Today was a good day for my little clan. I was able to register them yesterday (so procrastinated on it) for a day camp called Camp COPE. It is a camp specifically designed for kids of deployed, wounded, or fallen soldiers who are 4 years old and up. C.O.P.E. means Courage, Optimisim, Patience, and Encouragement. They offer camps free to families that teach kids coping skills and they have couselors there that help the kids. They believe, much like I do, that kids serve too. They need to be taken care of and talked to as much as the solider who is off at war.
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| The sign for Camp C.O.P.E. at the camp ceremony. |
When I told the kids that I wanted to register them for it earlier this week, I asked if they thought they might want to go to it. I told them that there would be other kids there going through the same things as them and that they would be able to talk about it and learn some new things on how to deal with the deployment. Daniel didn't care, he just liked the idea of going to a camp. Natalie and Emily understood well enough and thought it would be a cool thing to go do.
So, this morning, I dropped them off for their camp and had a morning to myself. I went to breakfast with a friend and then just relaxed at home. It took every ounce of self control to not spend the whole time cleaning my house. When I went to pick up the kids, they had a camp completion ceremony where they called up each class and they got a medal for finishing the day. I loved it and my emotional self had to keep from crying. It was then that I was missing Ian even more, but was sitting in a room full of spouses dealing with this too, which was oddly comforting. I knew I wasn't alone. I knew I wasn't the only one wishing my husband was home to see how happy and confident our kids were as they stood with their class. Once the kids were released and I picked them all up, we headed home for an afternoon of play for the kids, and work for me. The kids told me about some of the fun games they played, the people they met, and the things they were given. Mostly, they were given things that let them know it is okay to experience their feelings, that they could use some of those things to express their feelings, and that they could use them to talk to their parents about their feelings. All in all, a great camp for the kids.
The kids ended up staying the night at the neighbor's house, which meant I had the house to myself for the late evening. I almost thought about going to see a movie, but decided against it. I decided to sit at home and rest. Well, do laundry and rest. I tried to go to bed early, but it didn't work. Mostly because I decided to go to bed around 9:15pm then a call from Afghanistan came through, and I was more than happy to stay up and answer it. My night didn't go as planned, but that is okay. It still was a pretty good night, even though I missed my little munchkins.
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