Camping Lesson
It wasn’t, my klutziness, my irrational fear of dirt and bugs, my total novice-ness in the realm of camping that did it. But we knew it would be something.
We knew the first official family camping trip would be a story. We expected it to be a war-story of challenge, perhaps even gore and tragedy. The interesting (and for me worrisome) part of the Easter weekend was discovering exactly what would go wrong.
I had made lists, done research, packed everything a novice camper can think of. I was expecting to stumble somewhat outside my comfort zone. Anticipated learning from other, more experienced, Mums. Prepared to put my parenting skills to work in a foreign environment.
The tent went up just fine. We hardly forgot a thing; map baby-spoon and hammer. Cooking and dinner was a breeze. Socialising with new people; easy. Avoiding bugs; almost effortless.
Night one: Teething baby. Hysterical screams loud enough to wake the dead.
Lesson Learned: The real trouble is probably going to blind-side you. So controlling everything doesn’t help.
2 comments
A statement which is only too true.
I love it – so typical of the world. Just when you think you’ve got it all covered something else springs up and surprises you. Hope you managed some sleep during that time!