Superhero camp

Mark begged me all last week to cut eye holes in a red bandanna he's been carrying around. He said he wanted to be the red Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, which confused me, because he's about seven years past their target audience.

Then, on Friday, he dressed in all red (including soccer socks pulled up over his knees). When I asked while he was so color-coordinated, he slipped on his mask and answered, "Ninja turtle."




None of this made any sense to me until we walked into camp. Suddenly, I was surrounded by superheroes of all sizes--Batman, Wolverine, Superman, even Super Kyle Man. (Mark's friend Kyle sported a huge duct tape K on his chest. I loved that!)

"What's going on?" I asked. I hadn't seen any fliers regarding costumes.

"It's Superhero day," Mark answered. Suddenly the Ninja Turtle costume made sense.

There were other celebrations and parting gifts, too. Mark received a spiffy photo book with photos from the entire summer.



In this picture, you'll notice the name "Jadyn" on the cover. That's because Mark lost his own book approximately two minutes after receiving it. I'm guessing it's keeping last year's lost book company.

There was also a potluck lunch. I wasn't planning to go until Mark said he'd be bummed if I didn't. Well, Mr. Independent never makes admissions such as that, and I'm Catholic by birth, so the guilt kicked in and I went.

I was pretty excited to watch the skits after lunch. I asked what skit Mark was performing, and he just shrugged. He told me he'd gone around to each group and couldn't decide which skit he liked best. Which cracked me up, because the groups are formed according to age. Which means Mark auditioned with all ages, from the kindergartners on up to the middle schoolers.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see him perform with any of the groups. When skit time started, Mark was more interested in his cookie with M&Ms on top. I asked which group he was going up with, only to be told none.

"I don't want to be in a skit," he told me. The natural-born performer declined to perform.

At first I was a little bummed. I'd taken off time from work to eat dodgy potluck food and watch my kid act the fool. Apparently, it wasn't gonna happen.

And then I realized that instead of being bummed, I should be happy. I didn't have to stay and watch the skits!

I told Mark that I wasn't gonna stick around and watch a bunch of other people's kids perform. I was headed home, and offered to take him with me. He declined, and told me I wasn't to pick him up until 6.

"But you'll be the last kid here," I said.

"So? I want to stay and play with my friends!"

I agreed to the late pickup. And I cracked up when my cell phone rang at precisely 5:55, when I was one block away from camp.

"I'm the last kid here!" Mark wailed. Edra and Kathleen, who were in the car with me, laughed as hard as I did.

"I know," I answered. "You told me to pick you up at 6. So I am."

Mark didn't think it was nearly as funny as we did.