Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: WEEKEND AWAY (short vacation) (07/23/15)
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TITLE: Unplugged | Previous Challenge Entry
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07/30/15 -
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Thank you so much for lending us the tent last weekend. Yeah, okay – you’ve won me over. Trust my big brother to know that a weekend camping was exactly what we needed! Until last weekend, I could never understand the attraction of camping or why you’ve been trying to convert me to it for the past ten years. I used to think you and Louise were mad, choosing to slum it with the kids in muddy campsites instead of chilling out in a hotel. I have to say, despite my reservations, camping proved to be a fabulous experience. I’d do it again tomorrow, if I could.
I’ve dried the tent as best I could; the only other time I’ve seen rain like we had last weekend was on a business trip to Mumbai during monsoon season. I owe you an apology for being so sceptical; that tent is solid! Despite three days of constant abuse from the elements, it didn’t blow down or leak. Was that the tent Dad bought you when you went backpacking the summer before you went to Uni? That must be nearly thirty years ago. It’s done well. Please check that I did clean and dry it correctly – I’d hate for it to end up mildewed.
What was really lovely was being ‘unplugged’ from electronic devices – three teenagers being without their mobiles? Unthinkable! But, despite the protests, they survived, and were won over by the end! I’ve never known Izzy, Mia and Luke to actually play a game of cards together before, let alone invent new ones! On one of the few occasions when the rain let up, Luke managed to persuade the girls to go out and play football with him. Another first!
Camping certainly unearthed their hidden talents and creativity. Izzy got some practice cooking on the gas stove, which gave her the idea to write a camping cookery book for her GCSE Food Technology coursework. Hers will be unique – her classmates are doing things like baking and barbeques. Mia was usually off exploring the campsite. If we come back in the autumn, she’s already sussed out where to find blackberries. She wants to bring wildlife guide books next time. She discovered a pond behind the washrooms and some fascinating insects – dragonflies, I suspect, but that’s not enough; she wants to know what kind. And Luke – well! It was amazing how the kid who insists on googling the answer to every problem because thinking is ‘too hard’, was the one devising brilliant, resourceful solutions to all kinds of practical problems.
Oddly enough, they're spending noticeably less time on their electronic devices and more time doing creative things together, even though we're home.
For me, being out of WiFi and internet range was sheer bliss. Do you remember me telling you last year how I was plagued by work-related emails every day while we were in Italy? Each day brought a fresh crisis – I came home even more stressed than when I went! So I was slightly apprehensive that I’d turn up to work on Tuesday to find the place in dire straits. But they just said they had to sort things out for themselves, since they couldn’t get hold of me. If only we’d been away longer than a weekend…
Most remarkable of all was the effect on Colin. Putting his problem-solving skills to use in getting the tent up securely brought out a side of Colin I haven’t seen since he lost his job eight months ago. Believe me, it was stressful! He had a heavy downpour, forgotten instructions and mutinous kids to contend with. Yet it proved the perfect antidote to Tuesday’s disastrous interview, which left him so deflated that he didn’t want to go away at all. Camping seems to have re-energised him and given him a far greater sense of direction than hours online, trawling through job vacancies, ever did. Last night, he was talking about setting up his own IT trouble-shooting business. I’ll keep you posted!
It dawned on me that we’ve never taken our kids on holiday together, and yours will be off to Uni in a year or so. We saw a second-hand tent advertised and bought it yesterday. How about we have a camping weekend away together before the summer’s out?
Love,
Lucy, Colin and kids.
Author’s note:
GCSEs are the exams taken in the UK at age 16.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
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Very well written and presented.
Well done.
God bless~
God bless~