Hello Mother, Hello Father...

Chloe has been away at camp now for exactly one week. I'm doing amazingly well, due largely to the fact that I had sent Maddie off on a river trip with her class, and she not only came back alive, but happier and more confident than ever. That, plus our Mexico adventures, and I'm feeling a lot more like one of those thick-skinned moms who can wave good-bye to their campers with one hand and sip their gin and tonic with the other.I just finished reading the letters Chloe sent to us from camp, and it they are so stinking cute I can't stand it. She tells us of her schedule (journalism, photography, swimming, sewing, hand crafts, dance musical, western riding, and drama). She is over the moon with happiness because the dance musical class is presenting a performance of...High School Musical. Be still the pre-teen heart. For those of you who aren't aware, High School Musical is to our kids what Grease was to us. Chloe is the kid that I've joked will either end up in Federal Prison or as the CEO of some Fortune 500 company. Or both. When we were packing for camp, I spent several hours labeling her clothes and belongings with a Sharpie marker. Right as I was wrapping things up, Chloe gave me several bags of seashells from Mexico to label. I asked her why she was bringing the gorgeous shells to camp, where she would not only not need them, but would probably lose them."Mom. Except for Samantha, I am going to be in a cabin full of new girls. I thought I could pass out shells to everyone with a note with my name on it so they would get to know me and we could have something to talk about." I would never, ever in a million years have thought to do that at nine years old. Der. This is why I wasn't president of my sorority and Chloe will likely be inducted as a high schooler. Chloe will return to us in another week, with dozens of new friends, and as a ten year-old. That's right. She was not only not sad about turning ten at camp, but thrilled that she would get to be the center of attention on her day in a camp with over 200 campers.I'm thinking of asking her to write a book on uber-confidence and social skills. I could use it.