Round the Campfire

Every kid who grew up in the 1980s coveted the Sears Catalog Holiday edition.  I would flip  through the pages, coveting all the cool toys, fantasizing what it would be like to own them.  I imagined how much more fun my life would be.  I dreamed of the day I would have a disposable income and be able to buy whatever I wanted.

Now I am an adult and my Sears catalog dreams have been replaced by Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids.  My kids covet the Halloween edition.  I do have some disposable income, but I can hardly afford all the things I love.  I don't get to be Rachel on that episode of Friends where she essentially transforms her apartment into a Pottery Barn catalog.  Instead I like to walk around U Village, visit all the stores, and fawn over all the cute, fun things. And sometimes I walk into The Land of Nod and watch my children begin to play with the display items.  And I watch as all three joyously play together.  And then sometimes,  despite my best efforts, I can't resist the urge to impulse buy.  And that is how I became the proud owner of a stuffed campfire.

Of course we had to rush home, set up the tent, and put on our jammies.  The kids excitedly played.  There was no fighting, just fun.  I can't buy everything I want, but today I satisfied the child inside me.  Mean mama that I am, I ended the camping fun in favor of bedtime, but not before I sang our family's version of one of the kids' favorite camp songs.

"Round the campfire, embers glowing bright.  We have met in comradeship tonight. Round the boughs of whispering trees.  Guard our golden memories.  And so before we close our eyes and sleep, let us pledge each other that we'll keep.  Dimock Family strong and deep.  Til we meet again."