Staying in Touch

One of the strangest things about Boy being at camp is being so out of touch.  We talk.  A lot.  About everything.  There are hugs and kisses and punches (Volkswagon game in the car called "Punch Buggy") and laughs and the occasional snipe.  With him gone, it's quiet.  Vewy, vewy quiet. 

He went off for a week with no cell phone, no laptop, no MP3, no electronics at all.  This was of great concern to him (and to Darling Man) because being out of touch is just not something we do.  The camp didn't want him to have these things because they get in the way of forming real-life friendships and interfere with those conversations held with mouth and ears in the dark after lights-out or sitting around the table in the dining hall.  The kids would lose out on the real friendships that form when kids actually interact with each other in the here and now.

I agree with the no electronics rule.  I think he spends too much time with them as it is and a break from it would be a very healthy thing!

"But how will I get in touch with you?" he wailed...   I handed him envelopes, paper and pen.

"You write letters," I said to him.  "You write to me;  I write to you.  It's fun!"

He shot me a dubious look, but packed them away in his bag.  On the way to camp, we stopped and got stamps so he'd be all set.

When I got home, I sent an email.  The camp has a general email box set up that I can send "letters" to the Boy by putting his name in the subject line.   At some point during the day, they print them out and give them to the kids.  It's a brilliant way to write a letter without relying on the US Post Office to get it there. 

But I'm writing the old-fashioned kind of letters too.  Short notes with drawings and envelopes with pictures drawn on them.  The first one I sent had a pine tree with a rabbit under it.  The second, a picture of his dad fishing at the beach.  The one I sent today had an elf leaning against a tree stump playing a flute.  Strange little drawings for his envelopes.  I drew on the letters themselves too.  A picture of Revan back in his cone.  Me with a hammer and nail next to the stairs.  Walter in his wheelchair (a local character we've been a little worried about).  Revan trying to wake up the pillows on his bed because it was time to eat.  I'm not much of an artist, but those little drawings made those letters come to life. 

I sent the last one today (Thursday).  It might get there tomorrow or Saturday, but we pick him up on Sunday, so the chances are that today's letter would be the last one delivered anyway.  He won't be without mail though - I'll still be sending him email until I see him on Sunday!

Incidently, I have NOT received a letter from him.  I hope this is a good sign - that he's having a great time and is too busy to write!