I made a BIG mistake. On one of our exceedingly rare non-children evenings out with friends last weekend, I had one too many glasses of vino and in a mad moment, agreed to go camping with them at the end of May - somewhere in the New Forest. I am now regretting it BIG TIME.... but I'm not one for backing out and dh is delighted, two dd's aged 4 and 10 are both not sure what to make of it but willing to give it a go. Have managed to get our camping-mad neighbours to lend us a largeish tent (apparently), some blow up mattresses (they said their special ones that don't get freezing??)..., a table/chairs and some cooking stuff. I'll buy some sleeping bags and have read some posts here with useful tips on other suggestions for kit so I guess it's all systems go...HOWEVER, I am absolutely DREADING it.
Firstly, I hate the cold/the wet/outside generally - I'm much more of an indoor person. Secondly, I can't imagine how the kids are going to be kept happy as they are both scared of the dark - almost as much as they are afraid of virtually every bug on this planet.... and my eldest, taking a chip off the old block, is utterly disgusted at the idea that she might have to pee in a bucket or walk across a field to have one in the night. Also, what on earth do you do all day long? Isn't it boring?? My only memories as a child of camping are going with my dad and his friend and "the kids" (sensible mums taking a break in some hotel) whilst we attempted to sleep in a two man tent in the rain, with a cold sausage sandwich and being permanently wet and miserable.
Sorry, I know that those of you reading this are probably the outdoorsy types who love nothing more than living with nature, but to be honest, I'd really appreciate an insight into why this is such a great thing to do so that I can tell my kids - and try to convince myself that we are all going to have a wonderful time!!
Thanks