Jenny From the Bunk is BACK From Summer Camp – But Forgot How to Live in The Real World

goodbye camp pic

I’m Back I’m Back I’m Back!!! In case you didn’t hear, I’m back from my summer at Camp Lenox. I have so much to catch you guys up on, first of all, being home kinda sucks…

Yep, this summer I’ve gotten to feel both homesickness and “back-home sickness,” and they’re oddly similar. When I was at summer camp, and there was downtime, a rainy day, a rest hour, a cancelled period … the locomotive (that is camp) went from careening around bends to simply chugging along. During those times, I missed my hubby, my coffee, my bed, hot water …

Coming back home from summer camp is not so different, except it’s worse … that same freight train doesn’t slow to a chug, it screeches to a halt.

I remember as a kid, I would cry for weeks (literally) when I got back from summer camp — to the point that my parents were worried I’d been brainwashed into some camp cult. I couldn’t settle into my old life. You know, a life where you don’t sleep with 15 kids in your room every night or have 5 minutes downtime, at most, to get to your next awesome, fun, fast-paced activity? After camp, your home life feels like a prison sentence.

PS this is why your kids may not seem happy to see you (or as happy as you’d like) you kinda remind them of jail.

In the last week, I’ve been sad to see my kids missing their friends and I’ve found myself trying to acclimate to the pace, the lack of intense activities at my finger tips, and being able to choose my own food. I’m really trying to get back into society, but society is throwing me all kinds of curve balls. For instance, I went shopping the other day for fall clothes and they didn’t have a single Camp Lenox item. What am I supposed to do for fall? Not wear their camp t-shirts and sweats and tanks and sweatshirts? Am I not supposed tie-dye any item of clothing that’s white? Am I supposed to NOT cut all my clothes into tanks with oddly placed slits and fringes???

I don’t think so!

It also seemed that once I got home, the kitchen staff stopped making all my meals and the meals for my kids!!! I can not be expected to also feed my kids, can I? And if so, not all 3 meals, right? And certainly not all of my kids? That’s ridiculous. I’ve called the kitchen staff numerous times and they won’t pick up. I will not give them a good write-up in the camp survey.

And now it appears I’m responsible for making sure my kids are not only fed, but also, bathed, ready for school, have lunches made, are driven to and from places, are signed up for activities, and have the necessary supplies. I’ve berated their counselors via twitter and questioned why they aren’t taking care of these important aspects of my children’s days, but they blocked me. I knew they didn’t have it in ‘em for the long haul!!! Seriously, day one I called it! I was like, “You are probably NOT going to take care of my kids for the rest of your lives.”

To top it off. I’m expected to wake up with a crappy beeping alarm? No Reveille? No blaring music? No people cheerfully screaming for me to start my day? That will NOT do!

And you won’t believe this one … a friend had my family over for a swimming party with a bunch of other people and had this whole spread of really yummy adult food. Which nearly made me sick.

“Am I supposed to eat that?” I asked.

“Why is it readily accessible? It’s not even lunchtime yet?”

Was I expected to just simply enjoy eating healthy delicious food? Did she think for a second I’d eat something that was not on a buffet? Something that was not served at the appropriate time, after meeting at a flagpole?

No, of course not. No one could be that presumptuous … or thoughtless.

And the tip of the iceberg? No one and I mean NOT ONE PERSON cheered for me while we were having lunch, like this: