MS. INDEPENDENT?
I’m skipping the writer talk and just going for the random topic right now.
So growing up I was a Girl Scout. Like, top seller of cookies in my district even one year. (Woot, go me!) I went camping with the girls and learned some basic skills to survive. I’d like to think I took those with me into adulthood. Apparently, though, my big brother doesn’t agree.
Here’s the situation. I’m a single mom and I’m taking my daughter camping (as you’re reading this post actually!) for the first time. Alone! Now big brother (and I have 3 bros!) is completely worried that I’m incapable of doing this. That I couldn’t possibly go camping…without a man.
Squeeze me? Pardon? What’s the year again? Okay, maybe I need a guy for some things (like putting together a toddler bed—I swear I nearly punched a hole in the wall!), but seriously I can camp. And I’m bringing in backup in the form of my teenage niece, who also happens to be the daughter of the nagging brother. Yup, I’m surprised he’s letting her go with me.
I mean, sure, I’d love a guy to call my own someday. To be the hero I write about in my books. But I guess I’ve just been single for so long that it doesn’t occur to me to let being manless stop me from doing things. Like camping.
So what do you think? Am I being stupid, or just fine for going manless camping? I won’t be here to reply to everyone, but I’ll reply when I return in a couple days! But leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win my book TAKE ME. Cindy will draw a winner.
Warning: contest becomes void if Shelli and children are eaten by bears while putting on lipgloss in the forest, thus proving stupid to be the answer.
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Please leave a comment to enter to win Shelli’s new release, TAKE ME. Entries accepted until midnight PST.
To read Shelli’s bio and the back cover blurb for TAKE ME, please see yesterday’s post.
To learn more about Shelli and her books, you can visit her website.
It bothers me to no end when guys, or worse, other women, think women can’t do a thing without a mans help. Psshh. Ridiculous. So I don’t think your being stupid at all. Go for it and prove your brother wrong! 😉
I think it’s great that you’re going manless camping with your daughter and niece. You’re going to have an amazing time. Then when you come home you can tell your brother all about it. 🙂
I think its wonderful that you are grasping life and enjoying it. you dont NEED a man to do that. Have a great time and who cares what anyone else says.
Hi, all! I’m here just for a few minutes before I head out camping! (Got up early!) Thanks for all your support! I need it today! I woke up and it’s pouring down rain…yikes! Makes lighting the fire a challenge! *biting nails*
You go & have fun…yeah it would be nice to have a man around to do all the hard work, but we women can do anything a man can do…well ok almost anything…but hey without us those said men wouldn’t be there. You need to tell your brother that needs to “Kick Rocks”…..you will go on this camping trip & have the best time ever!
I think that it is totally amazing and awesome that you are doing this. You are showing those girls that you can do anything a guy can do! What a fun time.
There’s something almost endearing about a brother who tells you that you can’t do something and then sends his own daughter to join you. Talk about a mixed message!
It looks like the rain is starting to let up (in Seattle here too) and your weather should improve. Have fun. And think about hot rangers rescuing women with damp … firewood…
Your brother is a sweetheart. Enjoy your camping! Me, I’ve never camped, find the thought intriguing, but laying in a zip up tent with a chance for spiders and such to intrude, nada going to happen. *G*
What about camping requires a man to be present? I suppose it’s not a typical example, but when I look at my own parents, my mother would be just fine as a camper, but my dad would end up running for the nearest hotel after just a few minutes of attempting to sleep in a tent. I’m sure you’ll have a great time on your trip, rain or no.
Hi everyone, and welcome to Shelli. Shelli, thanks for dropping in before your trip. So sorry about the rain. Been there, done that.
I think it’s amazing that you’re going camping on your own. I admit, I’ve never gone camping without my dh. But I’m not much for camping, anyway, so I really have no desire to go without him. I loved camping with my dad and brother when I was a kid, and we did a fair bit of camping when our kids were younger – my oldest son LOVES camping now as a result – but I did it more for the kids and my dh than myself.
I sort of went camping alone with the kids one time. We’d arranged to meet another family at a campground, but then my dh qualified for a province-wide golf tournament that was occurring at the same time. There’s no way he couldn’t go. So he drove the kids and I to the campsite and helped us set up. Then he left for the airport. Our friends didn’t show up for another 24 hours – and it rained buckets the entire rest of that day and night while I didn’t have a vehicle and had to entertain my two sons for hours on end. All I can say is, thank God for GameBoys. 😉
It turned out to be one of our most memorable camping trips, though, and now that those camping trips are over, I do remember them fondly.
Hi Shelli!
*waving*
I hope you girls are having an awesome time.
Be safe, have fun, enjoy!
Kimberley
Shelli…love the book blurb.
Take Me sounds exciting. I’m happy for your continued success!
Hi Shelli. I think it is great that you and your daughter are going camping by yourselves. Women are capable of doing things on their own without a man going along.
Take Me sounds so good. Love the cover.
Sorry, I had to LOL at the idea that a woman and child can’t take on camping together! Yeah, what year is it??? I took my two special needs kids camping for five years in a row with narry a man in sight – and I’m married! He just hates camping, even at a site with washrooms and showers. So, I’d take off with the kids for a wk in July and a wk in Aug. with as you say, a teenage helper and we had a blast for five years running. 🙂 Now I have a fake shoulder/upper arm so couldn’t put up a tent myself, but I’d take either a teen or female relative with me so we could still enjoy it. You girls have a great time and remember – lots of pictures so she’ll remember it later as well as you do!
And I do love your cover and blurb! Congratulations!
Hey, you were a Girl Scout.
Should I say more. I tell you, the training the girl scout moms get is pretty thorough. I needed to get the certificate training just to join my daughter’s troop on a camping trip. I was really impressed with all the knowledge one had to absorb. At the end, I sure knew how to start a fire, pitch a tent, tie knots, and everything else you can Mygiver.
Have fun and enjoy.
Glad to hear that you are going manless camping!
It pains me to hear that man think women can’t do things without their help. Alot of women do things better than a man can do.
Here’s hoping you prove your brother wrong and have fun!
Awesome! I went camping with my 2 girls without my hubby, it was a ton of work, but we had a great time! His idea of roughing it is when the hotel forgets to give you complimentary shampoo and soap, LOL.
We had a great time on our own, I hope you all do too!
I loved your Seattle Steam books!!! Please enter me to win Take Me
~Erin
Hi Shelli! Hope you’re having a ball in the wilderness. A guy surely isn’t a required accessory for a fun time out in nature. You’re creating some wonderful memories, I’m sure.
Shelli, you can do it! Have a blast!
Good for you. I hope you have fun. My younger sis is going camping next week with a girlfriend and their two kids. No hubbies allowed. So, it’s doable. I bet you’ll have a blast.
You don’t need a man. Wanting and needing are two different things, eh?
Go, Shelli, go.
:)Becky
Hi Shelli,
I think that it’s great that you are doing something that you want to do! With or without a man I think you always have to weigh the risks and rewards of anything that you do. If you feel competant enough to camp on your own, then I don’t think it’s foolish at all. Now if you’ve never camped a day in your life (like me) and went out on your own in a potentially dangerous setting (like one with aforementioned bears) and didn’t know what you were doing then that’s another thing. Not because you don’t have a man to go with you, but that you aren’t taking someone/anyone with you who knows what they are doing.
Have a great trip with your daughter!
Hi Shelli,
Congrats on the new release. I’ve never been camping, but I don’t see anything wrong with manless camping. Sometimes we need some alone time with the girls. Have fun.
If you are comfortable with the idea, then I say go for it. But you have to admit it is great to have a brother who is willing to be there when you need him or not.
There’s nothing wrong with going without a man along–I’ve got a girlfriend who’s done that and she’s happily married. She’s also quite competent and sometimes their schedules don’t jive so she’ll head out with the kids because that’s something they enjoy. I don’t really see how having a Y chromosome qualifies you to camp more or less than having two Xs. Have a terrific time camping!!
Personally I hate camping. When I was a Girl Scout leader I had to take this weekend course before I could even roast marshmallows with them. Let me tell you, camping in February in Missouri is NOT fun. I have to admit, it was kind of funny watching some of the leaders putting on their makeup and using their portable curling irons in the wilderness. As for me, no makeup and sweatsuits for the weekend. Using latrines and brushing your teeth with COLD (and I do mean cold) springwater is not my idea of fun. My idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn without a restaurant. My oldest daughter feels the same way. My youngest LOVES the outdoors. If I hadn’t given birth to her I would swear she wasn’t mine. Well good luck in the sticks. And yes, I do believe a woman in the wilderness can have a good time camping, providing she enjoys that kind of thing.
Linda Henderson
Congratulations to Erin Thompson! You won the copy of Shelli’s TAKE ME. Please look for a private email from me in your inbox, and Shelli will get the book to you when she returns from camping.
Thank you to everyone for coming by. Shelli will drop in Thursday to respond to comments. Thanks, Shelli!
Wow, thanks to everyone for the awesome stories and supportive comments! This is such a fun blog! Congrats to, Erin, I’ll be sending out the book in the next few days!