Hey, Camp Parents!

Last Tuesday I gave you some pointers on making sure that you and your kid have a great visit during Visiting Days at summer camp. I focused a lot on you, giving you advice about Visiting Day—when to visit, not planning for it, giving yourself an arrival window, and what to do if you can’t make it.

Today, however, I’d like to focus more so on your kids and how they’ll react to being reunited with you.

You’re in for some curious behavior coming from them! As mentioned by summer camp experts, Chris Thurber and Jon Malinowski, in ‘The Summer Camp Handbook,’ your kids’ behavior can be so unpredictable that it helps to think of their different types of reactions in categories. Here are a couple of Chris and Jon’s categories:

The Fountain of Youth
These kids are really into camp! They want to bring you up to speed about everything without taking a breath. You might be scared that your kid likes camp so much that it’s more important to them than seeing you, but these turbo-speed stories should actually be comforting; your kid knows that you’re #1 in their lives. That’s why they want to fill you in on everything immediately! Enjoy the tornado!

The Poker Face
Typically ALL kids enjoy their camp stay, but Poker Face kids are oddly quiet when you see them. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t enjoying their time at camp, it usually means that camp is really special to them and they might be a little bit depressed to see that their stay is already half over. They might not know exactly how to react when they see you. But, don’t worry! You’ll get to hear their stories sooner or later.

You can read about Chris and Jon’s other camper categories and find a plethora of other helpful advice in ‘The Summer Camp Handbook’. Visiting Day can be very emotional for campers and parents alike, so definitely be prepared for it. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Parents!

Visiting Day is undoubtedly going to be a big day for you and your kid! After all it means that two of their worlds are merging for them—their home life and summer camp. Your kid will likely love it, but could be a little overwhelmed by it as well. Just the same as the separation of summer camp can produce some homesickness, this sudden reunion can cause your child to undergo some unpredictable behavior.

That’s why I’m writing this two-part Blog series for today and next Tuesday, to give you some tips for visiting your kid at camp. Today, I’m giving you just one tip—or one Cardinal Rule to keep in mind for Visiting Day:

It’s ALL ABOUT Your Kid!

Having said that, here are four key tips and pointers within this Chief Rule:

Visit on Visiting Day
If it isn’t ‘Visiting Day’, ‘Family Day,’ ‘Parents’ Weekend’, or whatever your camp calls it, then you shouldn’t be visiting. Visiting unannounced on a day that isn’t scheduled for visiting is a bad idea. All it does is create envious friends, provoke homesickness for your kid, and deter you’re his or her blooming sense of independence.

Don’t Plan Anything
Pretty much everything about visiting day is sure to be out of your control so try to just go with it as it unfurls. Your kid has so much to show you, there’s no time to spare on something you had planned. Let your kid give you the tour. And throughout the tour, try to reserve any harsh judgments. When kids are expressing their excitement and interests, don’t make them defend themselves about these things.

Don’t Give Exact Times
It’s best to give a window for your arrival instead of an exact time. You’ll be able to stick to a time range much better than you can an exact time. There’s no telling what hiccups or snags might delay you. Instead of saying ‘9 am,’ say you’ll get there sometime between ‘9 and 10.’

If You Can’t Make It…
Huge distances, emergency situations—sometimes, Visiting Day is just impossible. Try working something else out. It isn’t the same as seeing their own parents, but kids love going out with their friends’ families on Visiting Days. You’ll need to call, write, fax, or email the camp to make this arrangement and give your permission to have your kid leave the camp with somebody else.

If you can, it’s good to set plans like this up weeks in advance in order to give your kid some time to adjust to the idea. And check out ‘The Summer Camp Handbook,’ written by Chris Thurber and Jon Malinowski for more excellent information on the topic.

Tune in next Tuesday to read about your kid’s reaction to your reunion. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Mom and Dad!

This post for parents stretches back three weeks ago when I started this Tips and Advice series about what you can do to alleviate your concern for your child’s upcoming summer camp stay— ‘childsickness’, as summer camp experts Chris Thurber and Jon Malinowski coin the term in their book, ‘The Summer Camp Handbook’.

Thurber and Malinowski mention a number of things you can do to ease yourthoughts about missing your kid. So far, I’ve given you five pieces of advice; I revealed three tips in the first post of this series and the other two in the second post. Today, I offer the last two pointers mentioned in Thurber and Malinowski’s camp book about easing the separation for parents and kids during summer camp.

#1. Stay Busy
It’s important to have plans when your kid is at camp. Even if your plan is to just have quiet time at home, it’s good to plan on doing it and then, when the time comes, do it. Otherwise, if you have other kids at home who aren’t attending camp this year, this gives you individual time to spend just on them.

While some parents like to do vacations during their kid’s camp stay, other people are a little more glued to their daily schedules. But even if you must stick to your typical routine throughout your kid’s camp session, it’s still important to find some things to do like see friends, go catch a movie at the theater, or finally get to a project you’ve been putting off. None of this will keep your mind OFF of your kid, of course, but it will help you to stay busy and think positively.

#2 Take Care of Yourself
Also, it’s important to take some time that’s just to yourself. Do the things that you want to do and take this time to relax for cryin’ out loud! Quiet times like these aren’t a dime a dozen—they only come around every so often and you should make a note to appreciate them! Take this time to decompress, kick back, catch up on reading, take a bath, go for a walk.

Some parents feel guilty about having a good time while their kid’s away. But this isn’t logical. It’s not as though your kid out doing something dangerous or unsupervised. Your kid is having a great time at summer camp. They’re out enjoying themselves; there’s no reason you shouldn’t enjoy yourself as well. Enjoy the time you have with your kid being away and enjoy the time even more when they come back!

This concludes my Tips and Advice Blog series about easing the separation during your kid’s camp stay. Hope you got a lot out of it. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Parents!

With summer camp right around the corner, these are super-exciting times. Among all this excitement, you may find some feelings of concern. If you read my Tips and Advice posts in April, you know better than to show these mixed emotions around your kid. Sometimes that’s easier said than done.

But have no fear; you have lots you can do to help yourself feel better about your kid’s camp stay. Then you won’t have any mixed emotions to hide. Just positivity. Summer camp experts Chris Thurber and Jon Malinowski discuss three ways to alleviate your concern (or ‘childsickness’ as they coin it) in their preparatory guidebook, ‘The Summer Camp Handbook’.

Learn More about Your Camp
Learning about a camp is vital to happily sending your kid off for their summer stay. The more information you can find about the camp the better fit it will be for your kid. That, AND, the more you know about a camp, the less apprehension YOU’LL have about the camp. As Thurber and Malinowski say in their ‘Handbook’,

Talk With Other Camp Parents.
You’ll see that you’re not alone. Or, even better, if you can talk to a parent who has already gone through sending their kid off, they can tell what great benefits camp offers and might even be able to help you cope with you doubts and concerns. If you don’t know any other parents who have sent their kids to camp, you can always call the camp. Ask how your kid is doing and get coping advice from them.

Prepare Your Child for Group Living
Sometimes kids struggle to get along with their peers. Small disagreements between them can snowball into an avalanche and there are a lot of kids living together at camp. Be sure to talk to your kid about behavioral qualities like treating others fairly, being a good sport, cooperating, and so on.

Make summer camp something you AND your kid will enjoy and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Tuesdays throughout the month of May were made Tips and Advice posts about the Five Goals of Summer Camp. Of course, we only covered the first four in May—Goal #1: Have Fun. The second week talked about Goal #2: Improve athleticism, intellectualism, and artistry. Last week covered Goal #3: which is to Gain Independence. Last week covered Goal #4: Make Friends and Develop Social Skills.

Today, we’re extending this series into June to reveal the fifth goal:

Goal #5: Experience a New, Natural Environment

Summer camping has changed a lot in the last century or so, but one thing that hasn’t changed in all those years, is the focus on the natural environment. It IS, after all, the natural environment that draws such popularity to summer camps.

It’s not out of the ordinary for parents who live in the city to want their children to experience the wholesomeness of life in a rural area. While our society’s advancements in technology certainly benefit our daily lives greatly, it seems to reduce kids’ contact with the natural world. Camp aims to fix that.

Most camps are located on beautiful areas. As noted in Drs. Chris Thurber and Jon Malinowski’s ‘The Summer Camp Handbook,’ “At a good overnight camp, your child can gain respect for and curiosity about nature.” With a skilled cabin leader and a natural setting, campers build upon their personal growth in body, mind, and soul.

The great outdoors mean different things to everyone. For instance, some kids might enjoy the waterfront because that’s where they get to go swimming, whereas other kids might like sitting by the water because the sunsets are the prettiest there.

In either case, kids get a lot out of their environmental surroundings. Finding a camp that sits on a beautiful setting is where kids begin to achieve the Five Goals of Summer Camp. As always, thanks for reading.

- John