You know how after all the participants on the Survivor television come together and reunite for the final show and you can barely recognize them because they have showered, brushed their hair and gained the weight back from the lack of food on the island? That’s how I feel right now. Except for the brushed hair. Oh, and the losing and gaining weight thing. Other than that, I look exactly like a Survivor finalist.
And that’s because this afternoon I returned from a weekend away at camp as a parent helper for Brownies (a Girl Guide program for ages 7-8). I am now showered and have a glass of wine in hand, so I am feeling much more rosy about the whole experience than I was 24 hours ago — in an unheated cabin supervising 8-year-old girls who preferred to stay up giggling than go to sleep.
Basically, being at Brownie camp is like my personal version of hell because I don’t like being cold, I need personal space, I can’t stand too much talking all at once. Oh, and there was no expresso machine, red wine or naps. So, yeah, hell.
But I believe so strongly that getting this kind of experience is so amazing for young kids that I agreed to help (I was just a helper, the leaders who organized the whole thing are my personal heros). When I was a girl, I was a Brownie and a Girl Guide and I can vividly remember going to overnight camp. And considering how many eons ago that was, it just goes to show that these kinds of camping experiences live with you forever. They’re lifetime memories.
And here are some of the memories we created this weekend:
There were more than 100 girls gathered for this weekend's camp. The Sparks slept in a heating area of the dining hall, the Brownies slept in unheated cabins (shown), and the Girl Guides and Pathfinders slept in tents (shown).
There were tons of group games. Here, the girls are playing an "elephant" race together.
And there were also tons of craft activities. Here, two Brownies are working together to make a raft from twigs and yarn.
And there some ceremony. Here, all the girls are gathered in a horseshoe formation for the flag raising and singing of the national anthem.
And there was also independence and responsibility. Here, the girls are washing their own dishes, which they then put back in their "ditty" bags (a mesh bag) to hand and dry until the next meal.
And last but not least, there was some plain old fashioned fun and silliness. Here, some girls are goofing around on their bunk beds together.
And Stella's favourite memory? The mascarade parade at sunset.
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