So . . .that's Grumble (far left) having a ball in Israel with some his 650 new bff's. How do I know? Bunk1.com.
Bunk1.com
is a company that sleepaway camps use to provide more or less
continuous coverage of your child's summer activities. If I choose --
and for a fee of course -- I can see photos of my darling son 24/7 at
bunk1.com and bask in the warmth of his smiling goofy face, scruffy
beard, curly locks and sun tanned punim (that's Yiddish for face). And sometimes I actually do.
But
more often, I don't want to see his every move. My parents didn't get
to see me and my teenage pals do all the hormonal things we did the
summer I turned 16 in 1968...the summer of love. And thank heavens for
that! Some things are better left to the imagination. I just don't go
in for all this Mommy Cam, Nanny Cam, Doggy Cam stuff. It's such. . .
narcissism. Such....helicoptering.
Grumble is traveling in
Israel with the North American Federation of Temple Youth -- NFTY.
NFTY also makes it possible for kids to rent inexpensive cell phones
while in Israel. Buckling under to intense teenage peer pressure, I
caved in and let Grumble rent a phone. It did allow him to connect with
his father who was also visiting in Israel and have a meal with him.
But I have only called him twice and only reached him once. He sounded
great. So far, I don't hear from him at all...which is wonderful. This
simply underscores the fact that he's having a good time and is busy,
busy, busy. Just what I want, just what he needs. These trips are quite
the logistical enterprise...think troop maneuvers...and the kids sign a
very strict covenant of behavior. Drugs, smoking, drinking and
canoodling get you an immediate ticket home.
NFTY supervises
650 North American teenagers (rising 11th graders) broken down into 17
groups of twenty, each on a different bus and each with a slightly
different 4-5 week itinerary. The NFTY "command center" in Israel is
in daily contact with Tzahal (Israeli army) security and itineraries
are adjusted to deal with the realities of life in a war zone. Grumble
was in Jerusalem the day a Palestinian rammed a bulldozer into a bus
killing 6 and wounding dozens. He's been there all the while that Iran
has been testing long range rockets meant for Tel Aviv.
And I
really don't worry about it. But as blase as I sound, I simply can't
wait to talk to him about it when he gets home. All that theory and
passion and history about Israel we've fed him for 16 years is now
being digested and filtered and sorted and processed in the real
Israel. I want to hear what he thinks, what he ate, what he saw, what
he loved, what troubled him. I don't need to see him boogeying. So
when the parent e-newsletter (updated daily) indicated that we could
watch 650 kids atop Masada grooving to the music of a Jewish rock
concert in a live podcast, I laughed. It was a Thursday night and it conflicted with HGTV's Design Star. I chose TV.
I'm not completely detached. I really DO like reading the
itinerary and knowing where Group 15 is each day. But I don't have to
know EVERYTHING. When Grumble gets home I'll be happy to see his photos
and hear his stories. What he doesn't share, well, that's all for
him. Like my 16th summer. Big and beautiful and hormonal and utterly
unforgettable.
Cross-posted at Mid-Century Modern Moms
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