Becoming.....Adultier....

 Babygirl and I went camping this weekend with a family of grandkids, and one spare adult. 

The first time I was The Grownup on a camping trip I was 33. I set off to a campground with a tent and a toddler.  I admit to having miserably failed the Adulting Test on that trip.  I crawled out of a tiny tent with a headache and had to go to a neaby campsite to find somebody Adulty enough to be willing to give me coffee and Tylenol. We didn't last the weekend.

My oldest daughter probably owes her life to the fact that a new neighbor invited us to go camping with her family.  Over the summer I side-eyed everything she did and added The Things one must have to successfully camp with a family: A small stove, a few garage-sale pots dedicated to the camping bin, and a small tool box. This set of equipment has been traveling with me ever since, with some variations for number of campers or remoteness of site. 

This weekend I got to watch my daughter and boyfriend be the adults for their kids.  I'll admit that I went into this assuming that I'd be doing ALL of the Adulting, but planning on doing some Here's How It's Done training sessions. 

Well.  

They have a way cool tent that attaches to the sides of a pop-up dining fly. They have coolers. They have gear for sleeping.  And they have structured set-up with expectations for what the kids need to do. Most of my work was done for me LOL.

They don't have a stove but they have an awesome rack for the fire. But they don't have a toolbox. Things were needed: Hammer? sure. Potholder? got it. Lighter? Absolutely. Salt and pepper? ummmmm, no, actually.

Clearly I haven't camped in a while, and I did NOT do a full inspection of my stuff before load up.  The tool box is where the seasonings live, and there were none. 

"You need to go find and Adultier Adult, because I'm retiring from the Keep-Track-of-Everything position." Her face was a study.  She's about the same age as I was for my camp-with-a-toddler adventure, and she is clearly much farther along than I was, but, "I don't WANT to be an Adultier Adult. YOU'VE always been the Adulty one!"

I'm flattered and a little choked up, but I pointed out my age. The fact that I can and did load the inside and the top of an SUV with enough stuff to keep 8 people going for a weekend says a lot about my stamina, but even if I CAN do it, is it so bad that I don't WANT to do it?

I told her she needs to get a tool box that includes a hammer, a potholder, a lighter, a first aid kit and some seasonings in small containers, as well as the bajillion other things that go in there: Deck of cards. Pen. Pencil. Multi tool. Knives. Scissors. Clothespins. Splenda packets.  Being able to go somewhere because I am prepared is not the same as being able to go because she is. 

I have faith. She's ready. And the boyfriend?  I have never seen such a ruthlessly well-organized camp teardown in my life.  Respect, dude. 

DeeDee

PS I have a favorite new problem-solving camping phrase:  "Go ask your mom and dad."

PPS I was the one who needed the first aid kit.  JuJuBee is the one who did the awesome wound dressing that made it unnecessary for me to go for stitches in may hand.