Every year Rob goes away to camp for a week. He loves it. In some ways, it is a comfort zone. The venue is familiar. Many of the counselors return year after year. But he does not always know who is going to be there with him. Sometimes he has roomed with a best friend. Other years, he has gone solo and made new best friends. He is very adaptable in that way, much more so than most other kids I know. I suspect that part of it is a legacy from foster care. He learned how to adapt. He learned that being friendly worked better than other options and thankfully, this has been a more positive coping strategy for him to carry forward into his life.
I received notification from a friend about an organization where kids can work in national parks for 3, 5 or 8 week stints. It is volunteer. It is living in wilderness settings The kids have teams of about 8 youth and 2 leaders. They do things like build trails, and "guy" stuff that appeals to my Rob. We spent the evening filling out the application together. I was able to convince Rob that it might be best to start with a 3 week stint on our coastline somewhere. I was pretty honest that it was all about me not having him on the other side of the country at just barely 16 years old! LOL I said if he gets in and likes it, I am open to him being farther away next year but I need to build up to it. I do hope he gets to try this. I think it will be an amazing opportunity for him. I know the summer I spent living in a tent teaching at a Scouting camp was one of the best that I ever had. I figure if he has a lot of volunteer opportunities he will get to try out a lot of different things and rub shoulders with lots of different people from all walks of life. That to me should make it easier when inevitably he has to really decide what he thinks he might like to do for a career.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment