When the brunette was a baby, the mother bought her a stuffed gray elephant. Never in her wildest dreams did she think the brunette would bond with the elephant to such a heightened, irreplaceable level. Seemingly a silent member of the family, Mr. Elephant, ever in the room, has participated in many of the family’s adventures. This story is told from the perspective of the brunette’s beloved elephant. It’s important to note that elephants don’t speak much of the time, but when they do, it’s always in rhyme.
There is a legend that has been passed down through stuffed elephant-companion folklore. The legend states that a boy named Theodor Geisel, better known by his readers in later years as Dr. Seuss, also possessed a stuffed elephant-companion guide. Within many of his stories, it is easy to see that elephants carry a special place in his heart. In Horton Hatches the Egg, Dr. Seuss wrote, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant – An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent!”
For weeks, the children had been talking about going camping. Their mother was not entirely certain when the idea first arose, but I for one….. found myself equally excited by the prospect. As a stuffed animal companion, I spend most of my days inside the confines of a house. Yet, there is a part of me that still hears the call of nature from time to time. I am after all…. an elephant.
After days of the parents walking into the family room, only to discover the children and I pretending to camp, I overheard the father say to the mother, “I think it might be time to try and go on a little camping trip.”
The mother laughed and replied, “Well, let’s temper our expectations, and have our first camping adventure….in the back yard.” I certainly agreed that being close to the house would indeed be a wise idea should there be any unplanned nighttime awakenings.
The father and the boy had been camping the year prior. So they already owned many of the essential camping items. The boy would often share stories with his sisters and I from his self-proclaimed, vast camping experience. To me, the boy appeared quite knowledgeable…..as all good, big brothers should be in regards to such matters.
“I think we will take a trip to REI tomorrow,” the father added, “and get a few more things.” The father began researching sleeping bags right away as neither of the girls owned one. I have heard the mother say she is fairly certain the father is most often more excited about researching and purchasing the components needed for camping, than the actual act of camping, but I didn’t see that at all. I just loved how the father, always participated in our adventures with the same enthusiasm as the children and I.
From my limited understanding of fathers, this father seemed to be a very good one. He seemed to understand that memory making was one of the most crucial aspects of childhood. I was not entirely sure what this REI, of which they were speaking, was….. but it sounded like a magical place. I so hoped I would be able to join them, as this was to be my very first camping trip after all.
The next day was Saturday. When the father informed the children and I that we would get to accompany him to the camping store that morning, the breakfast table erupted with cheers of delight. “Yeah!!!” the children chimed in unison. I found myself shuddering with excitement.
“Will we get to make s’mores?” the boy asked. “It’s not real camping if we don’t have s’mores,” he added, very matter-of-factly. “Yes, I think we can make that happen,” the father assured him.
“How can we go camping, if we don’t have sleeping bags?” the blonde wisely observed. Pleased they were clearly giving this some thought, the father walked into the other room and returned carrying the pink and purple sleeping bags he had purchased for the girls days before.
The brunette and I exchanged glances and then let out a simultaneous squeal. “I’m so ex….ci…ted!” the brunette shouted in her classic over-emphasized style. The blonde jumped up from her chair and ran to the father; wrapping her arms around his leg she sighed and said, “You are the best daddy ever.” The father just smiled. From my perspective, this camping trip was getting off to a very exciting start.
We returned from the camping store with all kinds of wonderful treasures. Plates, bowls, something the father referred to as sporks, a lantern, flashlights, blankets, a s’more’s kit, and food pouches. The father insisted the pouches would grow into food if we just added water. I was very intrigued by the entire idea of food growing in a bag.
That night, after the brunette had fallen asleep, I lay awake next to her in the crib. In just 24 hours, I would be sleeping in a tent looking up at the night sky. I sighed and pretended I could see the same night stars on the ceiling of our room. Elephants, you see, do not have the best eyesight, but we do have very good imaginations. Just as my heavy eyes closed, I was fairly certain I had seen a shooting star whiz by, ushering me off to sleep.
The next day, we pretended to camp in the living room throughout much of the morning. The excitement was building. We had planned to set the tent up in the late afternoon. Moments before the camping opening ceremonies were about to take place, I happened to look out the window and saw them…..raindrops! I gasped and then caught myself. The parents hadn’t noticed yet, but I was worried this would mean our camping trip would have to be postponed. Sadly, that is exactly what happened.
I could tell the father was notably disappointed. I was attempting to mask my sadness for the sake of the little brown-haired girl. The blonde, wisely observing the tension in the room, chimed in with, “It’s okay daddy. We will find something else fun to do tonight. I know…maybe a family movie!” Then the blonde smiled her biggest smile. “We will try and camp again next weekend,” the mother tried to reassure us. I swore it appeared as if she was directing the statement directly towards me.
As the next week passed, I checked the weather forecast daily. The morning of the campout I woke earlier than usual and found myself tossing and turning in an attempt to accidentally, on purpose, awaken the brunette. “Good morning Elephant,” she said sleepily. “I find myself anxious for the excitement ahead, let’s hurry and get ourselves out of bed,” I replied. The little girl just smiled and nuzzled me close. I did so love our morning snuggles.
The day seemed to drag on forever, until finally the father proclaimed, “Alright, who wants to help me set up our tent?” Every hand and trunk in the room shot up. The baby, oblivious, simply sat playing with a toy picnic basket.
The tent went up in no time. I was sure, from my perch on the nearby patio steps, that my helpful direction had been invaluable to the father. The children were of simply no use at all. The excitement was clearly causing them to spin into an adrenaline whirlwind. In that moment, I realized this might be where the expression happy campers first came into being.
I noticed as the children skipped and ran around the yard, that the little brown-haired girl seemed tired and extra fragile. We had not taken a very good nap that day due to all the excitement. I saw the mother watching her closely.
Then I watched the mother approach the father. She clearly did not see me on the steps just below her feet as they stood talking in hushed tones. The mother tipped her head in the direction of the little brown-haired girl. “So….I’m thinking we might need to be smarter about this. What if she enjoys playing in the tent, dinner and s’mores, but just sleeps inside tonight? I’d like the memory of this first attempt to end on a happy note for everyone.”
The father looked at the brunette and replied, “I think that might be best. I can’t imagine what would happen if she woke up and was disoriented outside in the dark.” I suddenly felt the air leave my lungs. My dream of camping outside was slipping away with little warning.
In my heart, I knew what the mother and father had said was true. I had been so excited by the idea of camping that I had not truly thought through the logistics of camping with a toddler. In that moment, I knew exactly what had to be done…..the little brown-haired girl must never know. As an animal companion, learning to carry the burdens of our young charges, even before they realize the burden exists at all…… is one of our greatest challenges.
We headed into the dinner portion of the camping adventure. True to the father’s word, the food products within the pouches did indeed transform into the two meals of beef with rice and spaghetti using nothing more than boiling water. The father cast a glance in my direction, as if he had sensed my thoughts of skepticism the week prior at the camping store.
Following dinner, as the children skipped around the patio eating s’mores, I overheard the boy say, “Now, girls, tonight you might hear some noises when we are sleeping outside. It may or may not be hunting owls.” The blonde’s eyes grew wider, clearly concerned about these hunting owls of which her brother was referring.
The mother’s head quickly whipped around, “What are you telling your sisters?” The brunette and I exchanged a glance. Removing the s’more from her mouth, the brunette replied, “I don’t think elephants like hunting owls.” I was sensing her uncertainty and thought this might be the perfect time for me to make my preemptive move.
“Perhaps tonight we should instead sail away, rounding out this perfect day,” I said to the brunette. We would often pretend our crib was a boat heading out to sea. I would, of course, navigate as elephants have an exceptional sense of direction. The brunette smiled. She did so love our adventures. The brunette looked at the tent and then towards the stairs and simply nodded in agreement.
When the father ushered the older children to the basement for a viewing of Alice in Wonderland, the mother instead walked the brunette and I upstairs. I noted that the mother was surprised that the brunette did not at all act resistant to the idea of taking a bath and heading off to bed. The mother, of course, did not know of our own grand sailing adventure ahead.
As the little brown-haired girl and I set sail for a remote tropical island, we both felt the wind in our hair and had a smile on our hearts. Certainly the day didn’t end as I had imagined. However, as I drifted off to sleep that night, I smiled and thought, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant – An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent!”
The Motherhood in Technicolor Memo: One of the most valuable and frustration diminishing concepts within parenting is the notion of proactive verses reactive decision-making. Parenting with an objective and intentionality helps us as caregivers to equip our family vessel for the most optimal sailing course. This intentionality helps us to discern the times our children might benefit from redirection in an effort to avoid the rocks ahead, verses permitting stretching encounters that introduce our children to the notion of failure.
Even though a few members of the family enjoyed only a strategically controlled portion of the camping fun, the children’s first family camping adventure was deemed a success. For one magical stuffed elephant-companion, he will simply remember it as the day he almost……. went camping.
Learning to guide your children with rudder and sail,
helps the wisest of parent navigators… Click To Tweet
Should Mr. Elephant impart upon us his proverbial pachyderm wisdom, he might leave us with something like this: Learning to guide your children with rudder and sail, helps the wisest of parent navigators avoid setting their children up to fail.
Summer Smith is a speaker, writer, and motherhood blogger. She and her family are currently navigating the suburbs of Northern Virginia. As the mother to four young children, Summer maintains her sanity thanks to her sense of humor, copious amounts of coffee, and Amazon Prime. Maya Angelou once said, when reflecting on her childhood, that her mother left an impression like technicolor stars in the midnight sky. Influenced by these words, Summer blogs at her website Motherhood in Technicolor, and can also be found on her Motherhood in Technicolor Facebook page.