Kid Ventures – Summer Camp
Jul 30 2010

I often refer to my kids as little ventures (i.e. start-ups).  They are so unique and the most important ventures in my life.  This week has been a tough week because my daughter was home sick for 3 days.  She was better the last day but considering she had a really high temperature the day before, I figured it best to keep her home one more day.  Her dad and I juggled watching her so we could both make our important meetings.  I even called the teenage girl who lives across the street who we’ve used for babysitting before to come watch her for a few hours today.  Fortunately, it’s summer so she was able to come over on short notice and my daughter likes her.

My son has been going to summer camp while she has been sick and my daughter likes the camp so much that she wanted to go despite being sick.  I was a little concerned about sending them to the YMCA summer camp because they wouldn’t know anyone there and they usually know someone.  Turns out the first week they went, they did end up knowing someone…a boy from my son’s soccer team and his younger sister.  Plus, they both were in the same section even though they are different ages so they knew each other although they hung out with different kids.  I told them to look out for each other, and I think they both rolled their eyes at me and my son said in a partially whining tone something like ‘she’s not even going to be playing with the same friends I am!’  I told him it doesn’t matter and that he should keep an eye out for her and I told her the same.  My guess is that she keeps more tabs on him that he does of her.

I’m now glad they are going because they are exposed to a different crowd of kids than the private school they go to.  I was a public school kid myself (except for two years at a private Episcopalian school) and although my knowledge of geography is not great because the US public schools weren’t really into teaching much about other countries, I certainly got to know many kinds of people which I think helped me during my stint at one of the largest universities in the country, UT Austin, and in business working with different kinds of people from different walks of life.  I made up a little for my lack of knowledge of geography by being born into an international family who traveled a lot.

I think being around and working with a diverse set of kids, helps them prepare for the real world (college, businesses, etc.) where there are so many different kinds of people.  The diversity in the workforce is so much greater than even 20 years ago.  School or summer camp aren’t the only place kids can experience diversity…when my kids are older I hope to travel with them to many fun and different places around the world.

At any rate, both my kids have enjoyed the camp and have said they have made so many friends that are younger and older than they are, which to me is great.  To them every kid is their friend whether they remember their name or not.  It’s kind of nice to live like that…too bad as adults we don’t consider all the new people we meet our friends.

Author: Aruni | Filed under: parenting | 1 Comment »

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