It’s about that time to officially announce to the CK blog world that my husband, Jim, and I are expecting our first baby! Baby Hansen will arrive mid-January… our “due date” is January 19th if you are interested in the specifics! I think it’s so funny that doctor’s pick A DAY that the baby will arrive… I’m pretty sure that the baby (in communication with my body) will decide when the time has come to take the journey out into our world, and isn’t aware of the date circled in red on the calendar in our house. But, as January rolls around, I know we will be counting down the days to the 19th so that we can meet this little someone, face-to-face.
The process of becoming a mom has been enlightening. Of course, it is bizarre watching my body change and morph as this tiny guy or gal (it’s a surprise) grows. But it’s also amazing – who knew skin was that stretchy? My stomach is where now? That bubbly feeling is the baby moving? Holy cow! I also get hungry very quickly. It seems as if I’ve just finished one snack and am off looking for what’s next to feed me and the other human I’m growing. But those are the little things.
Accepting my new limits has been difficult but necessary. I’ve always been an “I can” kind of person; just ask my parents and they’ll recall that time 7-year-old me and my 9-year-old sister moved couches and televisions to make more space for our Legos and Barbies. The old me does yoga, goes running, and spends lots of time outside… and then is off to the next task without a break. Now, I get winded walking up a flight of stairs; doing simple gardening chores and bending makes me exhausted; getting up too quickly from laying down feels like I just ran a 5k race. “A little bit at a time,” I have to remind myself. Chores that used to take an afternoon now have to get broken down over several days if they are really going to get done. And I have to ask for help in doing them. Luckily, Jim has been up for the task and is really supportive and great about helping me (and reminding me) to slow down.
I’ve also seen my priorities change as I ask myself “what’s really important here?” I drive slower. I find myself being a lot calmer and taking more time to decide how I’ll react in the face of a situation that might have annoyed me before. The choices I make are not just for me, they are for me and my child.
Not surprisingly, this experience has given me a whole new outlook on camp. I think of how every one of our camper’s parents went through what I’m going through now: shifting priorities and accepting change to welcome a new person into their lives. Years later, they’ve now come to the point when they make the very big decision to hand over their child to someone whom they have never met and ask them to take care of that child. Whoa! That’s a big deal. We are asking parents to trust us, and we have to deliver on the promises that we make to those families.
The fall is the time of year in the camp office when we get to think about what we’re promising, intentionally plan the work we do, and prepare for following through and doing an even better job than we’ve done before. How do we do it? Well, we’ve got our meeting to go over feedback and brainstorm how we’ll put those suggestions into action in the planning and preparation for 2012. We’re already organizing our Leadership Team and hiring counselors. From there, we must take those fresh-faced staff members and train them in our CK way of working and playing. We teach and model ways to keep kids safe, physically and emotionally. We have a strong philosophy and we share it and talk about it so that everyone buys-in. That way, no matter what set of counselors a camper has, they will be provided a similar experience to everyone else, while being free to celebrate the unique differences that each individual brings to their bunk group.
I look at all we’ve done already, and plan to do, to fulfill the promises of a CKNJ experience for the 2012 season, and I’m excited for our campers and their parents. And to see where we are now and know that I have a future CK camper is awesome! All the hopes I have for him or her, and the benefits I know camp will offer, are really endless. I wonder who will be my child’s first counselor… it could be someone who is starting camp for the first time this summer as a “freshmen” camper! The cycle of camp continues!
Teri
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