This is the first time I send my kids to sleep away camp. Three have gone and one at home. For a whole month! I know they are going to have a super time. I know that they will be fine. I am not so sure how I am going to be.
It is hard though. It is hard to talk about your kids "problems". And I question it every time, it feels as though I come saying "hey here is my problem kid", instead of what I want to say "here is my wonderful, energetic, creative and going to be a great addition to his new group kid'" And he will, but I still believe that I need to warn them.
I present this list of potential problems, that may or may never present themselves:
He might take off in the woods without telling anyone, just because he is excited and you haven't paid enough attention to him.
He might wake everyone up at 6:00 a.m. because he was too loud, or worse he might not wake anyone up and leave on his own.
He might need his meds in the afternoon, or not, don't worry you can tell by 3:00 p.m., you'll just see it. SEE WHAT?
He will zig, when everyone else is zagging.
He will be extra loud, tease others more, be confrontational, seek out his brother and start bothering him incessantly.
I told them that a clue that he might not be doing so well is not about how he is feeling, because quite frankly, he is almost always happy and feeling fine, but that others will be agitated, annoyed and bothered by his behavior.
And despite being 11, and being told that those should be visual clues to him that perhaps he needs to either remove himself from the group or attempt to actually control his inappropriate behavior, he won't have a clue. There is a complete disconnect about how his behavior affects others.
We've have done art therapy, play therapy, behavioral therapy. The only thing that works is medication.
And I feel bad, I feel bad having to present him like this. Is this denial? I can't live there, I would like to, but I don't think it is the responsible place to be.
In the end, I hope that he has a positive camp experience, and makes friends.
