My Nora worked SO hard at selling cookies this year at booths in the FREEZING cold outside around our area. She loved it at first, then tried getting out of it (which her dad didn't catch on to and let her) and then had to FIGHT OCD big time in order to get back in the game and join the troop and sell more...ALL to GO TO CAMP - something I never did as a kid and sounds SO FUN - to me, the NON-OCD mama!
Here's the trouble. EVEN IF Nora were to pick camp, go with her troop that she loves and be excited about it. I'm not sure she'll be able to handle BEING at camp and actually enjoying it...So i'm afraid to bring it up. I don't want her to miss out (something I don't handle very well myself) on one hand but I don't want her to let OCD take over and allow the "avoidance" keep her from experience what could and should be a great time.
Flip side...if she goes and anxiety TAKES OVER, it is heart-wrenching and heart-breaking and I will want to rescue her immediately because she can't fight OCD in the middle of everything that freaks her out (camp toilets, weird bathrooms, feeling dirty, spreading dirty, showers, swimming, strange beds...oh my)...because she's only 10...and here's the part I just wonder and wonder about, what if not doing this makes it harder to go to college, have roomates, etc..
So, this blog is just a little about how a mom has anxiety about her kiddo's anxiety and has to fight her worries to help her kiddo beat her OCD...what a bully!
Goodness, your posts always bring back so many memories for me - memories from when I was a kid living with OCD (though I didn't know what it was at the time). I remember camp...oh yes, camp. At the time I didn't have contamination compulsions, but I was probably running through various mental rituals all the same - a lot related to social anxiety. Here's the thing: there were times when camp was an incredibly anxiety-provoking experience, and then there were times where somehow I ended up absolutely loving it. It was hard to tell beforehand which way it was going to go.
ReplyDeleteYour concern about the camping situation is tough - obviously exposure to the camping environment would probably be great for fighting the OCD; however, at the same time, exposure can be overwhelming when you start to feel like you don't have a choice NOT to do it - as you might in a camping situation. I'm sure you and your daughter will figure out what's best when the time comes!
Really interesting post. It's hard to know, like you say, if she'll do better in the long run for the experience, or if it's just too much. Good luck with the decision.
ReplyDeleteI'm so grateful that my OCD didn't crop up until I was in my 20s- making childhood and college so much easier. I LOVED camp.
My daughter is also 10 with OCD. She does pretty well in private homes (relatively speaking), but melts down in public places and especially in public restrooms, porta-potties, and outdoor park-type bathrooms. I know exactly what you are talking about. Good luck and I hope that it goes well.
ReplyDelete