She’s ready, but are we?

Every summer, Hyla attends a local day camp for one or two sessions. On the second Tuesday of each two-week session, campers who are old enough are given the option of staying overnight for one night. Each year that she’s had the option, Hyla has said “no”. Last year, she skipped it not because she was worried to be away from us for a night, but because she was worried about the 9 o’clock lights out policy. Because she cannot fall asleep until at least 10 pm and didn’t know how she’d handle that.

At the start of this year’s session, she said she might consider the sleep over — it all depended on who was in her cabin this year (a group of about 8 girls) and how many of them were doing the sleep over. By the time the permission slip came home, she was emphatically in favor of the overnight.

So this morning we packed her sleeping back, extra clothes, flashlight, bug repellent, and pillow, and then M dropped her off at the bus stop. On one hand, it seems a small step (a single overnight at a very familiar place); on the other hand, it seems like the first step of many to letting go.