Update your trunk list now!
Now is the time to update your trunk list for next summer. Forget to put in sunscreen? Did every other camper have address labels but yours? Were none of those green socks worn? Update your camper’s trunk list now and you will give yourself a break next summer when you get ready to pack again.
First, hopefully you have the list on your computer. If not, now is a good time to start one. As your camper unpacks her trunk, listen to what she wishes she had and look at what was never used. Sure some items like a raincoat may not have been used this summer, but clearly should be included next summer regardless. But if the 100 roll of postage stamps you sent returned home nearly intact, just all gummed up, maybe you only need to send a couple dozen next summer—or just put them on the envelopes in advance.
Update the packing list AND add a note so you’ll remember that you have already updated the list. Wash and neatly fold any camp uniforms and return them to the trunk for storage if they aren’t worn during the winter. But take out of the trunk any lotions including sunscreen, shampoo, soap or anything that could leak or scent the entire contents of the trunk. If you leave the flashlight in the trunk remove the batteries. If you leave envelopes in the trunk be sure not to leave the trunk where it’s humid.
Next June when you open the trunk to pack for summer camp again, you’ll be glad that you left it cleaned out and organized.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Leaving Camp Trunks Shut. Big Mistake. Big. Huge.
Like two porch dogs, the camp trunks lay quietly, side by side, waiting until their owners would return. I certainly wasn’t in any particular rush to open them and be greeted by an onslaught of laundry. Surely no need to immediately wash 8 pair of navy Soffee shorts, 8 striped Ts, 6 solid Ts, 2 navy blue sweatshirts, 2 beach towels, hmm, beach towels. Should I reconsider? No surely with the sun this summer they couldn’t possibly be damp.
Last summer when my girls camp home from their seven weeks away at camp, I required them to immediately open their trunks and pull everything out. After the rainiest summer I could remember, I knew the contents would be a wonderful breeding ground for mildew. The summer before that, the campers were sent home with “Welcome Your Child Home” letters that included a warning that there had been a substantial outbreak of lice during the final week of camp—charming—their suggestion was to immediately wash and/or freeze the contents of the trunks. So we dutifully emptied the trunk of its contents more or less pouring everything directly into the washing machine.
Then came the summer of 2010—endless days of sunshine, only a minor outbreak of lice, no food stored away in trunks. I thought we could just put the trunks aside for a few days, chill, not stress over unpacking. And we did. Remember Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when she returns to the original store that wouldn’t serve her? Big Mistake. Big. Huge? Well, that was my reaction when I opened the trunks 4 days later. That nagging notion that the towels could indeed be damp? I had neglected to take into account that in such a beautiful summer of sun, of course a dip on the final day of camp would be in order. Where better to put a dripping wet suit and the accompanying towel but in the top of a trunk before shutting the lid? Big Mistake. Big. Huge!
Last summer when my girls camp home from their seven weeks away at camp, I required them to immediately open their trunks and pull everything out. After the rainiest summer I could remember, I knew the contents would be a wonderful breeding ground for mildew. The summer before that, the campers were sent home with “Welcome Your Child Home” letters that included a warning that there had been a substantial outbreak of lice during the final week of camp—charming—their suggestion was to immediately wash and/or freeze the contents of the trunks. So we dutifully emptied the trunk of its contents more or less pouring everything directly into the washing machine.
Then came the summer of 2010—endless days of sunshine, only a minor outbreak of lice, no food stored away in trunks. I thought we could just put the trunks aside for a few days, chill, not stress over unpacking. And we did. Remember Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when she returns to the original store that wouldn’t serve her? Big Mistake. Big. Huge? Well, that was my reaction when I opened the trunks 4 days later. That nagging notion that the towels could indeed be damp? I had neglected to take into account that in such a beautiful summer of sun, of course a dip on the final day of camp would be in order. Where better to put a dripping wet suit and the accompanying towel but in the top of a trunk before shutting the lid? Big Mistake. Big. Huge!
Monday, August 9, 2010
End of Camp Transitions
If your daughter has spent previous happy summers at camp, then you likely recognize bits and pieces of this scenario as they have played out in your life on camp pick up day. We all hope our children find companionship, independence and confidence in their lives. Yet we still sigh as we watch our children achieving these milestones without us.
Balancing your need for interaction with your daughter’s need for transition is not easy. Here are some suggestions I have received from camp parents over the years.
- Give her space and time to say her good-byes, but don’t prolong the parting. Just as when you dropped her off, better not to linger excessively
- Let her stay quiet in the car, play her favorite radio station and don’t try to start a conversation
- Have a new magazine or two waiting at home for her
- Have a few outings in mind, but let her have several days at home before departing for a family vacation. This is helpful not only because she needs the downtime, but also because her immune system may have gone into overload the last few days at camp with little sleep and high stress. So give her time to recharge
- Similarly, no need to have the hair cut, orthodontist appointment and eye exam all on the day she returns from camp
- Other than the wet towels and bathing suits which may mildew in her trunk, give her the time and space to unpack as she’s ready
- Have meals at home— perhaps make her favorite dinner or dessert
- Have lots of fresh fruit on hand—a variety of fresh fruit isn’t always available at camp
- Let her sleep!
- Ask her to join you and her siblings in a card game or other game she enjoys, but don’t pester her if she chooses to pass
- Listen to the stories she wants to share rather than trying to guide the conversation to the questions you want answered
Given the time and space she needs to transition she will return to her place in the family—perhaps with more confidence, new skills and greater cooperation.
If you have picked up a daughter from camp, what has worked well in your family getting ready for pick up or in the first few days home?
Monday, August 2, 2010
Easy Care Packages
The thrill of seeing your name on the package list or the anticipation of pulling open the package can be the highlight of mail time at camp. Often it doesn’t matter what is in the securely taped box, just who it is addressed to. Some camps have a strict no packages policy and those that allow packages have rules on what can and cannot be included. Many camps restrict food of any kind from pretzels to gum. So it’s important to check with the camp before putting together a care package for your camper.
If the camp does allow packages, remember that it’s the excitement of receiving the package usually more than the contents that has the biggest impact on a camper. Often I have heard my daughters say, “Auntie sent me a package!”, but rarely have I heard them specifically mention any contents by name.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started many of which can be found at convenience or drug stores:
- Silly Bands—THE hot item for summer camps 2010
- Activity books (word puzzles, brain teasers)
- Stickers
- Comic books
- Magazines
- Thread for friendship bracelets
- A cute water bottle (wash it out first as it’s doubtful your camper will)
- A deck of cards
- New stationary or note cards
- Photos you printed out from your visit
- A small stuffed animal
- A sploosh ball, frisbee or other small toy
The easiest way to mail a package is with the postal service’s Priority Mail flat rate box or envelope if all of your items are flat. After you purchased your gifts, pick up a box (or large flat envelope) at the post office to send them. Check www.usps.gov for sizes and rates.
If you have the time, it’s fun to receive a package with the contents in colorful wrap—use tissue or glossy magazine pages to wrap up small items individually. Affix post-it notes with fun messages, riddles or knock knock jokes to each item. Number the items in the order they should be opened to make the entire process an activity. Regardless of how the package is sent, it will be a treat to be received.
What ideas do you have for camp care packages?
What ideas do you have for camp care packages?
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Calling the Camp Director
You’ve just received a distressing letter from your camper—she’s homesick, or a cabin-mate has been teasing her, or she’s never been picked to captain a team. Or you see a photo on the camp website and her hair looks like a rat’s nest—does it ever get combed? Should you call the camp? Call your camper? Write her a letter? Send an email?
With the explosion of communication between camp, camper and parents, it’s not uncommon for a parent to quickly place a phone call or send an email every time a concern is raised. Certainly it’s important to raise issues that may have gone unnoticed or unresolved. Sometimes it’s necessary simply to calm your own parental anxiety.
However, before sending that email or placing the call, put the incident in perspective. Her hair is a mess in a photo? Is it a mess in every photo? Are you usually the one who reminds her to comb her hair before school or combs out the tangles for her? Would it be beneficial if she could learn to brush her hair herself? Are there significant health or safety concerns if her hair continues to be tangled?
Perhaps your daughter has written you about being teased. Teasing can often go undetected beyond the tormentor and the target. Such a situation may well warrant a calm phone call to the director to discuss what your daughter has written as well as to listen to what the director has heard from the cabin counselors. Remember that every communication should be two-way—air your concern, but also listen to what else has occurred and how the situation may already be resolved.
This is particularly true for homesickness. A homesick incident written on a Tuesday, mailed on a Wednesday and not received by you until Friday may be entirely forgotten before the letter was even in transit. A composed phone call with the director can help calm your anxiety and offer you additional insight into how your daughter is currently faring. Most camp directors have dealt with a variety of homesick campers and have been trained in strategies to best manage each individual’s situation. Raising your concerns with the director can be helpful for you, your daughter and her counselors.
Also keep in mind that every camp has its own policy on communication between the camper and parents. Many camps work to keep camper phone calls at a minimum, if they are allowed at all, as phone calls can be disruptive to the child’s camp experience and inhibit the child’s independence and self-confidence. So more often than not, if you have a significant concern about your child’s well-being, it is far better to contact the camp office rather than your camper.
There are unquestionably times to contact the camp and the camp directors want to ensure that your daughter is experiencing the fullness of camp. On the other hand, camp is also about learning independence, self-confidence and new skills. A new skill may be learning how to shoot an arrow, or it may be how to brush your hair yourself, make your bed or get along living in close quarters with others. So when an issue arises, take a moment before calling the camp office or sending an email and put your concern in perspective.
With the explosion of communication between camp, camper and parents, it’s not uncommon for a parent to quickly place a phone call or send an email every time a concern is raised. Certainly it’s important to raise issues that may have gone unnoticed or unresolved. Sometimes it’s necessary simply to calm your own parental anxiety.
However, before sending that email or placing the call, put the incident in perspective. Her hair is a mess in a photo? Is it a mess in every photo? Are you usually the one who reminds her to comb her hair before school or combs out the tangles for her? Would it be beneficial if she could learn to brush her hair herself? Are there significant health or safety concerns if her hair continues to be tangled?
Perhaps your daughter has written you about being teased. Teasing can often go undetected beyond the tormentor and the target. Such a situation may well warrant a calm phone call to the director to discuss what your daughter has written as well as to listen to what the director has heard from the cabin counselors. Remember that every communication should be two-way—air your concern, but also listen to what else has occurred and how the situation may already be resolved.
This is particularly true for homesickness. A homesick incident written on a Tuesday, mailed on a Wednesday and not received by you until Friday may be entirely forgotten before the letter was even in transit. A composed phone call with the director can help calm your anxiety and offer you additional insight into how your daughter is currently faring. Most camp directors have dealt with a variety of homesick campers and have been trained in strategies to best manage each individual’s situation. Raising your concerns with the director can be helpful for you, your daughter and her counselors.
Also keep in mind that every camp has its own policy on communication between the camper and parents. Many camps work to keep camper phone calls at a minimum, if they are allowed at all, as phone calls can be disruptive to the child’s camp experience and inhibit the child’s independence and self-confidence. So more often than not, if you have a significant concern about your child’s well-being, it is far better to contact the camp office rather than your camper.
There are unquestionably times to contact the camp and the camp directors want to ensure that your daughter is experiencing the fullness of camp. On the other hand, camp is also about learning independence, self-confidence and new skills. A new skill may be learning how to shoot an arrow, or it may be how to brush your hair yourself, make your bed or get along living in close quarters with others. So when an issue arises, take a moment before calling the camp office or sending an email and put your concern in perspective.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tips for a Sucessful Camp Drop Off
Taking a daughter to camp, especially the very first time, can be as exciting and worrying for the parent as it is for the camper. The key to a successful drop off on the first day of camp is to ensure both your and your child's needs are met in the transition. For your child, she needs to integrate with her peers and make a connection to camp life so she has a focal point other than the goodbye. Whether your child is clingy or independent, you need to balance giving her space and support to make that camp connection. Your child can sense if you are distressed about leaving her, so it's also important for you to assure yourself that your child is in good hands.
A few tips for balancing your needs and your child's needs on the first day of camp:
- Meet her counselors— learn their names.
- Meet any cabin-mates who are around.
- Introduce yourself to other parents—this gives your daughter time to connect with her peers on her own.
- Help your daughter arrange a few items—maybe a photo she has brought from home, a jacket or laundry bag hung up. This setting up is truly more for the parent than the child. A parent wants to visualize her daughter’s space. For a camper, setting up is just a transitional pause before merging into camp life.
- Well run camps will have transitional activities for the arriving campers whether they head directly to a meal, an activity or gather for a craft. When it’s time for her to integrate into the flow, let her go. No need to fuss over how the pillow is arranged on her bed or whether her flashlight in conveniently located.
- Leave a card and small gift—a book, card game, activity book—for her on her bunk as a surprise when she returns to her cabin.
- Say goodbye quickly, don’t linger. Once you have said goodbye, it is time for you to leave.
- Smile as you depart—you want your daughter to think of you as happy that she’s at camp.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Taking a Daughter to Camp
Preparing for my daughter’s summer at camp was easy; meeting the reality of a good-bye was exceedingly difficult. I wanted a bear hug and “I’ll miss you Mama.” She wanted a quick hug and a kiss and a chance to melt into the new found group of girls.
It seemed the snow bank was still knee high at the end of our driveway the day she began packing her trunk. Each afternoon after completing her homework, she’d ask, “Can I go up and pack now?” The first several times she asked, I quizzically responded, “But your trunk is packed.” “Not the new underwear you bought me,” she’d reply. Or, “I have a newly sharpened pencil to pack.” And so it went for an entire month of anticipation. Each day pulling everything out and rearranging the entire contents as the newly acquired item always seemed to need to be packed on the bottom of the trunk.
The day before we were to drop her off, she became very quiet. Perhaps the reality was beginning to settle on her. By lunch the day we drove to camp, her vocabulary had diminished to “No thank you” and “I’m not hungry.” I made her favorite meal for lunch— she managed to eek one noodle from her fork to her mouth before uttering, “I’m not hungry.” The butterflies were gathering.
When we got to camp the first stop was a check in with the nurse. The nurse, being friendly, asked what my daughter was looking forward to doing at camp this summer. “Making a friend,” was her quiet reply. Tears filled my eyes; this would certainly be a difficult good-bye. Would she make a friend? Would she be happy? Would her counselor put her covers back on when they fell off at night?
At her cabin she selected her bunk without any fuss and although I wanted to help her unpack and get settled, she simply wanted to change into her uniform and head to the playground with 2 other girls in her cabin. I worried when she only put one blanket on her bed (it gets cold in Maine at night!). I wanted to arrange the photos that she had brought from home and hang up her laundry bag and bathing suits and towel. She quickly changed, selecting footwear to match her cabin mates and headed out as a camper. We followed, her sister and father and I, and although we were close behind we watched her move farther and farther from us, finding her own way, understanding the need to belong and looking for a way to belong.
How did your drop off go? Who had the most difficult time saying good-bye?
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