A Day in the Life of Amanda, Wife, Mommy and Day Camp Director

The sunset last night

6:30 Alarm went off. Alarm was turned off. No shower today, thank you!
7:00 Woke up. Nursed and got Maryn and myself ready, with John's help.

7:35 Breakfast: Arrived at breakfast early because both of us were signed up to "hop" (set, clean, serve tables). Donna helped us find someone to help us out so we could sit together. We took turns feeding Maryn. I decided not to eat pancakes and bacon for the 20th time so far this summer since I just can't eat like that so early, and instead ate a granola bar and a banana. I miss my toaster!

8:25 Day Camp Check In: I scooted out of breakfast early with Maryn so I can get our day campers checked in, with the help of my three counselors Antony, Veronique and Michael. They played games with the kids while I tried to sort out paperwork sorts of things, camper medication sorts of things, and kept Maryn from eating every rock, crumb and ant on the floor.

9:00 The day campers and the counselors headed out towards the day camp room to get things in order and play some games while I cleaned up our paperwork and Maryn's toys. We stopped by Donna's building (the health center) to deliver paperwork. Then we visited the dining hall to see if they had saved boxes like I asked (they didn't) and to remind them to make s'mores for today's camp fire.

9:30 Stopped by day camp room to make sure things were going smoothly. They were. Dropped Maryn off at Donna's so I could do some dumpster diving for boxes. I found lots and started taping them up since they had been broken down. I decided halfway through they were too big.

10:00 Back at Donna's. She suggested shoe boxes, since she randomly had 10 of them at her house. They were for the kids' pet rock houses. Their arts and crafts activity for the day was painting pet rocks and creating "houses" for them. I played with Maryn and Bekah (health center assistant) while Donna ran to get the boxes from her house. Then I ran all the boxes over to the counselors and tell them what to do with the boxes...

10:30 Nap time (half an hour late) While Maryn is napping, I wrote counselor evaluations, checked email, folded diapers, drank a Coke. You know.

12:00 Lunch I usually help set the day camp tables, but we were late because of Maryn's late nap. But everything was fine. I plopped Maryn down in her high chair so John could take care of her at the staff table, and I went to eat with the day campers. We had a big group this week, so we needed the extra hands.

12:30 Water Carnival While the little kids got changed, I drove down to our house to get Maryn in her swim suit and sunscreen. I also stopped at the craft cabin to gather up the kids' pet rocks and pet rock houses, put them in our car, and hurried home. The kids got changed and down to the field very quickly today! I was quite proud. The little kids got paired up with the Counselors-in-Training, a group of teenagers here at camp for three weeks or something like that, so they were a big help with our fourteen day campers between the ages of 4-11. We had some wanderers this week, so that was really great.

2:00 Nap Time! But Maryn was too excited after getting all wet and having the fire truck come, too. Meagan came over to baby sit so I could get the clues hung up around camp for the day campers find-your-snack hike. And so I could pick up the s'mores from the kitchen and bring them back down to the waterfront (which is near our house). But I didn't have the car because John took it to go get fireworks....so Meagan brought a golf cart down for me but its battery died...so John's dad (John) picked me up in his golf cart and let me borrow it for a while.

3:00 Leadership Meeting Apparently, it takes a really long time for kids to follow all those clues around camp. I waited at the waterfront picnic tables until they got there. I realized I had forgotten napkins, so gave them some baby wipes. The kids were really thirsty so I brought them some water as well. Fortunately, the leadership staff decided to have the meeting at our house so Maryn could have her nap. But Maryn did not nap. But we had it at our house anyway, thank goodness. Because I don't think I would have made it anywhere else.

4:00 Day Camp Check Out I drove myself and Maryn back up to the main lodge (all these places are kind of far from each other, keep in mind) to check out the day campers, but they were so exhausted and walking so slowly that they were quite late. But it was okay because the parents were late, too.

4:45 Day Camper Evaluations/Debriefing: I meet with the counselors at the end of each day to discuss how things went and the next day's activities. Today we had to write little evals. on all the campers, which took a while because we reminisced about every kid since my sweet counselors loved the kids so much and missed them already! We talked about our week and some of the high points and low points.

5:30 Dinner: I am really tired from writing this.

6:00 Maryn time, play time, pajama time, etc.

7:00 Maryn fell fast asleep. Exhausted!

7:30 Talked to mom on phone, watched John put on wet suit so that he can go out in the lake to shoot off fireworks. And watched Geoff rig up some old nasty wooden boat with an "anchor" (a concrete block tied with some rope) to ride in. I have no idea, and I did not ask. And while I was talking to my mom on the phone, a little mouse poked its head out from under the porch 2 inches from my foot to say hello. Hello, little mousy!

Maryn also woke up screaming around 7:30 because of teething issues. I think her bottom teeth are hitting her sensitive top gums where her top teeth are coming in. So I've been letting her have a pacifier. I gave her a paci when she woke up and she went right back to sleep. She looks just like a little cherub in her bed.

8:00-9:30 I tried to clean up but obviously, I have been distracted by YOU! Thanks a lot!

To sum it all up: My job this summer is to run around like a CRAZY PERSON!