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Mother and Son Camp: A Morning to Remember

Scott Chua and Ms. Queena Lee-Chua

Posted Friday, 09-Feb-2007 3:24 PM

Scott Chua is a Grade Two student (St. Sebastian) who loves drawing, swimming, and eating spaghetti. Ms. Queena Lee-Chua is a professor of Mathematics and Psychology at the Ateneo de Manila University

              My mother and I went to the Mother-Son Camp held in school on the morning of January 20, 2007. The night before, I was excited that I woke up several times, wondering whether it was time to go. Then the day dawned, crisp, clear, and perfect. My mom and I were ready for the camp.

              After a detailed orientation, we rushed to our first base: Monkey Bridge at the Sacred Heart Garden. The first activity turned out to be our favorite! We climbed up and walked up on a thick rope, with handholds on the sides to prevent us from falling. We wanted to repeat the activity, but there were many people behind us, so we ran to the Modified Cobweb. We had to pass over, under and beside a tangled web of strings with bells attached. The objective was to go through the contraption without ringing a bell. My mom rang the bell two times, but I rang the bell only once!

              Our second base was Arts and Crafts. We decided to go to the activity with the fewest people at the time---Bonding Bracelet---and we soon discovered why this had the smallest crowd. I knew how to do a square knot from Scout Club class, but the knots in the bracelet were more difficult to master, especially since we were in a hurry. Despite the patient instructions of Mrs. Galvez, my mom was only able to do the left-side knot correctly, with the ones on the right askew.  My mom said, “I can picture the reverse symmetry in my mind, but to my embarrassment, I cannot let my fingers do it. Maybe I should give this knot as geometry practice to my Ateneo college students!” Several parents stopped by us, and noting the difficulty of the task, decided to skip the activity. But my mom and I did not want to give up. We spent 15 minutes on this one, and finally, even though the bracelet was not perfect, it was satisfactory enough. The next activity, Utility Box was a breeze. I was glad to bring home another box to put my stuff in.

              We were doing good time. It was not yet 9:00 a.m. At the Extra Challenge base, we tried the Hit the Rat activity---actually, it was really Hit-the-Ball. Luck played a big part in this game, for we did not know at which tunnel (left or right) the ball would come sliding out. The Log Jam was more fun and we did this with another Mother-Son pair. To ensure that  we did not lose our balance while exchanging places upon the bench, my mom asked me and the other boy to crouch down, while she and the other mom stepped over us. Then they were able to change places easily.

              Then, we proceeded to the Team-Building games. In Uranium Transfer, a big group of parents and boys held ropes to shoot a pail of balls into a smaller bucket. My mom was directing the activity, and even if the balls spilled on our trial run, we were able to succeed the next time around. In Blindfold Maze, another mother was directing many of us how to tilt the wooden maze to get the ball into the center. With good teamwork, we were able to complete the task fast.

              My mom and I had completed the required eight activities, and it was only 9:10 a.m. I wanted to rush around and finish everything else (there would be prizes for Mother-Son pairs who finished all the activities), but my mom warned me that we could not do one activity---Build a Fire, because it would trigger my asthma. Also, I was slightly light-headed, so my mom told me to relax and drink water.

              We took a break. We chatted with other moms and sons, conversed with my past and present teachers, and took pictures. Then we decided to do some more activities. We both loved Balance the Beam, because it involved math. Here I learned that distance from the center was important for balance, like a seesaw. My mom instructed me to do this activity on my own (without her coaching), and with the help of another boy, I was able to correct the number of bricks in pails to make the beam balance. My mom was proud of me for doing this well. We also did River Crossing with four people, we had fun squeezing ourselves tightly against each other so we wouldn’t touch the ground. The funny thing was, at the very last step, one boy fell out and we had to do the whole thing again! My mom and the other mothers were laughing hard, and in the next round, my mom told me to hold tight to the boy so he would not fall off again. We managed to cross the river the second time around.

              At the canteen, we had a snack, and spent lots of time talking with friends. I did not want to go home without a printed T-shirt, so I begged my mom to go back to the Arts and Crafts area to do some printing. It was fun! We took turns holding the screen and applying the roller, until the cheerful Mother-Son Camp appeared. It was like magic! Afterwards, we did the Minefield, where I did not step on any squishy stuff; Ladder Golf, where I was able to snag one pole; and Bulls Eye; where I hit 30 points.

              We went to the Wall-Climbing area, but we were told that due to time constraints, no more climbers would be allowed. I was disappointed, but my mom said we could perhaps do this in the future. By this time, I was exhausted, and I went back to the Sports Center.

              All the boys prepared a surprise for our mothers. We sang “You Are My Sunshine” and “I Will,” and my mom was very touched. She gave me a giant bear hug. We also applauded Mrs. Galvez, Mrs. Sudario, Miss Santos, Mrs. Alcantara, Miss Angeles, Miss Andrade, Miss Arevalo, Miss. Ladores, Mr. Abrogina, Mr. Ching, Teacher Ria and the others, in gratitude for all their preparation and hard work. We went home with mementoes:  a Cub Scout patch for me, and a button for my mom.

              My mom and I spend time together in studying, swimming, and singing. But this was the first time we walked on ropes together, printed a T-shirt, and played with other moms and kids. My mom and I are thankful that we have been given this chance to try activities we had never done before, and to bond with each other in different ways.

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