Why I Want to go to Wellspring Camp
Last summer I went to a YMCA camp in Tennessee. Everyone, including me, loved it there. This camp was at a lake, so a lot of activities were in the water. A favorite activity was called "The Blob," which was basically a huge inflated balloon on the water that was connected to a ladder, which was connected to a bigger part which had a slide on one side. At the front was about an eight-foot jump to the Blob. If you wanted to be launched into the air by someone else jumping on the Blob, you would crawl to the front. This was the part that was hard for me, almost devastating. I saw my friend be launched about twenty feet in the air by someone, and it looked like so much fun. On that first day I tried about five times to go to the edge, but I never made it. Every single time I couldn't pull myself up. I kept trying throughout the week at camp, persevering as long as I could, but I finally had to give up. I think this problem was caused by my weight.
Sometimes I feel like I myself am a Blob. Many people at school call me names that make me think this. I know that I am not a Blob but it is sometimes hard to remember that. When I look at myself in the mirror, I feel like someone I am not. When I was younger, I was able to do things that everyone else could, but that was when I lived in the country in Oregon. When I moved to the city, I didn't get as much exercise, and things slowly got bad. I go to a magnet school with a lot of homework, which means I'm sitting a lot. The movie Supersize Me inspired me to avoid fast food restaurants, and I'm exercising more at a gym that my family joined. But I'm still not losing weight, and I need help.
Almost everyone at school thinks I have a nice personality, but still they make fun of me as if they think it won't bother me. I want to go to a camp where I can do all the activities and where the other kids know what it is like to be overweight. If you've ever read the book Holes, you would know that Stanley, the main character, dreams about going to Camp Fun and Games, and he too was overweight, and he was made fun of by everyone at school. I think if I go to Wellspring Camp, it would be like going to Camp Fun and Games, then because of camp, I would have a chance to think better of myself. And I'm sure when I lose weight from this camp, I would be able to go back to the lake at that other camp, and climb right up on the Blob like everyone else. Also, people will stop making fun of me. By going to camp, I'll be able to conquer the Blob in more ways than one.
Last summer I went to a YMCA camp in Tennessee. Everyone, including me, loved it there. This camp was at a lake, so a lot of activities were in the water. A favorite activity was called "The Blob," which was basically a huge inflated balloon on the water that was connected to a ladder, which was connected to a bigger part which had a slide on one side. At the front was about an eight-foot jump to the Blob. If you wanted to be launched into the air by someone else jumping on the Blob, you would crawl to the front. This was the part that was hard for me, almost devastating. I saw my friend be launched about twenty feet in the air by someone, and it looked like so much fun. On that first day I tried about five times to go to the edge, but I never made it. Every single time I couldn't pull myself up. I kept trying throughout the week at camp, persevering as long as I could, but I finally had to give up. I think this problem was caused by my weight.
Sometimes I feel like I myself am a Blob. Many people at school call me names that make me think this. I know that I am not a Blob but it is sometimes hard to remember that. When I look at myself in the mirror, I feel like someone I am not. When I was younger, I was able to do things that everyone else could, but that was when I lived in the country in Oregon. When I moved to the city, I didn't get as much exercise, and things slowly got bad. I go to a magnet school with a lot of homework, which means I'm sitting a lot. The movie Supersize Me inspired me to avoid fast food restaurants, and I'm exercising more at a gym that my family joined. But I'm still not losing weight, and I need help.
Almost everyone at school thinks I have a nice personality, but still they make fun of me as if they think it won't bother me. I want to go to a camp where I can do all the activities and where the other kids know what it is like to be overweight. If you've ever read the book Holes, you would know that Stanley, the main character, dreams about going to Camp Fun and Games, and he too was overweight, and he was made fun of by everyone at school. I think if I go to Wellspring Camp, it would be like going to Camp Fun and Games, then because of camp, I would have a chance to think better of myself. And I'm sure when I lose weight from this camp, I would be able to go back to the lake at that other camp, and climb right up on the Blob like everyone else. Also, people will stop making fun of me. By going to camp, I'll be able to conquer the Blob in more ways than one.
2 comments:
There are so many different reasons kids don't eat well or get fat, including genetics, of course, and emotional issues. What I'd like to know from you, is why did Matthew get heavy? You don't explain the before and after of your own thinking or doing, or say why you think it happened, that I could see. Do you feel like you have the answer to solve the problem? Or are you still looking for answers? What I gathered is that you are bringing Matthew more into the process, making him aware of his habits, not really controlling him but trying to move him toward taking more charge of his weight himself. That seems like a good move to me.
I think you probably knew what he should be eating. Did you feed him the way you should have and don't know what went wrong, or do you feel like you didn't do what you knew you should have, or somewhere in between? Maybe you didn't think it would matter as much as it did what he ate, etc.?
I'm very curious about what you, as a smart, educated, caring person, say about this. So I want to find out where things went wrong. What I figure happened is that you did a lot of things right, a few things wrong, and you found yourself with a kid who was drawn like a magnet to carbs, etc. (you told me this once) and that his energy was stronger than yours on the whole situation. Things went wrong for you whereas with a different kid, you would have gotten away with it. Am I close? Your daughter didn't get heavy. So what is the difference? Just genes?
Anna, one of my main questions, as someone who is "in it", is how much of this is me, where I am going wrong, and how much of this is my daughter learning to navigate in the world in the body that she has? As I read my own posts, as I WRITE my own posts, I'm amazed at how "all about me" it sounds. Something that I feel like I'm asking Kelly is what part is my responsibility and what part is my daughters, and hers alone??
Post a Comment