summer camp!

Yesterday, on the way to his first day ever of summer camp, Jonah asked me if fairies and unicorns are real.

So asked him if he thought they were real.

He told me a number of things, that fairies are little people with wings, that unicorns are painted or have tattoos in addition to their mid-face horns, like the unicorn figures at his preschool.

But are they real? he asked me.

I tried for about 10 more minutes to get him to give his opinion before I gave mine.

I probably should have said yes.

Shoot me, I’m a pragmatist. Actually, I’m gullible to a fault. Somehow these things are related but I can’t quite tease it out at the moment.

No, I told him, they aren’t real. But it’s fun to believe in them.

+ + +

Today, at camp, the kids made magic wands.

A long stick, wrapped in multicolored pipe cleaners and beads.

Did you look for fairies today? I asked, because the camp newsletter had said they might. The heavy fog and dense mist this morning, prompting full rain attire, would have been perfect for it.

No, he said.

Fairies are not real, he informed me. <sigh>

He did also inform me that they used their magic wands.

All the beads are regular beads, he said. Except the one on the end with the heart on it. That one has REAL MAGIC in it. This spot here is where you put your finger (He demonstrates, inserting his pointer finger into a loop at the base of the wand.) We used our magic wands today to make the sun come out. I said, Abracadabra alacazam.

Did it work? I asked him.

Yes, he responded. Utterly pragmatic.

+++

Tomorrow is Halloween Day. The first day was… something-themed. Today was green and purple day (because those colors are maaaaagic). And now, tomorrow, costumes.

What do you want to be? I asked him.

He thinks for a moment, A Styracosaurus Astronaut!

(You may recall that he is a fan of the combination costume.)

At first I’m thinking, Yikes! What am I going to make a Styracosaurus frill out of at this late notice? AND for goodness sakes, the zipper on his astronaut suit broke again and I haven’t gotten to the tailor to have it replaced.

First I ask him if he’d like to wear the suit with the broken zipper.

No.

(Of course not. What was I thinking?)

As I am sitting there, trying not to panic, it turns out he has a plan!

Mama, I’ll wear my Styracosaurus mask (thank you, best-friend Acacio who gave out colorful foam Dinosaur face masks at his 4th birthday party) with my Astronaut helmet! he announces, demonstrating with a flick of his wrist that the visor will in the up position.

And your Space Backpack? I suggest helpfully.

Yes. But it’s called an oxygen tank. Or an oxygen pack. Or a space backpack, he corrects me, generously including my original suggestion.

Tomorrow morning is going to be interesting.

+++

For the first time in ages, I’m back to packing daily lunches for my kid.

And we have to be careful about what’s in them because someone has a severe nut allergy in the group.

This is what I’ve observed so far (yes, I forgot to take before-after pictures so no, lunchbox life has not been resurrected).

No matter what is in that lunch, the chocolate-chip protein bar will have been consumed.

Only one-half to 0ne-quarter of a sandwich gets eaten. Despite the fact that I’ve been packing gorgeous, Jonah-favorites like turkey with honey-mustard, thinly-sliced red onion, chopped romaine, aged Gruyere and lemon-mayo, as well as sliced goat gouda with apricot jam.

This is kind-of good because as of today, we’ve accidentally run out of bread. So I don’t feel guilty about sending leftover tortellini instead. Along with his chocolate-chip protein bar.

Next week, no nut-allergies among the campers so that means five straight days of PB&Js, suckas! Woo hoo!