Repeating my Mother's Mistakes

Ah, the summer of 1980, how I remember it well...and shudder with horror whenever I do! You see, that summer was my very first summer at sleep-over camp. It was to be 2 full weeks of Fun! Fun! Fun! Instead it was 2 full weeks of absolute, non-stop misery, that will only ever be healed by a couple of years of therapy.

Why, you ask, was this such an awful summer camp experience, whose scars have stayed with me some 30 years later? You see, my mother (whom I love dearly and not a day goes by that I don't miss, wishing more than anything that she were still here to share in my life today--going on 6 years since her passing) filled out my enrollment form incorrectly. A very easy-to-make, simple little mistake.

As she was completing the form several months before camp was to begin, she innocently put my birthday down as it was on the date she completed the form, instead of as of the date the camp would start--as the form instructed. So instead of being with "High Point", I was grouped with "Rocky Road". Such a tiny little administrative error. No big deal, right?!

Well, at the meet-up centre I was grouped with "High Point" girls and within minutes, had made 5 instant BFF. We laughed, shared all our secrets and checked out all the cute boys and planned out the next 2 weeks to the minute. I was in heaven! Until, of course they were calling the kids to get on the busses and my name was never called. When I inquired, I was advised that I was on the "Rocky Road" bus. The counsellor smiled and pointed to a group of what appeared to be babies with absolutely no fashion sense...this could not be happening. I begged with the counsellor to look into the problem, explaining that in no way was I to spend the next two weeks with these little kids, when I was so much more worldly and was meant to be with the cool girls in bus #7. Sadly my complaints fell on deaf ears and for the next two weeks I was placed with the "little kids" and my dreams of a summer of fun came crashing to a bitter end.

So other than outing myself as "old" why am I sharing this, and is my life really that sad that I am still belabouring this dreadful experience? No, and in fact I haven't really thought about it in a number of years, until of course a few days ago. You see, Little Mister Man will be starting pre-school in April and the pre-school has been calling me to bring in the enrollment form in. Apologizing profusely for being 3 months late with them I told the secretary that I would have them to her the very next day, all I had to do was have my husband sign the forms. Well, that next day arrived, my husband dutifully asked me for said forms to sign, but I could not find them. They have vanished from my house. My cats ate them? The baby shredded them? I have NO IDEA, all I know is that these forms that I have been keeping in a very special place, so as not to forget, have just disappeared. And so, memories of my mother's own administrative misdoings came to mind.

Of course, mine is a minor one, as all the school needs to do is re-send me the forms and all's well. But I now realize how easy it is to make little mistakes. To forget to tick a box or mail in a form. Tiny, innocuous little mistakes or overlookings, that can in fact lead to weeks, if not years, of unhappiness. No pressure, eh?!