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If I  had thought Girl Scouts was difficult, I  had not remotely been prepared for summer camp.

Jin had not cared all that much when younger, preferring to spend the days at the neighborhood pool and the evenings with his friends.  Junie…  Junie was more of a belonging  sort than Jin — or, truth be told,  than either Sage or I.

All her friends at school were going to summer camp.  Junie wanted to go  to summer camp.

Easy?

Easier said than done.

Places that were eager for my money and Junie’s enrollment were suddenly full with a long waiting list when our address came up.  Some places wouldn’t answer my calls.  One place hung up on me.

“We can’t say ‘humans only,’ one tired high schooler told me.  “That’s against the law.  But we’re supposed to watch out for certain addresses.”

That, too, was against the law,  but if I hadn’t been making a stink and she hadn’t been exhausted,  I  never would have known.

“Don’t want dragons in your summer camp?” I asked.  Her look was just miserable.

“Ogres.   Vampires… ”

I had to admit she had a point.  Impulse control was not something children of any race were generally good at, and you didn’t want your campers eating each other.  “If I promised my Juniper was unlikely to bite and, if she bit, she wouldn’t chew?”

“Neighbors.   Can you say all your neighbors’ kids won’t chew on other campers?”

“…” I started to say no, and then my mind lit up flash bulbs and said are you a student of the Pumpkin or not? “How do you feel about mandatory snacks?”

“Will it mean less being yelled at, mean parents, and angry councilors?”

“If you feed them snacks, too.”

“Let me talk to the Director.”

And that is how I ended up making snacks for summer camp for six weeks.