We've tried to persuade Sarah to go to day camp for the last couple of summers, but she's been too anxious about not knowing anyone to give it a try. Then she discovered gymnastics (and proceeded to eat, sleep and breathe the sport).
When we offered gymnastics camp at the YMCA this year, she was all for it...until she learned there was a swimming portion. She doesn't know how to swim yet and is tense in the water. Although I spoke with the camp director and arranged for her to be in the shallower pool, she was still uneasy.
The amazing thing is how she handled her apprehension. In the past, she would have obsessed about the swimming for days or weeks ahead and begged me to let her stay home. This time, however, although she was nervous and talked about it some each day in the week leading up to camp, she was able to put the thought away and move on, and she never wavered from wanting to go.
On the drive to camp the first day, she chattered away, stopping every now and then to gauge our progress, but never asked me to turn around. During the few minutes before camp began, she said, "The waiting is the worst part." (She's figuring this out!) When the director called the kids into the gym, she kissed me goodbye and walked away without looking back.
She was all smiles when I picked her up that afternoon and told me she was going to go in the big pool with a floatie the next day. That she did, and by the end of the week, she was attempting underwater handstands!
Of course, she loved the gymnastics portion. She quickly made a new friend (Rosie) and came home exhausted every day from the physical demands of camp. At the end of the week, she asked to go for two or more weeks next year.
Dad helped Sarah prepare for "Dress as Your Favorite Animal" Day:
And Dad, Mom, and Grammy enjoyed the end-of-week demonstration the campers put on:
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