The Tampon Lady

It’s that time of year again!  Time to figure out what my kids are doing for the summer and I hate it! Why?  Glad you asked!  It’s because of what happened one summer about 6 years ago. It was the last 4 weeks of summer camp.  I found out that I needed to travel on a short trip for work. The day before I left, I received a note from the camp explaining that as a final project, the campers would do a big show and tell. They were to bring a craft made of everyday household items representing a culture of their choice with instructions on how to make it.  Then the other campers would make the craft too. By the end of the week, each camper would have a large number of crafts to take home. Each camper was assigned a day to present  and parents were invited to watch.  Wouldn’t you know it?  My son’s presentation would be on the last day of my trip so I would miss it!.

I went on my trip and while returning home from the airport,  I got an urgent call to come to the camp office ASAP.  When I arrived, I noticed that there was a bit of giggling from some of the      teachers and parents, as if they had some secret joke. But I ignored it and went straight to the main office. I found the head administrator and she (very nervously) asked me to have a seat. On her desk was a brown paper bag.  She explained that my son gave a presentation on Native American culture and then brought supplies from home for a very creative craft. Immediately, in my head, I started  imagining how my super smart son did this excellent presentation and I missed it!  But I came back to reality when she said, “I collected everything and put it in a bag for you.”  Hmm…that’s an odd thing to say, right?  I opened the bag and you wouldn’t believe what was inside!  It was what looked like 150 TAMPONS!  Most of them had been removed from their packaging, painted on, tied or glued together to make what apparently was supposed to be Native American jewelry!  Then she asked me a question I would never forget, “WERE ALL OF THESE IN YOUR HOUSE?”  Go ahead, laugh!  But am I not the only one that buys certain items in bulk from the Sam’s Club or Costco?  I mean really –  along with paper towels and toilet paper – feminine products is one of those things you should always have on hand!  Right?  Is anyone out there with me?

Needless to say I was embarrassed!  I took that bag, which by the way seemed much heavier and larger than it was before, checked out my kids (to the sounds of laughter) and drove home. For the rest of the summer I was known as The Tampon Lady!  It was awful!  So naturally, I couldn’t go back to that camp the next year.  And every summer since then, I’ve hated searching for summer camps!  I just can’t find one as good as that one but I can’t go back!  Maybe this will be the year that I suck it up and go back to that camp,  Who knows? I still have a few months to go right? Well, I know you were expecting a lesson or some words of wisdom here based on my other posts.  The only thing I can say is that we all have our issues…and that is one of mine!