Back from Camp

Well, we picked up the minions (the two that went to camp) and headed to Washington to visit family and pick up the other two kids from up there. So, now we have a total of five in the house.

While two of my girls were at camp, the third was raising hell at home and what I thought would be a peaceful time was actually MORE stressful than when all three are here. I think when they are here, they each bug each other, but without sisters around, the littlest one only had us to bug – and I think I covered all that below, but it doesn’t hurt to reiterate it.

On the way back from WA, we stopped in Yellowstone to see the sights and camped out in the Grand Tetons for a night also. The camping was fun and the kids got to swim in a lake and we had a mini-birthday party for the newly-turned 11 year old. She is probably one of the most spoiled 11 year olds in the world. I think she got damned near everything she wanted for her birthday – including an LG Chocolate cell phone and a PSP.

She doesn’t act as spoiled as she is, which is good, and she actually seems to sometimes care about some people besides herself from time to time. Sometimes she actually responds in the first couple of times we call her and even periodically does what she is asked BEFORE we have to threaten to turn off her internet.
She made a little boo-boo on the internet yesterday and gave out her phone number in a chat room. I’ve checked google and the reverse directories and I know that if the number is searched it will never come back to her because its in my name, and because I check her phone records, I’ll know if she starts getting any odd calls. I gave her a good talking to about giving out personal information online and all that and I warned her that if she does it again, she’ll be off the internet. I hope she listens.

Actually, reading her conversations and chats online makes me feel better about how (im)mature she is. I see from her chats that she really IS still an 11 year old girl with silly 11 year old thoughts. I’m seeing that her mind isn’t as developed as her body (thank whatever gods you may or may not believe in!). I’m thankful that she is still a kid and her online activities are showing that. She acts older in public, but online, she is still a kid. And because I can see what others are saying, I know that she’s being a good girl and leaving any conversations that start to get out of hand.