Undiagnosed but Okay

The family really wants to go camping. Me? I love camping. Or I used to. Now I am kind of overwhelmed by all it involves. Last year at this time Boo was using a pediatric walker and pretty easily contained. She couldn’t get far! Now not only is she walking independently, she is climbing, almost running and really trying hard to jump.

We tend to rustic camp. After Allie was born we broke down and purchased a small trailer/camper.  We tried tent camping with Allie and failed miserably. We just could not get her to sleep. And everyone knows that a cranky toddler makes for a cranky mom! So that we could continue doing what we love, we traded the tent for the camper. Now I am spoiled and will never go back. But even with the camper we stay at places without electricity/water so that we can get back to basics and reconnect.

This was great for 5 years, and then Boo entered our lives. Granted her first year camping was out of the question. In her second year she started turning blue when chilled (still undiagnosed for that too! Although her docs think it might be the youngest case of Reynard’s) so we limited our camping to one trip. Last year we went camping a couple of times. It was more difficult, but because Boo wasn’t too mobile it had its pros and cons. Since she had an aversion to dirt she was pretty content to be held. Because she had an aversion to dirt and wouldn’t crawl on the ground, I built up some pretty strong arm muscles.

So this is the year. The first year we will camp with the mobile Boo, who we cannot trust in the yard or open door because if you blink she will be down the road. The first year we will camp with the Boo who is no longer afraid of sand, dirt, water.

Makes me wonder what I started with all this therapy.  Is it awful to think that she was actually easier to travel with when she was less mobile and had aversions to every sensory input?

Have you tried camping with your unique child? I would love to hear suggestions for keeping her safe while enjoying the great outdoors.