Because right now I am serious. This is an issue and it becomes an issue every camp. And what is immediately obvious or what I should make immediately obvious is that I have sensory issues. I react to a lot of things a lot of the time and my skin has what can literally be thought of as an allergic reaction to stress when I am unwell, struggling, not coping, whatever you want to call it. I get what Americans call Hives as a reaction across my body, as such I stick to things I know, I stick to what I like, I stick to washing liquids I know I am okay with and sadly it still happens, but whatever, that's life, right?
Okay, so what the hell do I wear to a sleepover with the Cubs?
I know, it's that whole joke of having a wardrobe (or several) full of clothes and sitting there saying you have nothing to wear. Why do you own it if you don't or can't wear it? It's not always I can't, sometimes it is just an I can't *right now* or I can't *when I'm away from home and can't change*, or the fun one I can't *wear that in a semi-public place*. At home, I can sleep in whatever because the only person at risk of seeing me is the dog (who doesn't care, I know, she told me) or the delivery guy and that's with me wearing some form of dressing gown or coat over the top, and hiding behind the door. (Seriously, don't laugh, I'm not in the minority of people, most of us have done it even if we don't admit to it.)
When you're in a tent all by yourself then you are able to just wear whatever you want even if that is just your sleeping bag, but what you need to keep in mind is that if, in the middle of the night, one of the kids has an emergency or is sick or sad or whatever, the time it takes to respond is not just, let me wake up slightly and put a hoodie or something warm because it's cold outside of the tent and leg it across to where the kids are and becomes something about getting on a whole set of clothes. In the dark. Because I often lose things in the middle of the night because I kick them so they move, or I move and I have ended up waking up having somehow rolled so my head is where my feet were when I went to sleep so trying to sort myself out to be able to get dressed, particularly without getting too cold by getting out of my sleeping bag.
Staying in a building can actually make it more difficult as well, because some of the buildings we stay in, all the leaders are in together and my Pack has a majority of male leaders. I'm not saying that as a bad thing, but it is something that needs to be taken into consideration when thinking about what to wear. All guys being in together and sleeping in their pants or pants and a t-shirt is one thing, but it's a bit different when it's a mixed room, or a room with people you don't know overly well or at all well. I've been on a couple of camps where I have shared a tent with someone else or have planned to share a tent with someone else, and honestly, for me it only really works in the sort of tents where there's a divider down the middle and either with older kids who are unlikely to have an issue overnight or with a significant plan of what to do if one of the kids wakes me up and needs me.
This isn't even really a new thing.
When I was in Scouts myself I went to a sleepover and was having an issue with pyjamas - I didn't know about the ADHD at the time, and I didn't know it was going to become a lifelong issue, which I guess I'm just assuming it will be at the moment because it's not got better since then - and I needed to get up in the middle of the night because of an asthma attack, and the only thing I could find to wear whilst being around my leader was my camp blanket. Thankfully she had known me enough years to know it was me and I'm a bit weird and the best thing to do is just ignore me and let me do whatever weird thing I am doing.
Anyway I managed to find something to wear, took my giant fluffy hoodie with me not because I thought I would be cold, but because no one could say this thing is inappropriate (except if I want to wear it into the office, which I don't do) and thankfully, I didn't react to anything clothing wise, and whatever it was that did upset some my skin was calmed down by Doublebase before it got too bad.
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