room starting at 10:30 p.m.

His teacher had a sent a notice home saying the children might be sad and scared to be leaving, on their own, for three nights. Not this one. He donned his hat, grabbed his bag and had to be reminded to give his mother a kiss goodbye before he took his eight year old body and headed for the hills.

Now, Hank and I are on our own. True, it's more peaceful. But it's also emptier.

"It's really weird not having Jonjo around," said Hank.

Yes, it is. But I'm glad to have a happy camper.