Hey, Food Lovers!

Today is a day dedicated entirely to indulging ourselves in delicious dinners, desserts, and other tasty treats that are absolutely UNhealthy for us! Today is National Junk Food Day. Whether it’s a sweet tooth that you’re looking to satisfy or a scrumptious salty snack, today is definitely the day to do it!

I don’t know about you but everyone here at Everything Summer Camp certainly gets a hankerin’ for sweet and salty treats from time to time!

Glorified, junk food certainly has a soft spot in everyone’s heart. Who can resist the call of a cool ice cream treat or the fiery desire of fast food French fries? We all know that, as far as nutritional value is concerned, junk food does absolutely nothing for us (and actually works against us); but despite our understanding, Junk Food—we still love you.

After all, would a trip to the theater be the same without your choice of popcorn, candy, or soda? Would a nightly snack be the same if it was just some stalks of celery? NO WAY, MAN! You want to walk on the wild side. You want something with some calories to it, something that’s got the potential to cause some cavities, right? I mean, what are you brushing your teeth for, anyway?

While it’s perfectly fine to indulge in junky foods from time to time, it’s important to keep these foods away from your everyday. The occasional unhealthy treat may be fun, but not so much a mouthful of cavities. Moderation is the beauty of junk food—not to mention the basic definition behind the word ‘treat’.

Just as a trip to the movies isn’t the same without junk food, junk food isn’t the same if you eat it every day. In fact, your moderation of junk food directly affects your appreciation of it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and (in this case) the stomach grow hungrier. Treat yourself today and enjoy your junk food with moderation!

Thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Messy Kids!

It’s no secret; kids are notorious for keeping a messy room. Maybe not all of them, but lots and lots! HECK! Some adults still keep messy bedrooms because (as we all know) they were once kids as well. For some kids, they grow up and realize the benefits of maintaining a neat and orderly room. Others may NEVER realize it on their own!

That’s why I’m broadcasting that today, May 10, is Clean Up Your Room Day. If keeping a clean room is NOT your regular practice, it could (and almost certainly will) do you some good to clean it up. You’ll find it easier to breathe in your room, easier to enjoy your room—you’ll even see the FLOOR in your room!

How can cleaning up your room do so much good for you? What’s the difference if your clothes are hung in your closet or strewn on the floor? Who (besides your parents) cares that your bed isn’t made? What’s the big deal if your toys are left out?

Well, I can assure you that a clean room is positively imperative for a clear mind and a happy start to your day. In fact, just the cleaning in itself will brighten your day. Cleaning, while a chore and sometimes physically taxing, is—in the long run—a therapeutic, rewarding deed that simply makes you feel good about what you accomplished.

When you leave all your earthly belongings sitting out on your floor and on top of your desk, it’s a crowded environment that spawns a crowded mindset. Without even realizing it, when you look upon your stye —er, bedroom your brain scans its surroundings taking in information from everything around you. When you leave everything sitting out, you’re not just cluttering your room, you’re cluttering your mind!

It’s also nicer to start your day in clean surroundings where you aren’t limited to tread a narrow path to your closet or forced to trip on your way to the door! It also makes finding things a lot easier.

I, myself, DO allow my room to gather a small mess from time to time. But I take care of it at least once a week. And it never takes very long because I maintain its tidiness so frequently.

But I digress! There are many great reasons for you to clean your room up today, but if you haven’t found any of them sufficiently inspiring, you should at least make your room clean for Mother’s Day tomorrow! Mothers absolutely love a tidied bedroom!

Till next time, Camp Fans!

Hey, Campers!

A couple weeks ago in March, I talked about things you can do to handle a bully if one is targeting you. But even so, sometimes the victims of a bully can use a helping hand. Today I have some helpful ideas of what you can do if you see someone who’s being bullied.

If you see someone being bullied, put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn’t you want someone else to come along and put an end to it? It may seem like a difficult position to be in (and it certainly does take courage), but stopping a bully can be as simple as putting your arm around the victim and walking away with him or her; there’s no need to get physically forceful with the bully.

Standing up for a bully’s victim can sometimes be enough in itself to get a bully to back off. Seeing that their target has friends that care about him or her can be an embarrassing moment for a bully and may prevent them from causing another occurrence.

If the bullying does, however, continue you can help your new friend by brainstorming possible solutions for the problem. If the two of you can think of nothing, go to an adult. Some kids may not want to tell an adult because they don’t want to tattle. It’s helpful to support your friend in letting an adult know about the issue.

If you can’t get your friend to go along with it, you can always go to an adult yourself and explain the issue. They’ll know what to do.

You should let your friend know that they can always count on you for help should they meet any other problems with a bully. But move on after that. If the bullying is over, there’s no need to talk about it anymore. Be sure to let them come to you if they need your help again.

It may not be the easiest path, but it definitely feels good to help a fellow camper in need, as everyone should have the opportunity to have a GREAT summer! Till next time, Campers.

Here is a video that we loved and thought you would too.

Hey, Hard Workers!

Today is Don’t Go To Work Unless It’s Fun Day. The point of this day isn’t so much to get employees to play hooky from their jobs but more so to remind bosses that a fun atmosphere in the workplace is beneficial not just to employees but to their work performance and thus the company as well.

As any computer software company will reveal, a loose, fun work environment produces happy employees yielding better results in efficient and creative work. Unlike a computer software company—our jobs may not provide a loose enough setting for, say, a foosball table in the break room. But despite that, any job can offer its employees a fun environment.

Maybe not everybody’s workplace can be fun, but everybody is here at Everything Summer Camp today because our company is a fun place to work.

Everything Summer Camp offers a good assortment of jobs: we have our production department where our camp trunks are manufactured, our graphics production, our screen printing shop for camp clothing, our call center, the offices, and the shipping department. The people in each department are typically in a good mood.

It’s never unlikely to find a harmless prank in action around the office or to see a group taking a quick break with some Mad Libs. Having characters around the office and people who are happy to be there is great for morale and good day of solid work!

We may play hard but we work hard as well. And playing hard actually helps us to work hard! It’s not just us at Everything Summer Camp either. It’s people in general. A happy brain makes for a hard worker. It’s as simple as that. So make sure that your employees are enjoying their jobs—especially today (or else they may not show up)!

Thanks for reading, Camp Folks! Till next time.

- John

*NOTE* Everything Summer Camp does not actually recommend that anyone skip work today in order to celebrate the “holiday”. Just try to make work fun for yourself if it isn’t already.

Hey, Friends!

Do you have any idea how important you are?—each and every one of you. How can you say that through a Blog post? you might ask. We’ve never even met! But I assure you, if you are reading this Blog, then, whether we’ve met before or not, you are certainly a friend of mine. And friends are incredibly important!

Friends are a lot of things. Sometimes they’re plentiful, sometimes they’re hard to come by. Sometimes they’re the best and sometimes they’re not. But most of all, your friends are the people who accept you for who you are and enjoy your company.

Today is Make a Friend Day (though, in my opinion, it should just be called Friendship Day). Make a Friend Day is all about appreciating the people you consider to be your friends. Whether it’s your best friend since the first grade or somebody friendly that you met today, friends are important to have in your life.

All too often we’re stuck living the busy side of life that demands that we work, work, work!!! But when you finally get a break, you’re definitely going to want to bend somebody’s ear. And not just somebody, but somebody who’ll listen and care about what you have to say. Somebody you can call a friend.

When you are blessed with the gift of friends, you don’t need anything else because your friends are there to help you out.

It’s just as that good-hearted angel, Clarence Odbody from It’s a Wonderful Life says, “Every time a bell ri—” wait a minute! …That’s not the right quote. *AHEM* “No man is a failure who has friends.”

So, with those very true words, go celebrate your friends today and let them know what they mean to you! Thanks for reading, Camp Folks.