�Dear Everybody,� she wrote, �Don�t worry. My ankle isn�t broken, just sprained.��Kat

Whatever camp administrator decided that letters would be written every Tuesday and Thursday night or the campers would get no dinner probably was trying to help out all those Moms and Dads who worry if they do not hear from their little darlings. Me, I figure I�m better off not knowing. I must be some sort of parenting freak.

Kat did not write because she was just dying to tell me about her ankle. The rest of her letter makes it quite clear that we got this letter because she had to write or she�d get no dinner. She told us to expect two letters a week because she plans to eat.

As for the ankle, Kat apparently was knocked off the stage sometime within the first two days of camp. Coordination has never been her strong suit and I do wonder just how close the knocker was to this particular knockee. Some days just blowing in Kat�s direction could cause her to fall off a stage.

I know that the camp�s policy is to call parents if kids must be taken to the hospital. Kat�s letter also assured me that �[i]t�s okay though. I�m still having a good time.� Kat has a fairly high pain threshold and tends not to let aches and pains interfere with a good time. This child is the one that I must force to stay home when she�s running a high fever. Despite that, I am assuming that this sprain is not particularly serious.

I�m not the kind to pick up the phone and hysterically seek reassurance from the camp nurse or director. I met the camp nurse and she seemed a very knowledgeable and sensible person. She knows where to find me. I�m quite sure from the letter that if I do call the camp, Kat will be disappointed in me. She believes her reassurance should be enough and she doesn�t really think I should do anything. She�s just making conversation.

I�m not anxiously awaiting the letter that tells me that Kat�s ankle is better. Regardless of the state of her ankle, she�ll be on to something else by then. If it still hurts, Kat likely will deem it not-a-big-deal and not worthy of a line. It wouldn�t even have been worthy of a letter, if she hadn�t been hungry for dinner and it hadn�t been the first idea that came to mind. If it doesn�t hurt by the next letter, Kat likely will deem it past-history and not worthy of a line.

So, I�m left thinking that I would have been better off not getting any mail today. If I get any next week, I�m thinking I�ll just say no to mail.

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