Evan\'s Rite of Passage

The week before the last was a  rite of passage for Evan as he started the summer camp, the first time after spending most of his life under some form of company daycare.  He was with his sister, who helped immensely, but it was still a big jump for Evan because in many ways he still acts like an oversized baby.

Since Evan will be starting kindergarten in the fall, we thought it would be good for him to go ahead and get accustomed to the school (where the summer camp is held) and hopefully meet some new friends from the area.  We also liked the idea of them getting to swim everyday, as we have become lax in their swimming lessons and hope that at least some time in the pool will help.

It was cute to see Evan the first day.  He was wide eyed and clearly nervous, and he stuck close to Olivia until the children were split up into different age groups.  Evan was placed in Group 1 which consisted of Kindergarteners and First Graders.  The counselor of the group is Miss Kirstie, who has been a good friend of Olivia over the past few years, so I know he will be well looked after.  Olivia was placed in Group 2.  But Olivia received permission to sit with Evan during lunches which was nice of her to do.  Although she argues with Evan constantly, she does make an effort to be a good big sister and looks out for him when they are outside home.

The second day of camp I could sense that Olivia had already grown tired of the arrangement though.  By the time I signed the two in, I looked up to find Evan wandering aimlessly about staring at pictures on the walls of the gymnasium, while Olivia had vanished completely.  I asked him where she went and Evan had no idea she was even gone.  We walked outside to the playground and I spied Olivia far away on the edge of the grounds talking to some of her friends.  I pointed out where she was but also pointed out a group of boys playing ball and suggested he try playing with them.  He wasn't interested in that, however, and proceeded to tag along with his big sister, shadowing her wherever she went.

When I picked them up in the afternoon, I asked Evan whether he had met any new friends.  Just like the day before, the answer was no.  "I don't know anybody," he complained. "Well, did you introduce yourself to them?" I asked even though I know this is hard for someone like him to do. "I did. I asked a boy if he wanted to play and he said NO," Evan said dejectedly.  Oh…I told him he needs to keep trying to introduce himself and play with kids in his group, rather than tagging along with Olivia all the time.

On Thursday they were scheduled to go on a field trip to a local amusement park.  Evan was excited to go, until he found out that Mommy and Daddy weren't going along with him, instead he would have to stay with his group leader.  Evan clearly winced at the news.  But by the time he had his camp T-shirt on, his lunch was packed and he was on his way, he was excited once again.

When I picked them up later in the afternoon, they were both excited and had a fun time but were tired. They had been in separate small groups all day, with Olivia getting to ride a number of roller coasters while Evan and his group were relegated to the kiddie rides, which was fine with him.  And then the tone of the conversation suddenly changed as Evan claimed "I was not happy today."

"Why?" as I asked.

"Because I was very hungry." He answered.

"Didn't you eat your lunch?" I asked as I rummaged through his backpack looking at what remained from the lunch I packed early that morning.

"Well, I didn't like the meat in my sandwich do I didn't eat it. I didn't eat the cheetos as I am afraid it would get too messy.  And I couldn't open my apple sauce and cheese stick.  So I only had a juice box for lunch." He explained.

"Why didn't you ask your teacher to help open the apple sauce?" 

"I don't know," he said meekly.  Poor little guyL.

So as we came to the end of the week, things seemed to be progressing. Evan was slowly but surely stepping outside of Olivia's shadow and clearly enjoyed his first field trip of the summer which was encouraging. 

Evan came home happy and proud on Friday. The first thing he informed us was that he finally made a new friend!  "What is his name?" we asked. 

"I don't know," he replied, looking a little confused. "We just played together in the pool."

But then Olivia revealed a news which wasn't so good.

"A boy pushed Evan today," Olivia informed us.

"Who?" we asked. 

"I don't know, my friend saw it.  A boy pushed Evan at the pool.  Evan told the teacher and the boy had to sit out.  Then when we got back to the school he pushed him again."

Oh boy.  It looks like we'll have some more adventures with Evan this summer.