Force On Sails

I had a long chat with a friend a few weeks ago about parenting.  She was wondering how forcefully she should push her child to start or continue with an activity.  That’s a tough one, isn’t it?  As a parent we all cross that bridge for the first time (and many more times) for each child.  The right answer depends a lot on your child’s personality and your own personality. 

Fast forward to yesterday when the boys started their third and final camp of the summer.  Last year we signed them up for sailing camp.  We figured it was a good skill to have for future enjoyment later.  And as all kids should have especially in the summer, it provides a lot of time outdoors (all day in fact) and out on the water.  This year as the date for sailing camp approached, anxiety set in.  There were some shaky times in the morning and hesitation about going back to sailing camp for a variety of reasons.  I was really sad to hear the concerns because all of them were valid.  But I still wanted them to try so we pushed through.

Reports from camp at lunch time on the first day were all positive!  They were assigned to the same sail boat with a good team and a nice counselor (that makes all the difference).  At lunch time, we texted back and forth and then they sent me this selfie.  At pick up there were more details about their adventures sailing on the Potomac.  I'm excited to hear more stories today!