Anxious About Camp

My daughter goes to camp with her fellow fifth graders tomorrow.  It's at a 4H camp facility just a few hours away that is heavily used by schools around here for bonding activities and lessons working together.  My son's school goes there for multiple years, starting in third grade.  My daughter is going for the first time this year—and she's worried. 

She's worried for two reasons.  The first is very valid and that is that there will be no VI teacher or assistant present for any of the time.  Her teacher this year admits she is not very experienced with VI children.   They will be in the woods.  There are roots and branches and it could be quite dangerous for my daughter and her VI friend in their class. 

The second reason is overnight-related.  My daughter finds comfort in wearing a pull-up to sleep.  Does she need it?  Not really, but she sleeps very soundly and she has wet the bed and after lots of investigation by doctors from pediatric urology to specialists beyond and then on to infectious disease because when they can't figure it out, you take that next step.   And everything was coming back negative.   It wasn't until we got her in with a urological therapist that we found out it was behavioral.  

My daughter hadn't learned some things correctly, which is interesting, but she wasn't emptying her bladder all the way.   She also wasn't going when she needed to go.   Some changes in behavior and it all went away.   But from ,time to time my daughter will still wet the bed because she forgets to go before getting in bed.   And she hates that.   Wearing a pull-up makes her feel safe, and with all that's going on in her life, safe is a good thing to have. 

So camp...how do you keep people from knowing about the pull-up?   My daughter can't even tell when people are looking at her so she can't be sneaky.   We have a plan, though for her to put the pull-up on while she's in the sleeping bag and take it off in the morning.  She has zip-close bags to put the pull-up in if it's wet and an opaque bag to put the closed, clear bag in.   She can keep it all hidden and yet still feel safe.   She went from not wanting to go at all to being ready to go in the morning. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son got so angry at me today.   He was extremely nasty to me when the one thing I was doing was what he asked me to have him do when I picked him up on Friday from school.   I told him he had to write a two-page apology.  And he did.  It was well-thought-out and sincere.   He knows what he's doing, he just can't control his anger. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter took me down a long and winding path of discussion tonight.   I will spare you the details and give you the summary.   She thinks sight is a gift and it is just a gift she wasn't given.  She went through stages starting when she was four and lost her vision.  Each phase was two years.  She was confused, then sad, then mad, and now accepting.   The time before she lost her sight she was happy.   Afterward, it has all been sad.  Her life is a series of sadnesses.   Some days she is very thoughtful on how the blindness has affected her.