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Double Trouble

I am chaperoning Little Chic's Brownie troop on a camping trip to an amusement park on Monday. Hero Guy has to take off work to stay with Brainy Boy, so they have decided to go on their own camping adventure. The problem is, that being of the female gender, I can't seem to keep my hands out of their arrangements, and I'm finding myself frantically preparing for not just my own, but also their trip. Mine is pretty cut-and-dried with supplies evenly distributed between all the moms going. My list is short: Bring a variety of fruit and a load of paper products. At Walmart yesterday, my cart told the truth...the boys would never make it without my help. I was loaded with lanterns, pancake mix, cereals, lunch meats, hamburger and sausage, and $170 worth of stuff that was not for the Girl Scouts.

Then began the real task--preparing their food. Chicken had to be cut and marinaded, hamburger had to be seasoned and formed into patties, sausages pre-cooked, the list of meals made....and I ask mysef "Self, why are you doing this?" I come up with a variety of answers among which are 'to be sweet' or possibly 'to help Hero Guy because he's been incredibly busy at work' or maybe even 'because if I don't do it, it won't get done.'

I suspect none of those are the full truth, because Hero Guy, being the engineer that he is, does not improvise. He uses all proper tools, techniques and methods for everything, all the time. So if I don't pitch in, it will get done, and with much less stress on me. It's probably not just to be nice either, because when I've got a list a mile long, Hero Guy is very accommodating and doesn't expect me to start on his list along with mine. I'm sure it has more to do with my need to control things, my not wanting to admit that the world really does thrive even without me in the middle of it.

I will say this though. While Little Chic and I are eating our Fluffernutters and hot dogs, the boy campers will be feasting on Italian sausage and pasta salad and they better be thinking about ME while they enjoy it!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Tell Eric I said to have his Dad tell him his lost in the woods story, if he hasn't already heard it. :-) Maybe they'll stumble upon the lost backpack he had to leave behind! I'm sure both sets of kids/parents will have a great time. We love going camping (with an RV) and the kids just have a blast. Fun memories.
6/24/2006 3:35 PM
Unknown said…
I think it's cool that you have all the food stuff under control. Your H.G. and B.B. are really going to appreciate all the extra effort you put in to make their trip a special event.

I would be the very same way. Bobby can't even walk inside the door without me asking if I can make him a drink. I seem to always be attending to his needs no matter what, not that he can't do things for himself; it's just that I enjoy doing for him.
6/24/2006 8:37 PM
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