Life Lessons From Summer Camp

This was our first time ever doing summer camp.  My kids have never spent the night away from home with anyone other than my parents, so I was unsure if we would even make it the entire week, but I was pleasantly surprised.  Noah was the only one old enough to go to camp and while I was working at the camp, I was coming home each night to stay with the little ones.  Noah stayed all week by himself and really had a great time.
For our first year of doing camp we had 30 children, only seven of which were girls.  If you do the math you can figure out that it was a very loud, dirty, testosterone filled week!  My official title was dean of camp.  That meant I dealt with all of the discipline problems with the staff and campers.  My first morning back at the camp I was greeted by the director who informed me that we had a counselor walk out in the middle of the night without informing anyone (leaving an entire cabin of boys alone all night long) and that there was a suspected case of lice.  I really wanted to just turn around, get back into my van, and head home; but I can honestly say those were our only major issues of the week and they were resolved quickly.
I expected the kids to learn quite a bit at camp, but I did not realize what an education it would be for me as well.  Here are some of my lessons learned...

1. Pranking is "da bomb".
2. When a child says he needs a tissue, don't ask what for because he will surely show you.
3. It is possible for kids to go an entire week without sleep if they are supplied with the proper mix of caffeine and sugar.

All in all I can say it was a good experience for everyone and we are already excited about doing it again next year!