No we didn’t lose a child at Camp Bestival as the title may suggest, in fact quiet the opposite happened and as cheesey as it may sound this wonderful festival bought our family closer together than ever, and my teenage son that has become so distant was a changed child!
For weeks number two had been making up excuses as to why he didn’t want to go away to Camp Bestival. We had a birthday party that if he didn’t attend would ruin his life, a sleepover the entire class was going to and he would be the only one not there to a whole host of illnesses that suddenly appeared every few days!
Even as close as the night before he was complaing of crippling stomach pains. To be honest I had to admire his staying power.
We didn’t crack and piled him into the car dreading what lay ahead as I had visions of him ruining the entire trip with his strops and temperamental attitude.
We made our way down to the entrance with him moaning about the lack of Wifi and KFC and telling us how we were ruining his entire summer holiday.
It didn’t take long for reality to set in and for him to realise this would be his home for the next few days and he may as well just get on with it.
He got stuck in with helping to put up the tent and blowing up the many air beds, helped my with the mammoth task of getting everything from the car and loved getting the little kitchen area set up so he could help prepare our food.
He happily played hide and seek with the little ones around the campsite and became a bit of a magnet to the children in the neighbouring tents who all loved playing football and Nerf gun fights with him.
He got involved in everything at the festival from excitedly jumping on all the fairground rides to helping his brothers and sister with quiet crafts.
Don’t get me wrong he was still mortified with me when I started dancing to Bananarama and was not enthralled with having to endure Mr Tumble but that care free, happy child was found once again and I absolutely loved it!
The lure of the XBox had been taken away and he found pleasure in simple childhood activities once more. He bought a diablo that he spent hours perfecting tricks on and got such pleasure from allowing the little ones to bury him completely in the sandpit.
What I loved most though was the walk to and from the campsite where we would have chats about nothing in particular as these moments at home have been lost to the technical world and the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Camp Bestival has pulled him from the shell he had become encased in and I will be forever grateful for that.
Reading this brought tears to my eyes, as my children are growing up so fast too! Thank you for your honesty… Love reading your posts.
Oh thank you so much! It’s comments like this that makes my writing so worthwhile x
What a lovely asode to a fab festival. Every time we bumped into you he was smiling and looked very chilled. Great to hear how much it did for him, and you! xxxx
Oh thank you, it really was so great for us as a family aside from it being a fantastic event xx
Oh what a lovely post. I do think Camp Bestival can have an amazing transformational effect on people. Great photos and glad you enjoyed yourselves x
Thank you so much! Really glad you enjoyed the post.
It really is magic x
Oh wow I love that this happened and i can see how – our children were all totally captivated by the whole experience xx.
It really was such a great experience fur us all x
It’s always so great when you find something that releases them from the teenage world for a while and makes them a person you can chat to again isn’t it? It’s great that you all managed to become closer on this trip, sometimes full family bonding requires everyone to leave the hustle and bustle behind and for all of you to escape. I hope you manage to keep a little bit of the chatty happy boy that you found at Camp Bestival now that you’re home again.
Thanks for sharing with me on #CountryKids.
We seem to still have him at them moment and had a really good chat about it when we got home.
It was a real Turing point for us and one that I’m really grateful for x
What a great weekend. I know I feel the distance coming with my teen during school time but she does shake it off in the holidays. As the holiday progresses, the difference in school years starts to be lost between siblings. I was with you every step. I hope you keep the festival spirit going. #CountryKids
I’m still clinging onto that spirit and it does seem to have had a lasting effect this far!
Growing up is as hard for us as it is for them at time x
Your post makes me both happy and sad. Happy you found your sweet boy during the festival. Sad that my son is 10 and is already starting to pull away. It will break my heart when he gives up our bedtime chapter books and cuddly talks. It is all a part of them gaining their independence but I sometimes wish it weren’t. #countrykids
I’m been through it once with my eldest but being a girl she seemed to keep that emotional attachment still.
I’m really struggling this time round but as you said it’s all part of growing up and we need to let them do that x
How really special to read about this. It must be hard being the eldest, but thank goodness that he went with the flow and that you all enjoyed yourselves. Such a moving experience reading about your son enjoying your family time together. Thank you for sharing these tender moments. #Countrykids
Thank you in so glad you enjoyed reading.
It was a real changing point for us and we’re really going to try to keep that togetherness there for as long as we can! X
Aww what a sweet post! And the last photo is just amazing! I think this is what festival is about, being with family and enjoying the outside unplugged. I bet he has got so many stories to tell his friends and that would make him the coolest kid ever =)
#countrykids
Oh this is so lovely! I am so glad that your boy really enjoyed his time at Camp Bestival, such a heartwarming post 🙂 #countrykids
Such an honest and heartfelt post. I’m so glad your teen let himself find his inner child and ended up enjoying Camp Bestival! Xx #countrykids
What a beautiful and heartfelt post, hun. I’m glad your eldest son enjoyed Camp Bestival. What a great and lovely weekend for you all. xx
#countrykids
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed the post x