Camping: Coffee & Controlled Chaos
Day 13 of our summer 2022 cross-Canada camping trip
Camping while ADHD
After my ADHD brain threw us a slight curveball, we made an unexpected stopover at Greenwater Lake Provincial Park. I was lucky to get us a really nice site, another quiet campsite surrounded by lots of trees.
Once again we had been expecting rain or thunderstorms, and were very lucky. We had gorgeous weather and woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning.
It was a beautiful morning — after I had my meds and coffee, that is.
My husband was awake before me and sat reading by the picnic table with our camp stove set up. I stumbled around, trying to remember where my camping coffee percolator was, then where the coffee grinds were, then where my coffee mug was.
My husband chuckled and teased me about being confused over making coffee when not yet caffeinated. This despite the fact that I make coffee every single day, and have done so for many, many years.
He’s clearly not a coffee drinker.
I harrumphed and stumbled around some more. I ended up spilling some coffee grinds into the water, but was too sleepy and caffeine-deprived to care.
I am an early-riser, but not a morning person, if that makes sense.
Actually, it doesn’t have to make sense. Maybe it shouldn’t. Nothing makes sense to me before coffee.
Parenting while camping
Our son is getting more and more independent, which both excites and terrifies us. We’re proud of the skills he’s developing, and he’s thrilled to have some more freedom to explore the campgrounds.
We know he has the capability to navigate campgrounds safely, but it’s still nerve-wracking to let him go off on his own, however well-defined our boundaries may be.
We get a campground map and once his bike is off the bike rack, he’s raring to go. We go over the map together and determine where he can go biking, usually to the nearest playground. We make sure he knows our campsite loop and site number, and where to find a staff member if he needs help.
This is a system we’ve gradually developed over many years. These are skills our son has been working on building, and he’s had lots of practice testing out developmentally-appropriate bits of independence.
He has a watch and he’s expected to check in after an hour, so we know he’s okay. Often he comes back before the hour is up, either because he’s tired and hot, or because he hasn’t yet found kids to play with.
He has a watch, but he also has ADHD. Time awareness is not a strong point for either of us, especially when we’re engaged in something fun and exciting. We ask him to set a timer on his watch, but he often doesn’t hear it when he’s busy playing.
We’re trying to strike a balance between being understanding of his neurology — especially since I am much the same way — but also needing to instill in him a responsibility to check in so we know he’s okay.
We might have to invest in one of those watches that allows parents to send their kids a message or something, but they’re ridiculously expensive. (To be continued, I guess).
Last stop
We’re heading to our final destination before we head home for a short break and to get ready for the longer stretch of our journey. The next one will be mostly my son and I, with my husband joining at the beginning and end, as he is not able to take as much time off work as I can.
Being self-employed certainly has its perks.
My son and I have actually done long-road trips together previously. I was a little nervous as he was only 5 and 6 years old the first times we did it, but he was already an amazing camper by then. At 6 years old, he could help me set up and take down our tent and help start a fire.
One thing that does go quite differently when my husband isn’t there is the packing-up routine — or lack thereof. When we pack up together, my non-ADHD husband has a system. He moves in a linear fashion, so to speak, completing one task before moving onto the next.
Not so with me.
When I’m leading the charge, packing up looks like all of the tasks being done in fits and starts, with no order or method to my madness. It all gets done, however, and gets done well. It’s chaos, but (mostly) controlled chaos.
Also, my husband hasn’t shaved the entire trip, and he is usually clean-shaven. He now has quite a beard started and apparently it’s in the itchy stage. He keeps rubbing at it while he’s driving.
That has no relationship to anything, that’s just how my ADHD brain works, so roll with it. You can follow our journey here.
Camping is fun, whee!
© Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB
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