We dropped this little girl off at sleepaway camp this weekend, where she'll stay for three weeks. Three weeks! How on Earth I agreed to that, I have no idea. I'm certain it was the depth of winter, and likely there was lots of sibling strife and maybe we were all driving each other a little bit winter batty (it's totally a thing). That must have been the weak moment when I agreed to let Adelaide go for three entire weeks. We already miss her so, but as you can see by the look on her face, she's more than happy to be there. And truly, I'm happy for her to be so happy (and in a place we love and trust so much ourselves).
I love the sweetness that comes along with the departures and arrivals. The kids were all quite tender with each other in the days leading up to dropping her off, and I came into a room to scenes like the above more than I can count. Reading to her little siblings, them making cards for her and tucking them into her bags as a secret. All such good things. She has her letter satchel, of course, and there will be so many letters back and forth in the coming weeks. I love that too.
And so the dinner plate count goes down one more. What a strange moment that is each day when I pause at the kitchen shelves to do a head count of who is here and who is away. For a while, it used to be so second nature, grabbing those top seven plates on the stack. But now, with Gram and Andy here, and often someone's friend, but always someone is somewhere else...well, I never do know until that moment where I have to count dinner plates. Hovering between six and ten is a safe bet when I start making dinner, leaning towards ten. Off on so many adventures, they all are. Which is all fine and good, just so long as they keep coming home and back to my dinner table.
