The last day of camp I managed to convince Sophia to leave “friend” in the car, but again when I had to put her down to sign her into camp she began crying. Today her buddy didn’t even try to have me put the camp shirt on Sophia. She does eventually wear the shirt each day, but only after I’m long gone.
The snack for this day is about as unimpressive as the Nilla Wafer mini-burger day. The kids will be making their own chocolate cup cake. On the healthy side, there will also be a yogurt shake with bananas and strawberries. Sophia loves yogurt and bananas, but she does not recognize it in a liquid shake form and therefore won’t eat it.
Friday:
Today…
I made a…Picture Frame
I ate a… Cupcake (What a shock, really? She ate sugar? And the healthy part, the shake? She didn’t even touch it.)
I liked…Playground
My day was… (in this part of the form the buddy circles one of three choices: fabulous, good, ok) Sophia’s buddy circled fabulous.
Under comments she wrote, “I’m going to miss seeing Sophia every day! Camp was so much fun! Her giggle and smile make me smile! Have a great rest of summer!”
Sophia had the same buddy each day of camp, it’s part of what makes this camp special. The buddies are high school students who volunteer and are teamed up with one child for the week. In general, that one on one interaction is supposed to help the kids boost their skills because it’s all about catering to the child, but not in the same ways that mom and dad might. Other moms who bring their kids to Sophia’s playgroup that had already sent their kids to camp in previous weeks talked about how much their kid loved their buddy. One mom said that her son, who is two months older than Sophia, takes the camp picture and sleeps with it at night. Except for the one Occupational Therapist that Sophia sees weekly at one of her classes, she seems rather indifferent to the various staff members and her buddy.
I have the pictures and frame from camp up on the mantel. I brought them down so that I could take a picture of it for this post. Sophia was interested in the frame, but only because she wanted to take the stickers back off it. “Do you remember your buddy from camp?” I ask. No answer. “Did you like your buddy?” No answer. “Did you have fun with your buddy at camp?” Nothing.