Ice Cream Camp
Suzanne Pollak
Cliftonville, Kent c. 1954
Mom would never knowingly sign Little Man up for Ice Cream Camp but sometimes parents cannot control what happens when kids are away from home!
Camp began as soon as mom dropped the toddler at her parents. She met them at a midpoint burger joint and they insisted on the first order of business: double chocolate milkshakes all around. After dinner, apparently, a trip to the local peach shed complete with ice cream cones. Wait? How much ice cream did you say? How many times a day!? When word got back to Dad, a chef, he had a fit because he does not approve of so much sweet dairy introduced to his youngster’s taste buds.
However, parents beware: grandparents have rights too! When the grandchildren visit, grandparents are entitled to make their own rules. And grandparent’s rules and plans cannot be the same as the parents. What’s the point of that? We like the idea of no rules for the seven and under crowd.
There is a time and place for creating a few elysian days. Everyone deserves a streak of nothing but fun and games, no matter what age. Parents get a break and the generations on either side get time out too. Parents need time on their own of course, but so do kids. I am sure my children wanted, needed, craved breaks from my stifling summer rules — swim team twice a day, one hour of reading, no Nintendo, no TV. FYI they all turned out fine with no damage at all in the fun part.
P.S. Rest assured that when Little Man returned home all buzzed out, Mom and Dad immediately enrolled him in Veggie Boot Camp. (Pro. Tip: VEG out your eggs at breakfast, whether its mushrooms and something green sautéed on the side, or diced alliums and sweet peppers mixed in.)
Don’t you wonder how that turned out?