Sooner or later many of us in the Empty Nest will experience the joys of grand parenting! At the moment, John and I have eleven with another one due in October. Last week, with the tutelage of my more experienced friend Judy, (see July 22 post) we hosted our first “Cousins’ Camp!” We had five of our grandchildren from three different families attend. You have to be at least four years old to come. It was fabulous, enlightening, wonderful, and exhausting. I had flashbacks (yes and a few hot flashes!) of my own years of mothering five kids ages seven and under. But this was fun in a different way. Since the major responsibility of parenting is not ours, we can simply enjoy them! Yes, we had some cousin rivalry, punching, whining, and “time outs,” but that’s to be expected with three four-year olds in the mix. 

John and I had a plan arranged in advance--a very flexible one, but having a schedule was hugely helpful. We read Bible stories and favorite children’s books, painted rocks, learned the names of six trees and nailed labels to these trees. We swam in the pond, picked blueberries, had a picnic in the tree house and played hide and seek. We taught the kids to ride the horses. We had flashlights for each child and played flashlight tag in the dark. Yes, we put names on everything from cups to flashlights! 

We watched cousins from three different states get to know each other apart from their parents. And of course they behaved better for us than they do at home! That’s normal. 

Our camp lasted three days. My wise Mom used to say, “Always quit when you are winning!”  All of our kids and the rest of the grandchildren arrived for several more days just in time for “Camp Closing” complete with a silly song, a few descriptive camp highlights from each child, and hand-me-down trophies I had stashed in my attic! 

We had so much fun that despite my Mom’s advice, I think we’ll extend it another day next year. We’ll be adding two more grandkids who are eagerly awaiting their fourth birthdays. 

Camp was a success at least from our point of view. And John and I decided that we wouldn’t mind having a ton of kids again--except for all those car seats and buckles.