Rite of Passage

Noah and Mena a long time ago!

Noah age 11 and 3/4.
He's 12 today!  HBD Noah!

We are slowly adjusting to our life post-Maui...back to school, back to work, and now just anxiously awaiting for the school year to end and summer holidays to begin.  This week, the big event was that our son had outdoor-school:  three nights at a camp for about 100 grade 6 students.  Here's how it went:  dropped him at school on Monday, equipped with a sleeping bag, clothes for every kind of weather known to mankind and footwear for all occasions.  Then, picked him up on Thursday afternoon, hoping he had at least one shower over the three days!  He didn't even want me to go into the school with him on Monday!  All I got was a "uhh....seeyalater mom..."  and just like that he was gone for three nights.  He was a little homesick, but he survived and more importantly, he now knows that  he can survive without mom and dad around all of the time. It's such an important lesson for both parents and children.  For us, we need to learn to "cut the cord" as it were.  For them, they need to know that they can manage without us.  While this was just a 3-day stint at a camp,  it was also a "rite of passage", teaching  many valuable lessons not only about how to make fire and shelter, but about survival and building confidence from within.