The Kyd and The Professor
The Kyd keeps getting older and older. As this happens, and as she sets out on more adventures "on her own" it turns out the Mom and the Dad become less and less participants but more the cheerleaders, recorders and, most importantly, the facilitators and underwriters.
This summer's "Big Adventure" meant we drove her 300 miles to spend three weeks at "Smart Camp" aka "Nerd Camp" aka Joseph Baldwin Academy for Eminent Young Scholars in Kirksville, MO at Truman State University.
Because I am "that mom", even before having a child I always thought that if I did have one, someday, this would be a worthwhile experience. When I was an editor on the Northeast Missouri State University Yearbook, one of the first articles I wrote was on the newly-created Academy. One of the girls I interviewed, over 25 years ago, said how much she enjoyed being around "kids more like herself" and she promptly asked me not to quote her on that anywhere her "Regular" school friends would see it.
As my then home-schooled child got older, (I kind of hate that that happened) I remembered this "camp" and started to figure out what it would take for my "baby girl" to have this opportunity. Well, it worked out. An application procedure that included taking the ACT in 8th grade and completing an application form more intense than most college apps resulted in a three week course of "The Writer's Craft". It also included three weeks in a college dorm, living on her "own" and living through power outages, a small fire and a tornado. *I* almost did not make it.
Luckily for everyone, the Kyd did. A wonderful evaluation from her professor sealed the experience. We had a bit of a giggle when he wrote that she spoke with "Disarming authority". I think she gets THAT from her dad!
