Family of Orphans Seeking New Home!

[SachiIvy]

Hello beautiful Burners!

My name is Sachi, and I'm a vet Burner looking forward to another wonderful year on the playa! I am the lead contact person for my personal crew of 5 people, which includes my awesome and talented husband Russell, two East Coast newbies the lovely Steven and Tine, and our 3 year old son, Orion.

For the past 5 months we've been involved and planning with a major theme camp and were super excited to be part of a big project with a lot of opportunities to participate and give to the BRC community! However, last week we were forced to withdraw from the camp because they don't welcome kids, and unfortunately waited a very long time to tell us.

I've spent the last week searching the ePlaya and other social media in an attempt to find a camp that fits our goals and desires that is willing to take on a new group of folks, including a very fun and festival-savvy little guy. So far I've gotten very little response, so I decided it's time to reach out to the community at large!

We have a lot to offer to a theme camp! We are prepared to pay dues and participate!
Russell is a carpenter with 11 years of experience building custom high-end homes and is capable of creating amazing installations with your team! He can bring tools and a willingness to get it done! Russell and Steven were both prepared to arrive Friday night/Saturday morning (early entry) to help build and are still hoping to do so.

Tine, Orion, and I are arriving as soon as the gate open Sunday/Monday and we're ready to bring awesome, loving, joyful energy to your camp and its events!
Orion will be with us on-playa from Monday-Thursday, and then he's going to stay with friends in Reno from Friday-Monday, so we will have some kid-free time. However, we are a festival family and we absolutely do not want you to feel the need to curb your radical self-expression because our kiddo is around! He's been to many big rager festivals, including Electric Forest and other large shows, and is accustomed to the insanity! We are also working hard to gear up so that he is comfortable and somewhat protected from the elements and shenanigans!

We are pretty self-sufficient! We have our own shade: a carport and a 10x10' screen house that we turn into a cuddle puddle! We'll have a car, a pick up truck, and a trailer! We have one hexayurt and a couple of tents. We have a small kitchen set up. We all have tickets! I've been prepping and planning for months and the awesomeness level of our set up is higher than ever before!

Russell and I are based out of Sonoma County, CA, and we're available to help with logistics.

What we're NOT: drama-ridden sparkle ponies who will f'up the vibe of the camp! We ARE trustworthy, willing to work with a good attitude, ready to participate, and really hoping to find a new and wonderful home on the playa.

Thank you for reading! Much love and dusty hugs.

[burningsince99]

good luck...... I usually don't like how rude and annoying the well meaning snark is on this board, and I've been lurking for a long time eventhough I just joined recently.... but I have to post this before someone else says something even more annoying. I wish my parent had taken me to such things when I was a child, well maybe a teenager.


http://sfist.com/2011/08/26/this_is_why ... ncis_9.php
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Today's topic: people who bring their children to Burning Man

You know? It's one thing to be a hip and liberal parent whose child enjoys wheat-grass drinks, brunch at Nopa, and can rattle off the names of all The Smiths' albums. But it is quite another to be a hip and liberal parent who refuses to accept that being a parent means, finally, becoming an adult, not doing drugs anymore, and not subjecting your innocent progeny to your trance-music-listening, belly-tattoo-getting, polyamorous ways. And if you're a Burner, and it just breaks your Burner heart to think about either a) skipping Burning Man because you're a parent now, or b) leaving your child in the custody of grandparents or more sane-minded friends and making them miss out on the wonders of the playa, then perhaps you should have more carefully considered the adoption route.


Burning Man is no place for a kid! It's for adults who want to act like teenagers/twentysomethings and twentysomethings who want to do acid for the first time and enjoy having sex with people who haven't showered in three days! It's for buttoned-up gays who want to let loose and put on fetishwear for the umpteenth time this year and roll around on a mat Greco-Roman wrestling and covered in oil! It's for artist types who want to revel in the ephemeral nature of such an event, giving unto the world their gifts in sculpture and light only to disassemble them and let them live on only in photograph and memory -- all while being very, very stoned. And it's for lawyers and dentists and graphic designers who want, one week out of the year, to forget that they ever became lawyers and dentists and graphic designers, to don some furry boots, shave their genitals, and dance across the desert while rolling on molly.

We bring this subject up only because there's a whole group devoted to this Bring Your Kids to the Playa cause, and the moms behind Red Tricycle, an urban parenting site devoted to "help[ing] parents have more fun with their kids" who write a guest column on 7x7, just wrote up some guidelines for bringing kids to Burning Man. Uptown Almanac is, predictably, disgusted. ("The world is a better place when these families can all go die in the desert under the fading light of dusty glowsticks as dubstep takes their last breath into black rock oblivion of abandoned childhood dreams.") And we have to say we're kind of appalled ourselves! Certainly every hip and liberal parent has every right in the world to take their child along on such adventures. But is this really about your rights? Let's talk safety and well being for a few seconds, shall we? There are dust storms, and personally, if were six years old, being in the desert in the middle of a dust storm, no matter how awesome the art cars are, would not be our idea of a good time. Then there's the matter of being surrounded by a great many people on drugs, which could be sort of disturbing/damaging in and of itself -- but then again this is San Francisco, where hippies bred freely and raised their children in communes in the Haight, and we think most of those kids are okay, if a touch neoconservative, now.

The advice from the 7x7 column ranges from "put wristbands on your kids with the location of your camp so they don't get lost" to "pack familiar toys so the kiddies feel more at home." But when Daddy disappears for four hours and Mommy stresses out because there's no cell signal and then Daddy finally turns up in K-Hole with a blistered sunburn, is a little stuffed puppy really going to wipe away those memories?

You're a parent, for god's sake. If having a kid wandering around the playa with you doesn't stress you out, no matter how sober you are, there is probably something wrong with you. And it's going to stress out everyone else too! If you really want to party -- and yes, Burning Man is pretty much just one, big, dirty, complicated party and don't try to tell us otherwise -- leave the goddamn kid at home. For everyone's sake. They really don't need to see that shit until they're eighteen.

[SachiIvy]

Yeah, I've read that before.
Some people has issues around kids at any festival, especially the Burn.
Our choice is to take him, or not go at all.
I was on my own last year and decided for myself to stay sober and it was wonderful. I'm committed to doing so again for my sake as well as his own.
And I wouldn't have married or had a kid with a guy who would disappear and return in a k-hole. (gross)
Obviously we're not going to take him into any crazy dance camps or sex domes or even the big burns.

Let's not forget that Larry himself has said many times that Burning Man is a family event; his son and his best friend's son were at the very first Burn and built a dog to burn besides the man. Many folks have tried to petition for the Burn to not allow kids, and the BMorg and Larry have said time and time again that it will not happen.

I'm not accepting snark or criticism - what we want is to find a camp that will actually uphold the 10 Principles and INCLUDE us.

Thanks!

[trilobyte]

You may want to consider starting your own camp, as well as perusing the boards to find a camp that's looking for new members and ask them if they're kid-friendly. The only kid-friendly camp that pops into my mind is Kidsville, which you may or may not have considered. More will be posting in the weeks ahead, and soon we'll also see a partial list of theme camps get published. You may also want to post on the Spark Collaboration Tool.

[Savannah]

Hi Burner99. You wish someone had taken you to the Burn as a kid, but . . . post an anti-kids-at-the-Burn opinion piece because we're somehow guaranteed to flame Sachi?

Frankly, Sachi sounds like she has her shit together, and I wish her luck. She's an experienced Burner.

Sachi, I'm sorry the other camp didn't pan out. They really ought to have realized sooner. Other than Kidsville (http://kidsville.org) I don't know of a kid-friendly camp off the top of my head (the camp I am most closely affiliated with is 18+) but someone else here might.

There is a Kids and Teenagers at Burning Man thread, which you've probably seen. There might be some bickering in it but there are also some positive experiences and tips in it.

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3921

I wish you luck!

[VultureChow]

[media]

[Anahtziry]

Sachi! Hello!
I have a two-year-old myself and I truly admire and even feel inspired by the (well understood) effort it takes to bring your loving tot on a journey of this sort. I am a Burgin and I am popping the cherry in 2013, but I can most definitely see myself bringing my little chick to the Burn when I have full grasp of the preparation and what to expect (and when she's a bit older)...Good luck and enjoy!! Hopefully your family and I stumble upon each on the Playa...I will be alone, Daddy and baby stay comfy at home this year wooo hoooooo

[burningsince99]

noooo, I'm on her side. I love seeing kids on the playa. they have never bothered me one bit. and suggesting that is was farfetched to worry about people bashing the topic of kids.... well, I recently saw a string of flames about some poor soul who wants to deposit her mothers ashes on the playa.

but my plan worked, by posting a carefully crafted pre-snark article that everyone has already seen, I forced subsequent posts to be supportive.

If my camp wasnt full of loudmouth latenight drunks, you could stay with us.

best of luck, really...

[SachiIvy]

Thanks for the advice and support everyone! I'm going to keep working on it.

[mudpuppy000]

Our camp decided a while back to be 21+, since we run a bar. It's not just if your kid is used to crazyness/festivals it's whether there are any legal issues with having him in a camp serving booze or doing naked mud wrestling or whatever.

[SachiIvy]

Well of course...
I would prefer to be in a camp that doesn't run a public bar. I don't drink much, myself.

[Elorrum]

You sound like such a together group. Maybe you should be recruiting? Best of luck, and have a great burn.

[Savannah]

noooo, I'm on her side. I love seeing kids on the playa. they have never bothered me one bit. and suggesting that is was farfetched to worry about people bashing the topic of kids.... well, I recently saw a string of flames about some poor soul who wants to deposit her mothers ashes on the playa.

That poster was flamed by half the responders because she paired her request for a ticket with the aim of depositing her mother's ashes. If you've lurked a long time, you've seen a lot of sad stories from strangers who want something. We never know how many of them are true. (I do think that a better response than "Yeah, right" would be "Good luck".)

People who are sick or have experienced loss (but aren't asking for something in the same breath) generally get a nicer welcome. So do people who aim to take care of themselves.

but my plan worked, by posting a carefully crafted pre-snark article that everyone has already seen, I forced subsequent posts to be supportive.

Yeah, I was going to be a crazy-ass flaming harridan in my reply until you got here.

Sachi's obvious competence is a significant reason that people are being nice to her.

[tamarakay]

Yes! Dye with dignity at Barbie death camp would love to have you. Snuggling kids is my specialty. Check out our website dyewithdignity.com and let me know. You sound perfectly lovely.

[tamarakay]

noooo, I'm on her side. I love seeing kids on the playa. they have never bothered me one bit. and suggesting that is was farfetched to worry about people bashing the topic of kids.... well, I recently saw a string of flames about some poor soul who wants to deposit her mothers ashes on the playa.

but my plan worked, by posting a carefully crafted pre-snark article that everyone has already seen, I forced subsequent posts to be supportive.

If my camp wasnt full of loudmouth latenight drunks, you could stay with us.

best of luck, really...

You had me scared. So

Come out of lurking and join us. We aren't that bad.

[grenadine]

Hi, I'm with Dye with Dignity and I would also like to encourage you to check out our camp. I can personally vouch for DWD's family-friendliness. Orion would not be the only kid in our camp, nor would he/she be the youngest.

[theCryptofishist]

People who are sick or have experienced loss (but aren't asking for something in the same breath) generally get a nicer welcome.

Yeah, check out the burner with cancer thread in the introduction forum.

[Elorrum]

Yeah, I was going to be a crazy-ass flaming harridan in my reply until you got here.

Savannah! Cracking me up AGAIN!

[Drawingablank]

Yeah, I was going to be a crazy-ass flaming harridan in my reply until you got here.

Savannah! Cracking me up AGAIN!

I think that's the first time I've ever seen someone use harridan in a sentence that wasn't the author of some turn of the century book (last century, not this one) .

[Savannah]

Yeah, I was going to be a crazy-ass flaming harridan in my reply until you got here.

Savannah! Cracking me up AGAIN!

I think that's the first time I've ever seen someone use harridan in a sentence that wasn't the author of some turn of the century book (last century, not this one) .

I cannot resist the old ways.

[theCryptofishist]

I had forgotton that thread. It was Brilliant!

[SachiIvy]

First off, I must say how I adore the way so many eplaya threads degenerate into random discussion of funny and amusing topics!

Thank you everyone for the support! Several camps have contacted me and I'm conferring with my crew to see what feels like the best fit. We want to bring the love and enhance BRC as much as ourselves.

Funny, someone mentioned we should be recruiting; back in December we were considering creating our first official theme camp, but decided to put our energy into the camp that invited us out recently because we're bringing our son. Of course that didn't happen until theme camp applications were already in and most of our Burner pals had already fragmented into other camps. Perhaps next year! Oh, the possibilities!

[Savannah]

Wonderful!

. . . Yeah, we really drifted the heck out of your thread, didn't we? It's still about two-thirds topical, and ended well . . . I've seen weirder. (In fact, I think it involved ePlayans Knowmad, & Clocksnmirrors . . . )

Edited to add: It was Clocks & Simon! Although the cheeky picture of a maniacally-grinning Clocks (& Clock's ass) has gone missing, and seriously, that was the best banter with Simon I had ever seen.

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=63835

.

[Captain Goddammit]

I don't understand the big need to join a camp. Especially by mail! Just go, and see what camp and people you mesh with. Are you gonna sit around at camp all day? Probably not!
I fail to see a problem here, you have your stuff together, just go.

And by the way, since I'm on the mic...
I think you're fucking up your kid!
I had hippy parents who did shit like you're doing. It's NOT good for kids to grow up like that and it was a long hard road for me to become a real, productive citizen with anything going for him besides artistic ability.
I know you'll do what you'll do anyway, but you're fucking up. If you're going to raise kids you have to give up your party ways, or you will raise either a loser or someone who has to start from a lot further behind than most.
I know.

[ygmir]

Wonderful!

. . . Yeah, we really drifted the heck out of your thread, didn't we? It's still about two-thirds topical, and ended well . . . I've seen weirder. (In fact, I think it involved ePlayans Knowmad, & Clocksnmirrors . . . )

Edited to add: It was Clocks & Simon! Although the cheeky picture of a maniacally-grinning Clocks (& Clock's ass) has gone missing, and seriously, that was the best banter with Simon I had ever seen.

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=63835

.

that was one of the most fun drifts ever.........so, how did the brand heal?

[tamarakay]

Woot!