What to Expect at Mom & Son Cub Scout Camp

I LOVED our time together at Mom and Son and I love camping. I write this with a smile and a sense of humor. Here’s what you can expect at Mom & Son Camp.

• Your son doesn’t have to wear his uniform, neckerchief and slide. Yay! I love that uniform, but I’m in an ongoing battle with that slide.
• You’ll have a long walk in…with a child that wants to go, go, go but doesn’t want to carry one single thing. Do yourself a favor and bring a wagon or cart to carry your belongings into the campsite.
• Your tent will be approximately 6 inches away from the 40 tents around you.
• Food is served in a mess hall setting, but you eat with your meal balanced on your lap sitting in your camp chair. Cup holders and creativity are a must.
• Nobody cares about your hair. Leave the salon crap at home. On second thought, you might be immortalized in photos on the camp website and Facebook page…
• Seven- and eight-year-old boys will shine their flashlights in your eyes repeatedly. They put strobe lights to shame. For some reason camp staff and other mothers’ frown on slapping the flashlights out of the offender’s hands.
• You will walk A LOT. No, really. More than you’re thinking. Double it. Bring decent shoes.
• For obvious reasons you can’t bring food in your tents or even to the campsite. (Don’t do it). Sadly, after a 16-hour day of scout active-ities you’ll feel like you’re starving not long after you zip your tent closed for the night. I’m so hungry as I write this,  I’m considering a midnight raid on the camp store.
• By the time Sunday rolls around you will be exhausted. Plan to have Sunday’s lunch and supper ready in the freezer or plan to eat out. Better yet delegate to your husband. Everyone wins.

• Forget about your phone. Forget about charging your phone. There are like three outlets in the dining hall and there’s an actual line of phones waiting to be charged. But who needs a cell phone? It is camping after all.
• Except for the dining hall restrooms the bathrooms are pit toilets or port-a-potties. Now that’s the pits. Stop drinking liquids at 4:00 p.m. Dehydration is a fine alternative to walking to the outhouse in your jammies at 1:36 a.m.
• Bring earplugs. Not only are there snorers, but there are people who do not get that tents are not sound proof. Phone conversations to loved ones, girlfriends chatting about relationships, scouts with harmonicas, coughing fits, arguments. You name it, you’ll hear it…late into the night.
• There’ll be a candlelit walk on Saturday night. Luminary bags decorated with love by mothers and sons will line the path as mothers and sons walk and talk about their day together. You may have tried to (unsuccessfully) bribe your son to make a luminary with you. There’s always next year.
• You do not need makeup. Or a shower. I promise you. You don’t. Deodorant is good though. But if you have to choose between deodorant and a raincoat. Choose the raincoat.
• You better really like the moms of your son’s scout friends (luckily I did) because you’ll be doing everything with them…eating, sleeping, archery, tie-dye,  hiking…everything.
• And finally, you’ll need a camera to capture every one of these funny, exhausting, exasperating and irresistible moments with your son.