Day Camp

August 22, 2011

Day Camp

Waverly attended day camp the past 2 weeks at Jill's House. Summers have always been a bit difficult for us. Waverly & I do not enjoy the heat and by the end of the summer boredom sets in. The day camp option was such a treat. Waverly was at JH for 6 hours each day. The zoo brought small animals for the kids to meet, a therapy dog stopped by, a local hippotherapy organization brought ponies, there is a beautiful indoor pool, a gym, craft room, computer lab, music room, musicians come to play for the kids, plus an amazing playground. Each day we pulled into the parking lot, Waverly was all giggles. She knew she was going to have another great day. And each day I picked her up she was all smiles and totally exhausted. Oliver and I were able to take advantage of the time by going to our favorite parks and finishing up school shopping (not his favorite activity, but snacks kept him happy).

I am so thankful to have this organization just a few miles away. Our summer was much more fun for all of us, because of their day camp program.

Comments

camille said…

Sounds like a dream come true! So happy you have a program like this available so close by.

August 22, 2011 at 10:31 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.