Friday, August 10, 2012

Welcome Home Gifts

Summer camps are finishing up their fun-filled summers. How do you welcome your camper home? Here are a few gifts you can give to help him or her readjust to non-camp living.

1. Space 

Sure they have been living cot to cot, maybe 50 campers sharing one bathroom and well over a hundred in the dining hall, yet somehow close quarters doesn’t translate well to family living.

2. Time 

You may have been anxiously waiting 7 weeks for their return, but your camper may well be on a totally different time scale. Don’t expect instant re-engagement in family life—give him time. Going from 24 hour camp interaction to hanging out with mom and dad and little brother is abrupt.

3. Unfettered Internet Access 

“What?!” you may be thinking, “she just spent the better part of a summer separated from technology and you’re advocating that she plug right back in?!” If she had access prior to camp she’s going to want to post her camp photos and yes, check in with the camp friends she just said good-bye to all of two hours ago.

 4. Movie Out 

Most campers don’t get out to movies during the summer, so there are likely several showing that he would like to see before school is back in session. Let him pick what to see for a family night out.

5. Chauffeur 

 An alternative to heading to a movie as a family, you can offer to drive her with friends to a movie, the beach or an amusement park. Many of the other parents may be chauffeured out by August, so step up and stay quiet behind the steering wheel.

6. Magazine 

Pick up a copy of People or Us or some other weekly magazine for your camper to flip through without too much thought. Potentially gives you a visual on your camper as he may sit nearby as he mindlessly flips pages. Gives your camper both time and space, see above.

7. Book 

For more avid readers have a new book waiting as an option to give her both time and space.

8. Favorite Dinner or Dessert 

While the food at camp may have been delicious, it’s unlikely the cook knew exactly how to prepare her favorite pasta, brownie raspberry sundaes or peach pancakes. Now is a great time to cook up a few favorites.

9. Frame 

Most photos are retained digitally these days, but it can be fun to have a favorite summer memory on her dresser or bedside table. Find a summer or friend-themed frame to have waiting for her and then let her chose a summer photo for you to print.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Counselors Benefit From Camp Too!

Campers aren’t the only ones benefitting from summer camp. The American Camp Association reports that 1,200,000 adults are employed by camps. Consequently,

 “What have you learned at summer camp?”

 is a common question among camp directors assessing the productivity of their counselors, college admission officers selecting new students and hiring managers determining the value of a potential candidate.

So whether you are 16 or 24, finishing your first year as a counselor or are a seasoned veteran, it can be helpful to take a few minutes to consider what new insights you developed over the summer. Personally, two of my most memorable insights this summer may have little relevance in the workplace unless I change my career focus to outdoor culinary arts.

While frogging I received numerous suggestions for the easiest way to remove a leech and now carry a piece of gauze when I head into bogs known for these (sometimes not so small) blood-sucking creatures. And one of my youngest campers introduced me to the culinary delight of bananas roasted plain over a campfire. Wrapping a banana in aluminum foil with marshmallows and chocolate creates a tasty, sugar-filled dessert, however, roasting a banana in 3” sections on a stick is a healthful delight that has the added benefit of creating no trash! Spinning either of these into compelling reasons to hire me might be a bit of a stretch, but either could certainly provide a few minutes of engaging introduction.

However, summer camp counselors do gain a plethora of valuable lessons each year that will be beneficial in classrooms, dorm rooms, and workplaces and yes, even in that far, distant future of parenting. When my camp director asked her counselors to mull over what skills were gained over the summer, common answers were patience, flexibility, organization, staying present—all of which are key for students, employees, roommates, and yes, parents. Although frequently a counselor adds, “and I don’t intend on being a parent any time soon!”

As you consider your college or job application, take the time to explain how you gained these skills and how you will be a better student, member of the college community or employee because you have benefitted from spending your summer as a camp counselor. Create a short story that encapsulates your learning and summarizes the benefits to your potential employer.

One afternoon I was gathering armloads of brush and tossing them into a truck. It was hot and sweaty and time-consuming work. The maintenance man came up to me and handed me a barn fork. A man of few words, he succinctly summed up his methodology, “save your arms for your boyfriend, use this barn fork.” From studying engineering to writing software code to designing business strategies to planning a family weekend, efficiency has been invaluable in both freeing up my time and making tasks more enjoyable in the process. As an employee I can get more done than my less efficient co-workers, and can also create processes to streamline the business overall.

Coupled with efficiency summer camp has taught me the value of assessing a situation before reacting. Hearing the high-pitched screams of campers racing toward me, I briefly wonder whether the Loch Ness monster has been sighted. However, before grabbing my camera and heading for the lake, I calmly request that the least flustered camper slow down and explain the cause of the agitation. Turned out, the camp goat had taken the liberty of investigating an inviting-looking cabin. A short pause for assessment can make the follow-up reaction far more successful. Livestock management to boating, classroom to business—life rarely rolls out as anticipated. Assessing the unexpected before reacting, has been a lesson I have learned and re-learned at summer camp where loose goats, capsized sailboats, and homesick campers are all in a morning’s work.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Making the Most of Visiting Day

Like many parents we are eagerly awaiting our first visiting day with our daughter at camp. After not seeing her for nearly 3 weeks, we imagine her broad smile as she catches a glimpse of me and my husband walking into camp and her racing beneath the pine trees arms outstretched to give us both a big hug around the neck. Ah, the sweetness of daydreams.

I still clearly remember the first time my parents visited me after 3 ½ weeks at camp. I wasn’t all smiles and joy, eager to share with them every moment of my leisurely days by the lake. I felt awkward introducing them to my friends and even felt like they were trespassing on my turf.

We need to remember that we are the foreigners on visiting day. Despite the fact that we raised them, helped them with homework, drove them to countless soccer matches and gymnastics meets, we may as well be just another viewer in the crowd at the Fourth of July parade for all of the attention our campers may chose to lavish upon us when we show up at ‘their’ camps. And make no mistake; it is theirs—their home, their friends, their place, their independence.

Some campers may run up and give mom or dad or grandpa a big hug and eagerly begin storytelling. However, an equal number may sit back and timidly acknowledge us as parents before running off for a game of tetherball without so much as a backward glance.

What to do?

Be Patient 
If your camper is reticent to hang out with you, be patient. Give her time to adjust to your presence in her place.


Be Present 
You have a great opportunity to get a feel for the place he is living. Be observant, meet his counselor, talk with the director, look around camp.


Be Pleased 
One of the benefits of summer camp is the opportunity for a child to gain independence. If your child isn’t running into your arms to ask you to wash her bathing suit or what she should do because her flashlight isn’t working , then perhaps she is starting to gain self-reliance.


Be Positive 
When he is ready to hang out with you, listen to the stories he has to share without judgment. Let your child be comfortable that your visit won’t upset his equilibrium. Take in all that he wants to share.

Our daydreams may not materialize on visiting day, but with patience and a positive outlook we can leave our visit content that our child is soaking up the essence of summer camp.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Overlooked Items to Pack for Camp

T shirts, check. Jeans, check. Sweatshirt, check. Books to read, check. Remembering the top of mind items to pack in the trunk is fairly straightforward. It’s the camp necessities that we rarely, if ever, use at home that are easier to forget.

Here is a short list of essentials for all overnight campers, whether you are heading off for one week or seven. While most of the items, if not all, are on the packing list your camp sends out, these are the items I most often see forgotten.

  • Laundry bag—even if laundry won’t be done while your camper is at camp, it’s helpful to have a separate place to throw dirty clothes other than under the cot. 
  • Sneakers, or to some Tennis Shoes—if your camper will be on a tennis court at all then ensure she has appropriate footwear. At home she may wear sandals everywhere, but at camp she will need sneakers around camp and sometimes court shoes for the tennis courts. 
  • Water bottle—often you can purchase one with the camp logo, but having a water bottle is handy whether your son is planning on joining in on hikes or just wants to have water next to his bed at night. 
  • Pre-addressed envelopes—not only does having address labels increase the chances that your child will write you (or his cousin, grandfather, little sister), but it GREATLY increases the odds that the address will be sufficiently legible to make it through the postal system. 
  • Headlamp—juggling toothbrush, toothpaste and a flashlight isn’t easy. Get a headlamp in addition to or in place of a flashlight. 
  • Sunscreen and bug spray that your child can apply. If you have a young child then it’s easier to apply stick-based sunscreen on her face, rather than lotion.