In probably February or March William mentioned that he wanted to go camping. It's something we had done at the end of the summer 2009 with my sister and some friends. And we were even lucky enough to have my Mom and an Aunt swing by for an evening to enjoy supper and the camp fire.
And being the Dad that I am, I decide sure, why not camp on a weekend my son wants to? It may be winter but sometimes by just making a few adjustments you can make some great memories and that's exactly what I did.
While William was watching tv I went downstairs and grabbed the four man tent and a couple sleeping bags. It was a VERY tight squeeze but I managed to set up a camp site in the living room and we made believe we were outdoors. Even adjusting my nightly ritual to adjust a saying to suit our wilderness surroundings. "Nighty night... don't let the black bear bite."
William thought it was great and it really took no effort at all... and I have no doubt when he's a Dad some day he'll think back on that memory and realize that it's the little things that can have the biggest impact.
There was one residual part of that camping trip that has yet to go away and that's the sleeping bag. William has slept in it every night he's stayed here since. Sure he may, on occasion, slip off his bed onto the floor thru the night (which is very worrisome to me), but he's happy and he's still using him imagination to pretend he's camping.
This summer we'll have to make sure we get at least one weekend in...
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