Scout camp

Chance headed off for his first cub scout camp this morning. He was so excited and kept reminding us to set the alarm so that he would be at the church on time. He left at 6:30 a.m. this morning and no scout could have been more excited.
People who know Chance and are around him know that he is fully capable of anything that the other boys can do. But the fact that Chance is deaf really makes some people nervous. Deafness and cochlear implants are just so unfamiliar to most people.
I decided last week it would be a good idea to find out which adults would be attending the camp with the boys so that I could address any concerns anyone might have. The adult leaders were just going to be moms of the boys and cub scout leaders. I actually would have loved to go, and attended last year and really enjoyed it with my other son. This year it was not possible for me to attend. On the one hand, I really wanted to be there with Chance and would have gone if it was possible. One side of me realized that Chance going with out me was good in the sense that he would be on his own and it would give him experience in independence. Chance is a pretty independent kid, but if I had gone, I think some of the leaders would have defaulted Chance to me since they were unsure of his capabilities.
When I called to find out who the leaders would be, I told the Committee Chair that Chance would be able to do anything at camp and shouldn't have a problem. She said she had been wondering about that. I told her to have any leaders call me that had questions and that we welcomed questions. We are not shy about informing people about Chance and what he can do. We would rather have people ask than have them nervous about being around Chance.
Anyone who is around Chance and knows him is aware that he is like any other child and will do anything that the other boys do. He does not require a lot of special attention, he just may not hear what is said the first time.
It turns out one of our neighbors and friends was attending and she knows Chance quite well. She has babysat him and he has played at her house many times. I knew that she would lead the other leaders in treating Chance as any other cub scout. That set my mind at ease.
Chance came back from camp exuberant. He bought a pocket knife and a 4 pack of root beer. That's right, root beer. Of all the things to buy at the trading post, Chance was most taken with the knife and root beer. It must be really good root beer though because Chance's brother who attended camp last week came home with an empty bottle of it so we would know what to buy when we saw it in the store.
The only casualty of the day was that Chance lost the watch that I bought him on SATURDAY. That's right, two whole days ago. He did have a good reason though. They made boats and raced them in water and Chance was worried the water would ruin his watch....which it could have. Chance stuck the watch in his pocket for protection and then somewhere along the way it fell out.
Oh well, You win some you lose some. Chance informed me that I could buy a new one for him if I wanted and he could help pick it out.