June 10, 2025 • 38 mins
Episode Title: Summer Camp Talk: What to Pack, What to Expect, and When Kids Are Ready
Episode Summary:
Is your child camp-ready, or are you just ready for a little peace and quiet? In this episode of I Get It From My Mom, Elissa, Ava, and Maggie dive into the world of summer camp - day camp, sleepaway, and everything in between.
We talk about how to know if your kid is ready, how to choose the right camp (arts vs. sports, co-ed vs. single gender, etc.), and what really happens once they’re there. From Ava’s camp counselor stories to Maggie’s time as a camper-turned-waitress, to Elissa and David’s own camp experiences, it’s a hilarious, helpful, and heartfelt look at this rite of passage for so many families.
You’ll hear:
✅ Tips on what to pack
✅ How to handle homesickness (yours and theirs)
✅ The experiences kids and parents should expect
✅ Why the camp photo portal is both joy and torture
Whether you're a first-timer or a seasoned camper parent, this episode will help you prepare—and laugh—through it all.
Check out behind-the-scenes content on TikTok: @elissa-igetitfrommymom and Instagram: @i.get.it.from.mymom
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:01):
Welcome back to, I Get It from My Mom, where we get
real about the conversationsparents and kids should be
having, but often don't.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Ava.
I'm 19 and I thrived and thensurvived at sleepaway Camp, but
not without a few emotionalbruises and a few sunburns.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
I'm Maggie.
I'm 16 and I basically grew upat summer camp.
I started at age six and this ismy first summer not returning.
Speaker (00:23):
And I'm Elissa, the mom.
I too went to camp until aboutage 13 when the girls started
getting a little too mean.
But my husband, David, heprobably moved back into his
bunk today if they'd let him.
And this episode we're
Speaker 2 (00:36):
talking about everything, summer camp, how to
know if your kid is ready, howto pick a camp, what to pack,
what to expect, and even whatit's like.
On the other side is a campcounselor.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Plus how to spot the best fans, what to do when you
lost your socks.
And while working in the dininghall builds character spoiler,
it's loud and sweaty.
Speaker (00:55):
Let's get into it.
Day camp is often the firsttaste of summer independence.
That's true for both kids andparents.
As working parents, we wantedour girls to be busy in the
(01:16):
summer having fun outside withfriends.
So Ava and Maggie both startedwith Day Camp way before
Sleepaway Camp.
So what do you girls rememberloving about Day camp as a kid?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I think my favorite thing about day camp was just
that it was never endingactivities.
I loved swimming and we got toswim every day.
I've always been like anathletic kid.
We got to play sports and doarts and crafts, and I kind of
just, probably even at that ageliked the structure of having a
schedule every day and having totry different things, even if.
(01:47):
It wasn't necessarily like myniche.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I also liked the activities, but also like the
random fun theme days campswould do, or even like at a
young age, having counselors whowere in like their twenties, it
was like an all day babysitter.
It was like you just got to playaround with someone while
obviously they had to tell youwhat to do, but you were out
with kids your age doing kind ofwhat you wanted all day, but
(02:10):
still within the structure ofthe activities.
Speaker (02:13):
Now you were both city kids.
So we started with camp throughyour preschool, which many
parents and families do.
So it was just, a few hours, aweek or a day, on the roof of a
building in the city type ofthing.
But eventually we had you going,taking a bus outta the city to
go to camp.
It meant your days were long,but you certainly seemed to have
fun.
And we used to send you with abackpack every day.
(02:33):
Do you remember what we'd put inthat backpack?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
We would have like a bathing suit for when we had to
swim.
Sunscreen.
We were required to bring foreach kid.
Water bottles, towels, a backupoutfit.
When we were younger, when wegot wet and we had to change
just like a lot of it was mostlyrequired by the camp to bring
for kids.
'cause we didn't really have ourown personal opinions on what to
bring at that age, but all theessentials for being out in the
(02:58):
sun and swimming all day.
And
Speaker (02:59):
I thought it was so cute that you'd have like this
huge backpack on your back andyou were such little kids.
And again, day camp costs money,but as a working parent, if it
meant otherwise, my child wouldbe home with, a caregiver every
minute and not seeing otherkids.
I always thought camp was such abetter alternative.
And Ava, you've been working asa day camp counselor for a few
(03:20):
years now.
How do you know if a day camp isa good one?
If you were to give advice toparents, and what do you think
parents should look for in a daycamp?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I think that it kind of depends on an age.
I think that a smaller camp thathas more activities geared
towards younger kids is greatfor when your kid is younger.
I think that there's camps thatare maybe better suited for a
little bit older, so notnecessarily four or five, but
once you get past that, you knowyou want good counselors, you
want general good staff, youwant staff that communicates
(03:50):
with you.
Hopefully not an absurd price.
I mean, that kind of thing.
I also think that camp is one ofthose things that, it's a
reputation thing.
It's talk to other parents abouttheir kids' experiences and that
kind of thing because you don'treally know what goes on exactly
(04:11):
from just hearing it from a camptour.
Speaker (04:13):
Nope, totally makes sense.
And Maggie, do you think goingto Day Camp made the transition
to Sleepaway camp easier?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I think a big part of it was'cause I went to day camp
right up until I went tosleepaway camp the summer
before.
And I think it made the leavingyour parents part of it easier.
I was never someone who wassuper homesick, but just like
the idea of you were away fromyour parents all day and you saw
them at night, but then you wereaway from them all summer and
you didn't see them at all.
But I think just knowing thatyou wouldn't see them for the
(04:42):
day to then the whole summer waskind of like, it made that
switch easier.
I think it also made me morecomfortable with having
counselors be in charge of youduring the day and not parents.
Like it helped me get used tohaving a different adult versus
my parent or a babysitter.
I saw every day having to takecare of me and it got me
comfortable with the routines.
(05:02):
You wake up in the morning, youhave lunch at a certain time,
you do activities at a certaintime,.
And they be used to thestructure of a camp before being
away all summer.
Speaker (05:10):
And I always laugh 'cause Ava always says in the
first few weeks of camp, thekids keep calling her teacher
Ava.
'cause they're so used toreferring to the adult when they
go to school as teacher thatthis idea of calling her Ava or
counselor Ava is just a lotharder for them, which is always
so cute.
So now let's turn to SleepawayCamp where for anyone who's not
(05:31):
aware, this is when you sendyour child away for a few weeks.
Could be one, could be a fullsummer and they live amongst
their peers doing activitiesoverseen by adult counselors and
they sleep there and do alltheir meals there and everything
at camp.
And you often get a chance asparents to visit them or have a
phone call or both.
So I know Ava, we talked aboutall the fun of going away to
(05:52):
camp.
But what made you really feelready to go to Sleepaway Camp at
nine years?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I mean, I think one thing was that I knew that you
and dad both went and, youtalked about it as in like,
you're gonna have so much fun,you're gonna love it.
It's going to be great.
So there was already kind ofthis, like my preconceived
notion of it in my head was thatit was gonna be so much fun and
the best thing ever.
I also loved day camp, so Ithink the idea of just more camp
(06:20):
like I.
No one, I didn't not want thatat the time.
And you know, I mean I was nevera kid to have issues at like
sleepovers or anything like thatof like staying out of home.
So I I think I was definitelysad to be leaving and like I
think any kid leaving home forthe first time for that long has
a difficult time.
But it's a new experience.
(06:41):
It's something like you never dobefore.
So I think it was more of ascared a little bit, but.
Yeah, not something I wasn'tready for.
Speaker (06:49):
And I think that's a good point.
You know, I'll say as a parent,you know, your child is ready
when they can sleep out at afriend or relative's house
without needing your fullnighttime routine the exact same
way all the time.
Right?
They can shower on their own andgenerally get ready on their
own.
They can't perfectly tie asneaker.
You can send them with, Velcro,but they need to be able to wash
(07:09):
their hair and brush their teethand do those things.
They obviously need to be ableto communicate their needs to an
adult.
So they need to be able to sayif they're hurt, if they're
sick, if something's wrong, ifsomething's great or something
they want.
And ideally, like if I saidyou're a little empowered by the
idea of being away from mom anddad, it's normal to be nervous
about it.
But you want to be excited too.
(07:31):
You certainly don't wanna forceyour child.
That's probably not gonna work.
And Maggie, we sent you earlier,it's like child protective
service here but I think maybeyou were six or seven years old.
Because as the younger sister weknew you would have Ava and you
had expressed interest in it.
But do you remember feelingready?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Um, I think,'cause I went to camp during Ava's second
year of camp already.
So I had already heard aboutwhat it was like and I had also
loved day camp and I hadoriginally meant to only go for
one week out of the summer, liketowards the end of the summer.
But because our house wasgetting renovated because it had
gone flooded, we were likerenting an apartment somewhere
(08:10):
else while I was getting redone.
So I wouldn't have been able toeven come back home after the
week.
So my parents called the campand were like, oh, she can stay
like the rest of the two weeksat camp.
And I said, yes, I wanted tobecause I knew I had Ava there.
So if I did ever get homesick,it was helpful having an older
sister there who was alwaysthere to support me through my
time, even when I was just therefor a week.
(08:31):
And also it was just theexcitement of having more
activities to do and being ableto like stay at camp longer like
it was one week.
It was exciting and fun and Iwanted to keep doing it.
So having the option to stay theextra two weeks was a definite
yes for me and again, I wasnever really homesick even
during that one week, so I wasnever scared to stay longer than
that.
(08:51):
But definitely having Ava as asupport at camp and just knowing
it was something I liked before.
Like made me prepare to go atsix, rather than waiting longer
to go.
Speaker (09:02):
Yeah.
And just to be clear, if you hadsaid you didn't wanna stay, we
would've taken you home, but weknew you were having a good
time.
So we definitely encouraged it alittle because it made the
logistics of our summer, thatsummer a lot easier.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
So picking a camp is a little like matchmaking.
A parent needs to consider whatworks for them and what works
for their children.
So let's talk about some of thechoices to be made.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
I think the first thing to consider is how long do
you want to be there?
If it's your first summer, isyour kid ready to go for seven
weeks?
Their session camps like the onewe went to, we ultimately ended
up doing seven weeks for most ofour summers, but we both started
out with less than seven weeks.
We started with four, likeMaggie was saying, she started
with one and then three.
Um, do you want a co-ed camp?
(09:44):
Do you want a camp that's justall girls or all boys or a camp
that's really far from home or acamp that's in state and has a
ton of kids from in state or youknow, a bunch of kids there?
Like that kind of thing.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
And there's also kind of on like the, what you want in
a camp.
There's camps that arespecialized, like.
Some focus more on sports orperforming arts or just like the
physical arts, like there'scamps for even like specific
sports, not just athletics.
If your kid wants to dosomething specific, there are
sleepaway camps that aretailored to that specific want
and interest.
(10:17):
And if they're young enough,then there's camps that do it
all.
Like we went to a sleepawaycamper every day.
You could pick what sport youdid, what art you did, you had
the options, but.
Some kids know what they wannado all summer, and there are
options for that too,
Speaker 5 (10:29):
And some are also very, I'll say old fashioned,
like no AC in the bunk, superold cabins, like nothing really
updated.
Kind of like living life on theedge a little, but you know,
more of a camping, experience.
But then there's others that arelike super new and renovated and
the bunks have ac and.
(10:50):
You know, that kind of thing.
And there are definitely twodifferent experiences.
I mean, ours was kind of in themiddle, I would say, where they
were like building new things,but nothing, there was
definitely not ac.
But I mean, that's something toconsider.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
And there's somewhere, it's even more camp
like where you're sleeping intents outside versus in a cabin
at all where you're reallyroasting your own dinner every
night, obviously with the helpof an adult.
But there's different levels ofhow.
Not luxury you want yoursleepaway camp to be, but what
kind of outdoorsy style your kidwants and what you want for your
kid and what you think they'llbe safe at.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Absolutely.
Those are all great things, andI think another thing a family
should consider is there aresome camps that have a religious
affiliation, so if that'ssomething that appeals to you or
you want for your child.
I think that's important,although most camps would
accommodate any and all foodconsiderations if there's a need
and of course, allergies andmedical needs and all of that.
Ava talks about, you know, howfar away do you want the camp to
(11:43):
be?
Do you want one that is veryfar?
Ava Maggie's camp was upstateNew York, so only about two
hours from here, but theyactually had a lot of kids from
Florida.
'cause Florida is so hot in thesummer.
They come up to New York, to goto camp.
And the last thing I'd say isalso, it's worth visiting camps
even more so than just seeingvideos, but visiting camps and
(12:04):
if not talking to parents.
What we saw as parents as welooked at camp was also some.
How do I put it?
Cuddle children more thanothers, you know?
What is that counselor to camperratio that's important to you.
How much does your child reallyneed someone to be with them and
hugging them every minute andsing in a lullaby versus a kid
who's a little more independent?
(12:25):
But as you heard Ava and Maggietalk about, for us what was
important was they wanted co-edand we think it's great to have
experience with everything.
They are two sisters and theyweren't in schools that were
co-ed, so we had no problem withthat.
We chose one that had goodstructures and constantly
invested in the camp in terms ofnew activities, new buildings,
but we wanted very much it to bea little rustic.
There is not air conditioning.
(12:46):
You are, sharing kind of privatebathrooms, but sharing it,
you're responsible for your ownstuff.
There is, no electronics, whichwe'll talk about later, which is
a wonderful thing.
And we also wanted one for thembecause there wasn't necessarily
one special talent or skill.
That offered everything, and thegirls would talk a little bit
about some of their favoriteactivities.
These are not experiences wecould have ever offered them
(13:06):
from our apartment in the city.
We don't live near a lake, wedon't have ATVs, we don't have a
ropes course in our backyard.
Those are the type of thingsthat become so meaningful in the
camp experience.
Okay.
So let's talk packing, becausethat becomes sometimes longer in
thought and preparation andshopping than the actual camp
(13:27):
experience itself.
It's an art, not a science.
You'll need more socks than youthink.
And don't forget a flashlight.
So Ava, maybe let's start offwith, beyond clothes and
bedding, which obviouslyeveryone gets a list for, and
I'd say you can largely followthat list, but maybe add in some
extra socks and underwear, whatare some of the other must
haves?
Speaker 5 (13:45):
I mean, I think definitely must haves are like
shower, caddy and toiletries,the same way you would in
college.
You are in a shared shower, soshower shoes.
Water bottles like Maggie wastalking about at day camp, you
need so many fans for inside thebunk and walking around.
Bug spray, sunscreen.
If you think it'll help yououtside or in the bathroom when
(14:09):
you're sharing a bathroom, bringit.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
And different camps have different form of
communication.
Our camp still did letters, sowe needed stationary stuff.
We needed stamps.
My mom made labels of everyone'saddress that we would write to
over the summer.
Not that we really did when wewere nine.
Not that Maggie
Speaker 4 (14:26):
really wrote it all much, but yes, I did when it was
required.
Exactly.
Speaker 6 (14:32):
But if you know your camp is gonna do letters, make
sure they have all the paper andenvelopes and stamps, they need
special things that remind youof home.
I know people would bring photosor like a stuffed animal or just
an item that reminded them oftheir parents or home.
Always backup, toiletries.
No matter how long you're gonnabe there, just in case something
breaks, something gets lost,something spills.
(14:52):
Glasses and contacts.
If you wear, definitely gogglesfor if you swim, if that's
something you need.
And as mommy said, socks andunderwear'cause our campden
laundry.
And still you would never haveenough and they would always get
lost on your bed somewhere.
So always having extra of justthe small things.
And specialty items that youneed, that you would need at
home are definitely recommendedto still bring.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Yeah, absolutely.
And a and a camp will let youknow in terms of what the
bedding should be.
Is it, you know, a, a truecomforter and sheets, or do you
just need a sleeping bag?
Do you need to bring a tennisracket?
Do they have, you know, thosetype of things as well.
But there are some fun times todress up at camp also, where
it's a little outta routine.
Can you talk about those, maybeMaggie and like fun stuff then
you could bring
Speaker 6 (15:34):
Well.
I had July 4th at my camp, soeveryone wore red, white, and
blue clothing with red, white,and blue accessories.
Again, my camp had like a colorwar, so you would either be on
the red team or the gray teamand you never knew what team you
were gonna be on before camp,which was a little annoying, but
you wanted to make sure you hadclothes to support that.
Or even just like some campsmight just have like a camp
color day and you wanna knowwhat those are.
(15:56):
My camp also had a campHalloween that we did, so we
would have costumes that wewould need to bring, and
there's.
Always just like a fun tie-dyeday.
A mix match day or somethinglike that where you're, I mean,
camps usually announce thatbefore you go.
They'll usually tell you what itis, so you know what you need to
pack.
But if it says there's a day,bring something for it.
'cause it'll always happeneventually, even if it's
(16:18):
something small.
And it's nice to be able to bein theme with the rest of the
camp.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Yep.
And I will say as a parent,dirty, sweaty, rip clothing is
to be expected.
This is not the time tooverinvest in the summer
wardrobe is to make sure theyhave a lot of things that they
can easily put together.
You'll be surprised in thosefirst years of the outfits your
child comes up with in terms ofthat shirt was never meant to go
with those shorts when you seethe photo.
(16:44):
So solid colors.
Things that are trendy, thingsthat are fun, whatever your
child likes, that's what youwanna do.
But don't overly invest in it,because don't wanna stress your
child that if they get ice creamon them or dirt, that's a bad
thing.
Not everything comes down thelaundry and I felt like the
dirtier stuff was the better offthe fun my child had.
But I would tell them to takecare of their stuff.
(17:05):
You wanna make sure they can,not necessarily perfectly fold
things, but know how to organizethemselves, know what's there,
and know how to match outfits.
I said, and generally, theirdaily routine.
You know, first you brush yourteeth, then we would wash face,
then you brush your hair.
Here's where you know you needthese hairbands, then you need
this.
Going through that with ourfirst time campers.
Very helpful.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
And also I think the most important part is labeling
everything.
Like Maggie said, I mean ourcamp did like a laundry service.
I think a lot of camps do, but Idon't exactly know for sure if
some do laundry on camp.
But the point is you're gonnalose things.
You're in a bunk full of otherpeople with beds right next to
each other.
(17:46):
Like your stuff is gonna getmixed up.
Like just put a label oneverything.
It's not like you have to gobuying fancy labels if you don't
want to.
You can get.
Tape and write on everything ifyou need to or write on every
tag, just nothing should beunlabeled, even
Speaker 4 (18:00):
toiletries.
Yep.
And parents, I would say whenyou pack.
You know now in the later years,my children were old enough to
kind of hand me their stuff andsay, I want these shirts.
So they knew generally what theywere taking.
But certainly when they'reyounger, make sure you show your
children exactly what you'repacking them.
You know, these are the T-shirtsI've chosen.
Here's what your shortsgenerally look like.
(18:20):
If you feel you don't haveenough sweatshirts.
I promise you do.
There's five hoodies right here.
Right here are sweatpants.
I have all these types ofpajamas.
Look at the underwear and socksthat are generally yours, so
you're not surprised by it.
Look how I've given you thesetoiletries.
You have this in case you needit, right?
Just the more the child canexpect and understand what they
(18:40):
have, the better.
I know my mom used to send mewith a list, like, you have 12
shirts, you have seven shorts,you know, whatever it was.
But that would just stress meout in case I lost anything.
But it was just to make sure youare aware as a child that you
know mom and dad have set you upfor success when you're going
off to camp.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Yeah, and just to add on to that quickly, I think
also, our camp unpacked for us,which was great.
Um, I can't imagine having tounpack for myself every year,
but a lot of camps you do gowhen you unpack, I mean,
obviously counselors will helpwhen you're younger, but.
In the idea of like showing yourkid where you're packing
everything so that if they haveto unpack for themselves, like
(19:21):
they know where everything is.
You also used to send us withthese like cute little presents
that were like, our counselorswould put'em on our bed from our
bag and when we would get tocamp, we'd get to open it.
You know, it was just likelittle activities, cards, small
games, like something that wouldjust like make us feel.
Happy and excited and remind usthat you love us.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
I mean, something I remember you also doing is we
used to pack in those bigplastic, not garbage bag type
things, but like those zip, thevacuum seal, vacuum seal bags,
and you would label what's inthem.
So even for the counselors toknow, like our can't, we used to
have like plastic drawers nextto our bed.
And you would label for socksand underwear.
Put them in the second drawer ofour thing so then we would get
(20:03):
to camp.
We would expect it to be there'cause we knew it was supposed
to be there too.
And just having those things is,I assume, also helpful for the
counselor.
'cause you can label what thingsare extra toiletries versus what
things are necessities thatshould be in the bathroom.
But it just helped us visuallysee what we had.
And then also for the end ofcamp to pack ourselves up with
(20:23):
the help of a counselor.
We never really packed things inthe right bag back, but we knew
what it should have.
And then, I mean, on the gifts,I got a pillow of my dog last
year that looked like our dog.
So just like small things likethat to help remind your kid of
home when they obviously can'tbe there with you all the
Speaker 4 (20:41):
time.
No, those are great tips.
So to Maggie's point for ourcamp, there's kind of these big
soft sided duffle bags that thecamp picks up about 10 days
before camp even starts.
And so you have to make sure youhave enough clothes left at home
before your child leaves.
Then they're there and they'reunpacked.
Um, and those bags, we used to,as Maggie said, use plastic
because just in case.
(21:02):
It was raining or anything else,we didn't want it to get
damaged.
Other really good advice is takedryer sheets and put them in the
trunk just because then thosetrunks, the, those duffles wind
up being like shoved in a cornerin the back of some wood cabin
and you don't want it to get toomusty.
And obviously clean them outafter the summer each time and
before.
And yeah, you can't labelenough.
And most of it was directionsfor the counselors of, if
(21:24):
they're gonna unpack this iswhere things should go and how
they'd go together.
But even setting up that, showercaddy that Ava talked about,
here's one shampoo, here's oneconditioner, here's your soap,
here's your toothbrush, here'syour toothpaste, here's your
hairbrush.
And then there's a separate bagthat has all the extras that I'm
not sure where it winds up inthe bunk, but I promise you
there's extras of everything.
Speaker 7 (21:43):
Okay, so let's talk the good and bad of camp.
In my view, camp teachesindependence.
It helps you build confidence.
It keeps you outdoors and busywith your peers.
It keeps you off electronics, nophones, no iPads, no television,
and it opens up you toexperiences you can't have at
home or in any home, frankly.
So what were each of yourfavorite activities?
(22:05):
I
Speaker 8 (22:05):
mean, I always loved swim.
Anything with swim like pool orlake.
And towards my later years, myfavorite activity was ATVs.
Like we got to literally rideATVs.
I always thought that was reallycool.
Speaker 9 (22:20):
I actually preferred them more chill activities.
I mean, my camp had a whole likepavilion of different arts and
crafts type of thing.
And while I'm not the most artsyperson, while it was really hot
during the summer, it was niceto sit under that shaded thing
and just kind of chill out forlike.
A couple periods there duringthe day.
And I mean, doing the sports wasfun, but when it's high and
(22:41):
you're standing in the sun andit's not your favorite sport,
it's exhausting to do.
But I also always likedswimming.
We had a whole lake at camp thathad like inflatable slides that
was always fun to go on.
Yeah, any variety activitybesides big physical things was
my favorite.
Speaker 7 (22:57):
So what about things like color war or College Bowl
where you compete at campusteams?
Can you talk about that a littleand what you liked about it?
Speaker 8 (23:04):
I always loved Color War and College Bowl.
I love that kind of like teamspirit first off.
So like the songs and the dancesand the cheers and the chants.
And then I also loved all thecompetition stuff and that it
broke up camp a little bit, gaveyou something to look forward
to.
There's always tradition withit.
I mean, I always loved color
Speaker 9 (23:23):
war.
I mean, most camps have colorwar, but we also had College
Bowl, which was in the secondhalf of the summer when there
were less kids.
It would be a co-ed where theywould split the entire camp up
into 14 and then you would benamed after different colleges,
which is why I was calledCollege Bowl.
But I always loved those type ofthings.
It was a nice break for like aweek from different act, or not
even, it was like four days fromactivities.
(23:44):
But again, like Ava said, it wastradition.
It was just something we alwaysdid as a camp and it brought you
closer to people.
Speaker 7 (23:50):
Yeah, for me too.
I loved.
Color war and we had somethingcalled Olympics that was very
similar, but i, I lovedcompetition.
I loved the cheering.
I loved the like around, again,spirit, the spirit of it, right?
The cheers that went along with,and we'd be remiss if we don't
say that Daddy was like the kingof his camp.
So he was, you know, wardGeneral.
Speaker 8 (24:10):
Daddy always listens.
I know.
Hi dad, when you're listening,here's your shout out for Loving
Cam and being Color War Generaland having your name on a
plaque.
Speaker 7 (24:17):
Yes.
And for winning color war Asgeneral Did you feel homesick at
all and what'd you do about it?
Speaker 9 (24:24):
I already kind of said this, but I mean, I think
it's'cause I started with havingAva and by the time Ava left, I.
Was old enough to not behomesick and be used to it.
So definitely being the youngersibling, with an older sibling,
having someone who was older andnot was like even at home when
we would be alone at night.
She was kind of like a parent tome.
So it was helpful having someconnection to home with me.
(24:48):
But I mean, I was never reallyhomesick.
I was always the girl whocounselors would tell other
girls to go to when they werehomesick.
'cause I was someone who wasgood with dealing it with it
personally.
Speaker 8 (24:57):
I was always a little bit more of an emotional kid,
but.
Up until like my last year whenI didn't really want to be there
as much.
I don't ever think I wasactually homesick.
I just like never liked leavingyou guys.
But at the same time, if you hadbeen like, oh, well, do you
wanna stay?
I'd be like, no.
Like, why would I wanna, no, Iwant to go to camp.
(25:19):
But, especially like aftervisiting day, it's not like I
would cry for, I'd cry for liketwo minutes and then I'd be
like, okay, like.
Time for Fireman's Hall.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
Yeah, and I remember being sad, certainly when I left
my parents, definitely.
I used to cry on phone callswith them.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And they'd have to call the campback and make sure I was really
okay.
And visiting day when they left.
And I remember my first year, Iwas like devastated by it.
But I loved camp.
I mean, loved it, loved it.
So five minutes later, after allthose things, I was as happy as
(25:48):
could be.
And there was no issue.
And it's normal.
And some kids take longer totransition and the camps are
very aware of it and they'vedealt with everything.
Even when you're sick as a childand you have to go to the
infirmary, if you ever have tospend a night, you normally get
a phone call with a parent, thecamp calls you, so what I'd say
is I.
For any parents.
It's normal for your child to bea little homesick, and more
(26:09):
importantly, it's normal for youto miss them.
I mean, even in Maggie's seventhsummer there, I was still
obsessively looking at thephotos for her to see what she
was up to, and overinterpretingevery expression on her face.
Is she happy?
Is she not?
Is she with the right friend?
Is she not?
Did she see this one who shebunked with?
You know, it was all thesethings, but.
Camp is good.
You could call and ask forcheck-ins with the counselor.
(26:29):
You can talk to, you know themto watch out for things.
I would send emails in case Ihad any concerns.
And any camp will do that.
And I would say importantly, youwant your child to get settled.
You don't wanna talk to them toooften.
You don't wanna see them toooften.
You want them to be happy and tolearn to live independently from
you.
But there's gonna be a littletears that go along with that.
(26:51):
But girls, were there any thingsyou didn't love about camp?
Speaker 9 (26:54):
I hate bugs.
I'm someone who's very bugged,bite prone.
Mm-hmm.
So even just being around innature, I also have like hay
fever terribly so any pollen orgrass I would break out in hives
and get allergies from.
By the end of it, you get usedto the food and honestly for
some, weirdly enough reason, asyou got older, the food somehow
(27:15):
got better'cause you were lesspicky about it.
But I guess you're just used toit at that point.
But the food is never great, butyou eat it, you know you have to
eat it.
And there's always like granolabars at the front desk or main
office will have just in caseyou really can't eat the food.
When bad weather happened atcamp, it was annoying.
It was sometimes actually fun'cause you would be like stuck
(27:37):
in your bunk when it was rainingwith your friends, but.
When you're outside and it'scold and rainy and you're not
really prepared for the rain andyou still have to then go out
and do something.
Sometimes if it's not reallybadly thundering, it was not as
great as when it was nice andsunny out.
Speaker 8 (27:53):
I think truthfully, like you can't control what's
gonna happen when you get alittle bit older, like 12, 13,
like girls or boys, you know?
It's that awkward middle schoolage and now suddenly like.
12 of you are living togetherand like literally stacked on
top of each other.
Girls can be mean, boys can bemean.
(28:14):
I like didn't deal with thatvery well, but I think that was
kind of like my sign of like,you know what, looking back on
it now, I definitely think thatI am not someone who thrives in
sharing a living space likethat.
Generally, like now knowing moreabout myself, but I'm assuming
that that's what I was feelingat that age too, and I just
didn't get that, that like.
(28:36):
Being around people you don'tnecessarily love and being stuck
in such close, close quarterswith them and having no alone
time whatsoever, especially atlike 13 when like everyone is at
completely different stages.
It's a little like,
Speaker 7 (28:54):
I don't, I can't think of that.
It's a lot.
Yeah.
Girls could be cliquey you ifyou're not the sportiest of
boys.
And the boys are, some girlswere into boys earlier than
others.
Like I remember feeling the sameway.
When you, it's all around you atall times.
Yeah.
You feel yourself like pullingaway at times or being awkward
and that's thing.
It's
Speaker 9 (29:11):
also, I think about different places people are
coming from.
Like I remember thinking thegirls were so far ahead.
and it felt like they all kneweach other.
And being like one of the onlykids in the city from my age
group, it felt like I was alwaysseparated from that.
Like Mommy said about, with likeboys, like it's a big thing at
camp when it's, you're at aco-ed camp and you're constantly
mixing.
It can feel like you're behindwhen you're someone who's not at
(29:33):
the age or you're not evenmaturing yet to be at that
point.
That it gets confusing and itdoes feel like you're left
behind a lot, but everybodygrows at their own pace,
especially a girl.
We just talked about this lastweek, getting your period when
you get it earlier than othersor later than others, and you're
at camp when some people have itand some people don't and you
suddenly see tampons around thebunk, it's a big change to go
through.
Speaker 8 (29:53):
Yeah.
I think there's also somethingtoo, like camp is its own world.
Like the second that you getthere on day one, like.
All, all of your friends fromhome, like your parents aren't
there.
You're not speaking to yourfamily.
Like these are the people youare with 24 7 and sometimes you
feel sick of the people you'reliving with and you need a break
(30:15):
from your family.
And it's like you can't reallyget that at camp.
It's a little harder tonavigate, especially when you,
if you don't have a familymember or a sibling or something
like that at camp, it kind offeels like there's no one to
always be on your side, bebehind your back when you're
going through tough things.
Obviously you're gonna make.
Such close friends and yourcounselors are there for you,
(30:35):
but it's different than havingfamily with you.
And you know, if you're goingthrough something tough, that
could become
Speaker 7 (30:41):
hard.
Yeah.
And I think, like you said,it's, it follows kind of the
course of the age anyway, right?
When you're younger, everybodyloves everybody.
Obviously there might be thegirl who always cries or whines
over things versus others, butgenerally you're all
like-minded.
It is that middle school agewhere the same dynamics you're
navigating at home, you'renavigating at school.
You know what I will say is.
(31:01):
Counselors are trained on this.
Most people who work at camp inany leadership position are not
only parents, but they're oftenteachers and educators who spend
their summers doing this.
There are resources for yourchildren, there are resources
for you, and there's alwayschanges to make.
So, if a child is reallymiserable, it is worth
investigating and understandingand not forcing anything.
(31:21):
But children also learn fromthese dynamics and relationships
too.
Okay, so each of you has alsoworked at camp too.
Maggie, you were a waitress lastyear and you'll be a day camp
counselor later this summer.
And Ava, you're going on yourthird year as a summer day camp
counselor, even though you'reswitching camps.
So Maggie, what was the best andworst things about being a
waitress?
Speaker 9 (31:42):
I was a waitress at the same sleepaway camp I had
been a camper at.
So.
It was the worst part was wakingup earlier than all the other
kids to set up for breakfast andthen serve the food.
And it was a million degrees inthe dining hall at all times.
And you had to wear pants and ahat and sweaty, sticky gloves
and a t-shirt the whole time.
But I think one of the bestparts was not having a schedule
(32:06):
during the day.
Especially at that age where youkind of want the freedom.
I would finish B servingbreakfast and then all of us
would go back and sleep and thenwake up by third period or like
second period and then go do anactivity.
You would help bring kids to anactivity.
You could choose what activityyou wanted to do, and it was
nice having that freedom whilestill being able to be at camp.
It wasn't like your camp beerswere over, you were still there
(32:28):
and you still got to be a partof everything you wanted to be a
part of, but you had a littlemore freedom to choose what that
was.
But the worst part wasdefinitely waking up early and
then generally serving the mealswas not always a positive time.
It was definitely a stressfulsituation to kind of throw a
15-year-old into, but it wasdefinitely.
A great opportunity to kind oflearn what it's like to have a
(32:51):
job and work at something whiletaking care of the kids.
It definitely helps me toprepare for being a day camp
counselor this year, but it washard, but it was still being at
camp and it was still being withthe people I loved and having a
good time.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
And Ava, what about being a day camp counselor?
What's the best and maybe theworst or hardest parts?
Speaker 8 (33:10):
I think the best part is getting to like still be in a
camp.
I always loved camp and gettingto like see kids love camp for
the first time and it'sdefinitely not a con to be done
with your day by five and behome and in bed and have
weekends off.
That's definitely such a plus.
And one of the main reasons Ichose working at a day camp.
(33:34):
The hardest part.
It is a lot of kids, it's a lotof hours.
It's long days.
There's definitely harder daysthan some if you have a
difficult group of kids.
But, hopefully if you're workingat a day camp, you have the
support from other staff.
You can get support from parentsif you need.
Not always gonna happen.
(33:56):
I mean, there, I think it's avery 50 50 job, but.
If you don't wanna be inside allday over the summer and you want
to be in the sun, you like kidsenough.
I think it's the way to go.
Speaker 7 (34:09):
And so
Speaker 8 (34:09):
what are you
Speaker 7 (34:10):
both looking forward to about being a counselor this
year?
Speaker 9 (34:13):
I'm someone who likes working with kids.
I like taking kids to activitiesand kind of like Ava said,
seeing them enjoy camp for thefirst time.
So I'm definitely excited aboutstill being able to be in a camp
setting, but also getting to seeother kids enjoy it.
And being able to be on kind ofthe flip side, instead of being
a camper, I'm now the one whogets to be a counselor and see
what that kind of situation islike.
Speaker 8 (34:35):
Like you said, I'm working at a different camp, so
I guess I'm like excited to justget a bit of a different
experience because I have beenworking at my other camp for a
long time now.
You are also
Speaker 7 (34:46):
working with some of your best friends this summer,
right?
Speaker 8 (34:48):
That's
Speaker 7 (34:48):
true.
And that's nice to be aroundother peers still, even in any
camp, the counselors are allgenerally around the same ages.
Right.
So yeah, definitely.
There's still a big social partof it.
Speaker 10 (34:58):
Okay.
I have a question.
Did you enjoy your summers whenwe were away, mom, or did you
and dad miss us?
Way too much The
Speaker 11 (35:06):
truth, it's a mix.
We missed you and certainlythose first few days when you
leave.
And those first few days aftervisiting day, which was always
the middle of the summer, Ithink that's when we missed you
the most, just because we wereso used to your presence and
suddenly things were emptier.
And we talked about you all thetime, all summer.
As I talked about we can't postphotos every day, and I would
(35:28):
obsessively look for both of youevery day.
But there's something very niceabout just being the two of us
and not having kids.
First of all, I don't have tomake lunches at dinners when
it's just me and dad are justeasier and quicker.
The house is so much cleanerand, you know, the school year
is a lot between homework andactivities and running around
every weekend.
It's nice as a parent to have alittle break from your children.
(35:50):
So much less laundry, much lesscooking and just a little more
freedom.
It's not a bad thing as aparent.
Speaker 12 (35:56):
I still always like getting your letters.
When I was at camp, they didn'treally say much besides, this is
what we did Monday and this iswhat we did the last two days.
This is what we're gonna do thenext few days.
And the next letter would be, wefinally did this.
But they were always good to getto just hear from you and know
that you were still there.
Speaker 11 (36:11):
I knew this as a camper and I certainly as a
parent, they'd hear some advice,you know, write letters.
Often your camp allowed us tolike email.
You could type it out and thenthe camp would print it for you,
which made it a lot easier thanfiguring out stamps and all
that.
But I'd write to each of youevery other day at least.
And then dad would do abouttwice a week and sometime a
grandparent something.
The hope was that most days youwere getting some sort of mal.
(36:33):
And one of the things I didcertainly in the beginning was I
didn't like in your earliertimes and when you were younger,
I didn't wanna show that we werehaving too, too much fun without
you.
Like with Ava away at camp, Ididn't overemphasize some great
things we did with Maggie whenshe was home.
Right.
I didn't overindulge the, oh myGod, I miss you so much.
As you were older, I could saywhatever.
So yeah, a lot of it is, I mean,our lives aren't exciting.
(36:55):
We were still working every day.
So it was, yes, here's what'shappening.
Let me tell you about a friendor a cousin or grandma.
But there wasn't that much tosay.
Our lives aren't overlyexciting.
Speaker 10 (37:04):
You guys did go on some trips and stuff though,
right?
Speaker 11 (37:07):
Yeah, I mean, camp's not cheap, so we weren't able to
overly gallivant around withoutyou.
But well worth the investmentfor all of us.
But yeah, we did, weekends away,we went to Maine.
One time we went to Newport withfriends, and one time maybe
alone, we went out to theHamptons.
We were kind of big into justlike relaxing at a beach where
you didn't have to worry about,putting sunblock on somebody
(37:27):
else.
And it was just.
Nice to be less scheduled, andwe would go out to dinner much
more often than cooking at home.
Plus it's so nice out in thesummer.
So it's good for mom and dadtime, I think, and for any
parent, embrace the time withoutyour child.
Speaker 14 (37:40):
All right.
So thanks girls for all yourcamp insights and thanks to our
listeners for joining us for oursummer camp Deep Dive.
Whether you're packing theduffels, stuck in the bunk
photos, or waving goodbye at thebus stop.
Speaker 13 (37:53):
Camp is really a once in a lifetime experience.
I mean, there can be the downs,it can be weird, it can be
sweaty, it can be buggy, but ontop of it all, it's really just
an experience.
You don't get somewhere else.
Speaker 15 (38:05):
And no matter the situation you're in, even if you
get sick.
I sprained my ankle at camp.
I've gotten pink eye twice.
All the bug bites are missingclothes you'll probably always
want to go back.
Yeah.
Once you star, you can't reallystop that easily, which if you
ever
wanna
Speaker 14 (38:19):
listen to David talk about it, we'll go on and on and
on about how camp is the best.
So be sure to follow us.
We have a new TikTok at@elissa-igetitfrommymom.
If frankly you even search, Iget it from my mom.
It hopefully is coming up'causeI'm trying to use hashtags and
there we're gonna share somebehind the scenes of the
episode, some camp photos andother family shenanigans.
(38:41):
So please follow along.
Mommy
Speaker 15 (38:42):
likes to post on TikTok.
Mommy's
Speaker 14 (38:44):
trying
Speaker 13 (38:45):
and let us know through TikTok or Instagram what
your favorite camp memories are,or if you have any questions as
you prepare to send your childaway for the summer.
Speaker 15 (38:53):
Thank you.
See you next time on.
I get it from my mom.
Welcome back to, I Get It from My Mom, where we get
real about the conversationsparents and kids should be
having, but often don't.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Ava.
I'm 19 and I thrived and thensurvived at sleepaway Camp, but
not without a few emotionalbruises and a few sunburns.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
I'm Maggie.
I'm 16 and I basically grew upat summer camp.
I started at age six and this ismy first summer not returning.
Speaker (00:23):
And I'm Elissa, the mom.
I too went to camp until aboutage 13 when the girls started
getting a little too mean.
But my husband, David, heprobably moved back into his
bunk today if they'd let him.
And this episode we're
Speaker 2 (00:36):
talking about everything, summer camp, how to
know if your kid is ready, howto pick a camp, what to pack,
what to expect, and even whatit's like.
On the other side is a campcounselor.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Plus how to spot the best fans, what to do when you
lost your socks.
And while working in the dininghall builds character spoiler,
it's loud and sweaty.
Speaker (00:55):
Let's get into it.
Day camp is often the firsttaste of summer independence.
That's true for both kids andparents.
As working parents, we wantedour girls to be busy in the
(01:16):
summer having fun outside withfriends.
So Ava and Maggie both startedwith Day Camp way before
Sleepaway Camp.
So what do you girls rememberloving about Day camp as a kid?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I think my favorite thing about day camp was just
that it was never endingactivities.
I loved swimming and we got toswim every day.
I've always been like anathletic kid.
We got to play sports and doarts and crafts, and I kind of
just, probably even at that ageliked the structure of having a
schedule every day and having totry different things, even if.
(01:47):
It wasn't necessarily like myniche.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I also liked the activities, but also like the
random fun theme days campswould do, or even like at a
young age, having counselors whowere in like their twenties, it
was like an all day babysitter.
It was like you just got to playaround with someone while
obviously they had to tell youwhat to do, but you were out
with kids your age doing kind ofwhat you wanted all day, but
(02:10):
still within the structure ofthe activities.
Speaker (02:13):
Now you were both city kids.
So we started with camp throughyour preschool, which many
parents and families do.
So it was just, a few hours, aweek or a day, on the roof of a
building in the city type ofthing.
But eventually we had you going,taking a bus outta the city to
go to camp.
It meant your days were long,but you certainly seemed to have
fun.
And we used to send you with abackpack every day.
(02:33):
Do you remember what we'd put inthat backpack?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
We would have like a bathing suit for when we had to
swim.
Sunscreen.
We were required to bring foreach kid.
Water bottles, towels, a backupoutfit.
When we were younger, when wegot wet and we had to change
just like a lot of it was mostlyrequired by the camp to bring
for kids.
'cause we didn't really have ourown personal opinions on what to
bring at that age, but all theessentials for being out in the
(02:58):
sun and swimming all day.
And
Speaker (02:59):
I thought it was so cute that you'd have like this
huge backpack on your back andyou were such little kids.
And again, day camp costs money,but as a working parent, if it
meant otherwise, my child wouldbe home with, a caregiver every
minute and not seeing otherkids.
I always thought camp was such abetter alternative.
And Ava, you've been working asa day camp counselor for a few
(03:20):
years now.
How do you know if a day camp isa good one?
If you were to give advice toparents, and what do you think
parents should look for in a daycamp?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I think that it kind of depends on an age.
I think that a smaller camp thathas more activities geared
towards younger kids is greatfor when your kid is younger.
I think that there's camps thatare maybe better suited for a
little bit older, so notnecessarily four or five, but
once you get past that, you knowyou want good counselors, you
want general good staff, youwant staff that communicates
(03:50):
with you.
Hopefully not an absurd price.
I mean, that kind of thing.
I also think that camp is one ofthose things that, it's a
reputation thing.
It's talk to other parents abouttheir kids' experiences and that
kind of thing because you don'treally know what goes on exactly
(04:11):
from just hearing it from a camptour.
Speaker (04:13):
Nope, totally makes sense.
And Maggie, do you think goingto Day Camp made the transition
to Sleepaway camp easier?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I think a big part of it was'cause I went to day camp
right up until I went tosleepaway camp the summer
before.
And I think it made the leavingyour parents part of it easier.
I was never someone who wassuper homesick, but just like
the idea of you were away fromyour parents all day and you saw
them at night, but then you wereaway from them all summer and
you didn't see them at all.
But I think just knowing thatyou wouldn't see them for the
(04:42):
day to then the whole summer waskind of like, it made that
switch easier.
I think it also made me morecomfortable with having
counselors be in charge of youduring the day and not parents.
Like it helped me get used tohaving a different adult versus
my parent or a babysitter.
I saw every day having to takecare of me and it got me
comfortable with the routines.
(05:02):
You wake up in the morning, youhave lunch at a certain time,
you do activities at a certaintime,.
And they be used to thestructure of a camp before being
away all summer.
Speaker (05:10):
And I always laugh 'cause Ava always says in the
first few weeks of camp, thekids keep calling her teacher
Ava.
'cause they're so used toreferring to the adult when they
go to school as teacher thatthis idea of calling her Ava or
counselor Ava is just a lotharder for them, which is always
so cute.
So now let's turn to SleepawayCamp where for anyone who's not
(05:31):
aware, this is when you sendyour child away for a few weeks.
Could be one, could be a fullsummer and they live amongst
their peers doing activitiesoverseen by adult counselors and
they sleep there and do alltheir meals there and everything
at camp.
And you often get a chance asparents to visit them or have a
phone call or both.
So I know Ava, we talked aboutall the fun of going away to
(05:52):
camp.
But what made you really feelready to go to Sleepaway Camp at
nine years?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I mean, I think one thing was that I knew that you
and dad both went and, youtalked about it as in like,
you're gonna have so much fun,you're gonna love it.
It's going to be great.
So there was already kind ofthis, like my preconceived
notion of it in my head was thatit was gonna be so much fun and
the best thing ever.
I also loved day camp, so Ithink the idea of just more camp
(06:20):
like I.
No one, I didn't not want thatat the time.
And you know, I mean I was nevera kid to have issues at like
sleepovers or anything like thatof like staying out of home.
So I I think I was definitelysad to be leaving and like I
think any kid leaving home forthe first time for that long has
a difficult time.
But it's a new experience.
(06:41):
It's something like you never dobefore.
So I think it was more of ascared a little bit, but.
Yeah, not something I wasn'tready for.
Speaker (06:49):
And I think that's a good point.
You know, I'll say as a parent,you know, your child is ready
when they can sleep out at afriend or relative's house
without needing your fullnighttime routine the exact same
way all the time.
Right?
They can shower on their own andgenerally get ready on their
own.
They can't perfectly tie asneaker.
You can send them with, Velcro,but they need to be able to wash
(07:09):
their hair and brush their teethand do those things.
They obviously need to be ableto communicate their needs to an
adult.
So they need to be able to sayif they're hurt, if they're
sick, if something's wrong, ifsomething's great or something
they want.
And ideally, like if I saidyou're a little empowered by the
idea of being away from mom anddad, it's normal to be nervous
about it.
But you want to be excited too.
(07:31):
You certainly don't wanna forceyour child.
That's probably not gonna work.
And Maggie, we sent you earlier,it's like child protective
service here but I think maybeyou were six or seven years old.
Because as the younger sister weknew you would have Ava and you
had expressed interest in it.
But do you remember feelingready?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Um, I think,'cause I went to camp during Ava's second
year of camp already.
So I had already heard aboutwhat it was like and I had also
loved day camp and I hadoriginally meant to only go for
one week out of the summer, liketowards the end of the summer.
But because our house wasgetting renovated because it had
gone flooded, we were likerenting an apartment somewhere
(08:10):
else while I was getting redone.
So I wouldn't have been able toeven come back home after the
week.
So my parents called the campand were like, oh, she can stay
like the rest of the two weeksat camp.
And I said, yes, I wanted tobecause I knew I had Ava there.
So if I did ever get homesick,it was helpful having an older
sister there who was alwaysthere to support me through my
time, even when I was just therefor a week.
(08:31):
And also it was just theexcitement of having more
activities to do and being ableto like stay at camp longer like
it was one week.
It was exciting and fun and Iwanted to keep doing it.
So having the option to stay theextra two weeks was a definite
yes for me and again, I wasnever really homesick even
during that one week, so I wasnever scared to stay longer than
that.
(08:51):
But definitely having Ava as asupport at camp and just knowing
it was something I liked before.
Like made me prepare to go atsix, rather than waiting longer
to go.
Speaker (09:02):
Yeah.
And just to be clear, if you hadsaid you didn't wanna stay, we
would've taken you home, but weknew you were having a good
time.
So we definitely encouraged it alittle because it made the
logistics of our summer, thatsummer a lot easier.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
So picking a camp is a little like matchmaking.
A parent needs to consider whatworks for them and what works
for their children.
So let's talk about some of thechoices to be made.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
I think the first thing to consider is how long do
you want to be there?
If it's your first summer, isyour kid ready to go for seven
weeks?
Their session camps like the onewe went to, we ultimately ended
up doing seven weeks for most ofour summers, but we both started
out with less than seven weeks.
We started with four, likeMaggie was saying, she started
with one and then three.
Um, do you want a co-ed camp?
(09:44):
Do you want a camp that's justall girls or all boys or a camp
that's really far from home or acamp that's in state and has a
ton of kids from in state or youknow, a bunch of kids there?
Like that kind of thing.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
And there's also kind of on like the, what you want in
a camp.
There's camps that arespecialized, like.
Some focus more on sports orperforming arts or just like the
physical arts, like there'scamps for even like specific
sports, not just athletics.
If your kid wants to dosomething specific, there are
sleepaway camps that aretailored to that specific want
and interest.
(10:17):
And if they're young enough,then there's camps that do it
all.
Like we went to a sleepawaycamper every day.
You could pick what sport youdid, what art you did, you had
the options, but.
Some kids know what they wannado all summer, and there are
options for that too,
Speaker 5 (10:29):
And some are also very, I'll say old fashioned,
like no AC in the bunk, superold cabins, like nothing really
updated.
Kind of like living life on theedge a little, but you know,
more of a camping, experience.
But then there's others that arelike super new and renovated and
the bunks have ac and.
(10:50):
You know, that kind of thing.
And there are definitely twodifferent experiences.
I mean, ours was kind of in themiddle, I would say, where they
were like building new things,but nothing, there was
definitely not ac.
But I mean, that's something toconsider.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
And there's somewhere, it's even more camp
like where you're sleeping intents outside versus in a cabin
at all where you're reallyroasting your own dinner every
night, obviously with the helpof an adult.
But there's different levels ofhow.
Not luxury you want yoursleepaway camp to be, but what
kind of outdoorsy style your kidwants and what you want for your
kid and what you think they'llbe safe at.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Absolutely.
Those are all great things, andI think another thing a family
should consider is there aresome camps that have a religious
affiliation, so if that'ssomething that appeals to you or
you want for your child.
I think that's important,although most camps would
accommodate any and all foodconsiderations if there's a need
and of course, allergies andmedical needs and all of that.
Ava talks about, you know, howfar away do you want the camp to
(11:43):
be?
Do you want one that is veryfar?
Ava Maggie's camp was upstateNew York, so only about two
hours from here, but theyactually had a lot of kids from
Florida.
'cause Florida is so hot in thesummer.
They come up to New York, to goto camp.
And the last thing I'd say isalso, it's worth visiting camps
even more so than just seeingvideos, but visiting camps and
(12:04):
if not talking to parents.
What we saw as parents as welooked at camp was also some.
How do I put it?
Cuddle children more thanothers, you know?
What is that counselor to camperratio that's important to you.
How much does your child reallyneed someone to be with them and
hugging them every minute andsing in a lullaby versus a kid
who's a little more independent?
(12:25):
But as you heard Ava and Maggietalk about, for us what was
important was they wanted co-edand we think it's great to have
experience with everything.
They are two sisters and theyweren't in schools that were
co-ed, so we had no problem withthat.
We chose one that had goodstructures and constantly
invested in the camp in terms ofnew activities, new buildings,
but we wanted very much it to bea little rustic.
There is not air conditioning.
(12:46):
You are, sharing kind of privatebathrooms, but sharing it,
you're responsible for your ownstuff.
There is, no electronics, whichwe'll talk about later, which is
a wonderful thing.
And we also wanted one for thembecause there wasn't necessarily
one special talent or skill.
That offered everything, and thegirls would talk a little bit
about some of their favoriteactivities.
These are not experiences wecould have ever offered them
(13:06):
from our apartment in the city.
We don't live near a lake, wedon't have ATVs, we don't have a
ropes course in our backyard.
Those are the type of thingsthat become so meaningful in the
camp experience.
Okay.
So let's talk packing, becausethat becomes sometimes longer in
thought and preparation andshopping than the actual camp
(13:27):
experience itself.
It's an art, not a science.
You'll need more socks than youthink.
And don't forget a flashlight.
So Ava, maybe let's start offwith, beyond clothes and
bedding, which obviouslyeveryone gets a list for, and
I'd say you can largely followthat list, but maybe add in some
extra socks and underwear, whatare some of the other must
haves?
Speaker 5 (13:45):
I mean, I think definitely must haves are like
shower, caddy and toiletries,the same way you would in
college.
You are in a shared shower, soshower shoes.
Water bottles like Maggie wastalking about at day camp, you
need so many fans for inside thebunk and walking around.
Bug spray, sunscreen.
If you think it'll help yououtside or in the bathroom when
(14:09):
you're sharing a bathroom, bringit.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
And different camps have different form of
communication.
Our camp still did letters, sowe needed stationary stuff.
We needed stamps.
My mom made labels of everyone'saddress that we would write to
over the summer.
Not that we really did when wewere nine.
Not that Maggie
Speaker 4 (14:26):
really wrote it all much, but yes, I did when it was
required.
Exactly.
Speaker 6 (14:32):
But if you know your camp is gonna do letters, make
sure they have all the paper andenvelopes and stamps, they need
special things that remind youof home.
I know people would bring photosor like a stuffed animal or just
an item that reminded them oftheir parents or home.
Always backup, toiletries.
No matter how long you're gonnabe there, just in case something
breaks, something gets lost,something spills.
(14:52):
Glasses and contacts.
If you wear, definitely gogglesfor if you swim, if that's
something you need.
And as mommy said, socks andunderwear'cause our campden
laundry.
And still you would never haveenough and they would always get
lost on your bed somewhere.
So always having extra of justthe small things.
And specialty items that youneed, that you would need at
home are definitely recommendedto still bring.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Yeah, absolutely.
And a and a camp will let youknow in terms of what the
bedding should be.
Is it, you know, a, a truecomforter and sheets, or do you
just need a sleeping bag?
Do you need to bring a tennisracket?
Do they have, you know, thosetype of things as well.
But there are some fun times todress up at camp also, where
it's a little outta routine.
Can you talk about those, maybeMaggie and like fun stuff then
you could bring
Speaker 6 (15:34):
Well.
I had July 4th at my camp, soeveryone wore red, white, and
blue clothing with red, white,and blue accessories.
Again, my camp had like a colorwar, so you would either be on
the red team or the gray teamand you never knew what team you
were gonna be on before camp,which was a little annoying, but
you wanted to make sure you hadclothes to support that.
Or even just like some campsmight just have like a camp
color day and you wanna knowwhat those are.
(15:56):
My camp also had a campHalloween that we did, so we
would have costumes that wewould need to bring, and
there's.
Always just like a fun tie-dyeday.
A mix match day or somethinglike that where you're, I mean,
camps usually announce thatbefore you go.
They'll usually tell you what itis, so you know what you need to
pack.
But if it says there's a day,bring something for it.
'cause it'll always happeneventually, even if it's
(16:18):
something small.
And it's nice to be able to bein theme with the rest of the
camp.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Yep.
And I will say as a parent,dirty, sweaty, rip clothing is
to be expected.
This is not the time tooverinvest in the summer
wardrobe is to make sure theyhave a lot of things that they
can easily put together.
You'll be surprised in thosefirst years of the outfits your
child comes up with in terms ofthat shirt was never meant to go
with those shorts when you seethe photo.
(16:44):
So solid colors.
Things that are trendy, thingsthat are fun, whatever your
child likes, that's what youwanna do.
But don't overly invest in it,because don't wanna stress your
child that if they get ice creamon them or dirt, that's a bad
thing.
Not everything comes down thelaundry and I felt like the
dirtier stuff was the better offthe fun my child had.
But I would tell them to takecare of their stuff.
(17:05):
You wanna make sure they can,not necessarily perfectly fold
things, but know how to organizethemselves, know what's there,
and know how to match outfits.
I said, and generally, theirdaily routine.
You know, first you brush yourteeth, then we would wash face,
then you brush your hair.
Here's where you know you needthese hairbands, then you need
this.
Going through that with ourfirst time campers.
Very helpful.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
And also I think the most important part is labeling
everything.
Like Maggie said, I mean ourcamp did like a laundry service.
I think a lot of camps do, but Idon't exactly know for sure if
some do laundry on camp.
But the point is you're gonnalose things.
You're in a bunk full of otherpeople with beds right next to
each other.
(17:46):
Like your stuff is gonna getmixed up.
Like just put a label oneverything.
It's not like you have to gobuying fancy labels if you don't
want to.
You can get.
Tape and write on everything ifyou need to or write on every
tag, just nothing should beunlabeled, even
Speaker 4 (18:00):
toiletries.
Yep.
And parents, I would say whenyou pack.
You know now in the later years,my children were old enough to
kind of hand me their stuff andsay, I want these shirts.
So they knew generally what theywere taking.
But certainly when they'reyounger, make sure you show your
children exactly what you'repacking them.
You know, these are the T-shirtsI've chosen.
Here's what your shortsgenerally look like.
(18:20):
If you feel you don't haveenough sweatshirts.
I promise you do.
There's five hoodies right here.
Right here are sweatpants.
I have all these types ofpajamas.
Look at the underwear and socksthat are generally yours, so
you're not surprised by it.
Look how I've given you thesetoiletries.
You have this in case you needit, right?
Just the more the child canexpect and understand what they
(18:40):
have, the better.
I know my mom used to send mewith a list, like, you have 12
shirts, you have seven shorts,you know, whatever it was.
But that would just stress meout in case I lost anything.
But it was just to make sure youare aware as a child that you
know mom and dad have set you upfor success when you're going
off to camp.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
Yeah, and just to add on to that quickly, I think
also, our camp unpacked for us,which was great.
Um, I can't imagine having tounpack for myself every year,
but a lot of camps you do gowhen you unpack, I mean,
obviously counselors will helpwhen you're younger, but.
In the idea of like showing yourkid where you're packing
everything so that if they haveto unpack for themselves, like
(19:21):
they know where everything is.
You also used to send us withthese like cute little presents
that were like, our counselorswould put'em on our bed from our
bag and when we would get tocamp, we'd get to open it.
You know, it was just likelittle activities, cards, small
games, like something that wouldjust like make us feel.
Happy and excited and remind usthat you love us.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
I mean, something I remember you also doing is we
used to pack in those bigplastic, not garbage bag type
things, but like those zip, thevacuum seal, vacuum seal bags,
and you would label what's inthem.
So even for the counselors toknow, like our can't, we used to
have like plastic drawers nextto our bed.
And you would label for socksand underwear.
Put them in the second drawer ofour thing so then we would get
(20:03):
to camp.
We would expect it to be there'cause we knew it was supposed
to be there too.
And just having those things is,I assume, also helpful for the
counselor.
'cause you can label what thingsare extra toiletries versus what
things are necessities thatshould be in the bathroom.
But it just helped us visuallysee what we had.
And then also for the end ofcamp to pack ourselves up with
(20:23):
the help of a counselor.
We never really packed things inthe right bag back, but we knew
what it should have.
And then, I mean, on the gifts,I got a pillow of my dog last
year that looked like our dog.
So just like small things likethat to help remind your kid of
home when they obviously can'tbe there with you all the
Speaker 4 (20:41):
time.
No, those are great tips.
So to Maggie's point for ourcamp, there's kind of these big
soft sided duffle bags that thecamp picks up about 10 days
before camp even starts.
And so you have to make sure youhave enough clothes left at home
before your child leaves.
Then they're there and they'reunpacked.
Um, and those bags, we used to,as Maggie said, use plastic
because just in case.
(21:02):
It was raining or anything else,we didn't want it to get
damaged.
Other really good advice is takedryer sheets and put them in the
trunk just because then thosetrunks, the, those duffles wind
up being like shoved in a cornerin the back of some wood cabin
and you don't want it to get toomusty.
And obviously clean them outafter the summer each time and
before.
And yeah, you can't labelenough.
And most of it was directionsfor the counselors of, if
(21:24):
they're gonna unpack this iswhere things should go and how
they'd go together.
But even setting up that, showercaddy that Ava talked about,
here's one shampoo, here's oneconditioner, here's your soap,
here's your toothbrush, here'syour toothpaste, here's your
hairbrush.
And then there's a separate bagthat has all the extras that I'm
not sure where it winds up inthe bunk, but I promise you
there's extras of everything.
Speaker 7 (21:43):
Okay, so let's talk the good and bad of camp.
In my view, camp teachesindependence.
It helps you build confidence.
It keeps you outdoors and busywith your peers.
It keeps you off electronics, nophones, no iPads, no television,
and it opens up you toexperiences you can't have at
home or in any home, frankly.
So what were each of yourfavorite activities?
(22:05):
I
Speaker 8 (22:05):
mean, I always loved swim.
Anything with swim like pool orlake.
And towards my later years, myfavorite activity was ATVs.
Like we got to literally rideATVs.
I always thought that was reallycool.
Speaker 9 (22:20):
I actually preferred them more chill activities.
I mean, my camp had a whole likepavilion of different arts and
crafts type of thing.
And while I'm not the most artsyperson, while it was really hot
during the summer, it was niceto sit under that shaded thing
and just kind of chill out forlike.
A couple periods there duringthe day.
And I mean, doing the sports wasfun, but when it's high and
(22:41):
you're standing in the sun andit's not your favorite sport,
it's exhausting to do.
But I also always likedswimming.
We had a whole lake at camp thathad like inflatable slides that
was always fun to go on.
Yeah, any variety activitybesides big physical things was
my favorite.
Speaker 7 (22:57):
So what about things like color war or College Bowl
where you compete at campusteams?
Can you talk about that a littleand what you liked about it?
Speaker 8 (23:04):
I always loved Color War and College Bowl.
I love that kind of like teamspirit first off.
So like the songs and the dancesand the cheers and the chants.
And then I also loved all thecompetition stuff and that it
broke up camp a little bit, gaveyou something to look forward
to.
There's always tradition withit.
I mean, I always loved color
Speaker 9 (23:23):
war.
I mean, most camps have colorwar, but we also had College
Bowl, which was in the secondhalf of the summer when there
were less kids.
It would be a co-ed where theywould split the entire camp up
into 14 and then you would benamed after different colleges,
which is why I was calledCollege Bowl.
But I always loved those type ofthings.
It was a nice break for like aweek from different act, or not
even, it was like four days fromactivities.
(23:44):
But again, like Ava said, it wastradition.
It was just something we alwaysdid as a camp and it brought you
closer to people.
Speaker 7 (23:50):
Yeah, for me too.
I loved.
Color war and we had somethingcalled Olympics that was very
similar, but i, I lovedcompetition.
I loved the cheering.
I loved the like around, again,spirit, the spirit of it, right?
The cheers that went along with,and we'd be remiss if we don't
say that Daddy was like the kingof his camp.
So he was, you know, wardGeneral.
Speaker 8 (24:10):
Daddy always listens.
I know.
Hi dad, when you're listening,here's your shout out for Loving
Cam and being Color War Generaland having your name on a
plaque.
Speaker 7 (24:17):
Yes.
And for winning color war Asgeneral Did you feel homesick at
all and what'd you do about it?
Speaker 9 (24:24):
I already kind of said this, but I mean, I think
it's'cause I started with havingAva and by the time Ava left, I.
Was old enough to not behomesick and be used to it.
So definitely being the youngersibling, with an older sibling,
having someone who was older andnot was like even at home when
we would be alone at night.
She was kind of like a parent tome.
So it was helpful having someconnection to home with me.
(24:48):
But I mean, I was never reallyhomesick.
I was always the girl whocounselors would tell other
girls to go to when they werehomesick.
'cause I was someone who wasgood with dealing it with it
personally.
Speaker 8 (24:57):
I was always a little bit more of an emotional kid,
but.
Up until like my last year whenI didn't really want to be there
as much.
I don't ever think I wasactually homesick.
I just like never liked leavingyou guys.
But at the same time, if you hadbeen like, oh, well, do you
wanna stay?
I'd be like, no.
Like, why would I wanna, no, Iwant to go to camp.
(25:19):
But, especially like aftervisiting day, it's not like I
would cry for, I'd cry for liketwo minutes and then I'd be
like, okay, like.
Time for Fireman's Hall.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
Yeah, and I remember being sad, certainly when I left
my parents, definitely.
I used to cry on phone callswith them.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And they'd have to call the campback and make sure I was really
okay.
And visiting day when they left.
And I remember my first year, Iwas like devastated by it.
But I loved camp.
I mean, loved it, loved it.
So five minutes later, after allthose things, I was as happy as
(25:48):
could be.
And there was no issue.
And it's normal.
And some kids take longer totransition and the camps are
very aware of it and they'vedealt with everything.
Even when you're sick as a childand you have to go to the
infirmary, if you ever have tospend a night, you normally get
a phone call with a parent, thecamp calls you, so what I'd say
is I.
For any parents.
It's normal for your child to bea little homesick, and more
(26:09):
importantly, it's normal for youto miss them.
I mean, even in Maggie's seventhsummer there, I was still
obsessively looking at thephotos for her to see what she
was up to, and overinterpretingevery expression on her face.
Is she happy?
Is she not?
Is she with the right friend?
Is she not?
Did she see this one who shebunked with?
You know, it was all thesethings, but.
Camp is good.
You could call and ask forcheck-ins with the counselor.
(26:29):
You can talk to, you know themto watch out for things.
I would send emails in case Ihad any concerns.
And any camp will do that.
And I would say importantly, youwant your child to get settled.
You don't wanna talk to them toooften.
You don't wanna see them toooften.
You want them to be happy and tolearn to live independently from
you.
But there's gonna be a littletears that go along with that.
(26:51):
But girls, were there any thingsyou didn't love about camp?
Speaker 9 (26:54):
I hate bugs.
I'm someone who's very bugged,bite prone.
Mm-hmm.
So even just being around innature, I also have like hay
fever terribly so any pollen orgrass I would break out in hives
and get allergies from.
By the end of it, you get usedto the food and honestly for
some, weirdly enough reason, asyou got older, the food somehow
(27:15):
got better'cause you were lesspicky about it.
But I guess you're just used toit at that point.
But the food is never great, butyou eat it, you know you have to
eat it.
And there's always like granolabars at the front desk or main
office will have just in caseyou really can't eat the food.
When bad weather happened atcamp, it was annoying.
It was sometimes actually fun'cause you would be like stuck
(27:37):
in your bunk when it was rainingwith your friends, but.
When you're outside and it'scold and rainy and you're not
really prepared for the rain andyou still have to then go out
and do something.
Sometimes if it's not reallybadly thundering, it was not as
great as when it was nice andsunny out.
Speaker 8 (27:53):
I think truthfully, like you can't control what's
gonna happen when you get alittle bit older, like 12, 13,
like girls or boys, you know?
It's that awkward middle schoolage and now suddenly like.
12 of you are living togetherand like literally stacked on
top of each other.
Girls can be mean, boys can bemean.
(28:14):
I like didn't deal with thatvery well, but I think that was
kind of like my sign of like,you know what, looking back on
it now, I definitely think thatI am not someone who thrives in
sharing a living space likethat.
Generally, like now knowing moreabout myself, but I'm assuming
that that's what I was feelingat that age too, and I just
didn't get that, that like.
(28:36):
Being around people you don'tnecessarily love and being stuck
in such close, close quarterswith them and having no alone
time whatsoever, especially atlike 13 when like everyone is at
completely different stages.
It's a little like,
Speaker 7 (28:54):
I don't, I can't think of that.
It's a lot.
Yeah.
Girls could be cliquey you ifyou're not the sportiest of
boys.
And the boys are, some girlswere into boys earlier than
others.
Like I remember feeling the sameway.
When you, it's all around you atall times.
Yeah.
You feel yourself like pullingaway at times or being awkward
and that's thing.
It's
Speaker 9 (29:11):
also, I think about different places people are
coming from.
Like I remember thinking thegirls were so far ahead.
and it felt like they all kneweach other.
And being like one of the onlykids in the city from my age
group, it felt like I was alwaysseparated from that.
Like Mommy said about, with likeboys, like it's a big thing at
camp when it's, you're at aco-ed camp and you're constantly
mixing.
It can feel like you're behindwhen you're someone who's not at
(29:33):
the age or you're not evenmaturing yet to be at that
point.
That it gets confusing and itdoes feel like you're left
behind a lot, but everybodygrows at their own pace,
especially a girl.
We just talked about this lastweek, getting your period when
you get it earlier than othersor later than others, and you're
at camp when some people have itand some people don't and you
suddenly see tampons around thebunk, it's a big change to go
through.
Speaker 8 (29:53):
Yeah.
I think there's also somethingtoo, like camp is its own world.
Like the second that you getthere on day one, like.
All, all of your friends fromhome, like your parents aren't
there.
You're not speaking to yourfamily.
Like these are the people youare with 24 7 and sometimes you
feel sick of the people you'reliving with and you need a break
(30:15):
from your family.
And it's like you can't reallyget that at camp.
It's a little harder tonavigate, especially when you,
if you don't have a familymember or a sibling or something
like that at camp, it kind offeels like there's no one to
always be on your side, bebehind your back when you're
going through tough things.
Obviously you're gonna make.
Such close friends and yourcounselors are there for you,
(30:35):
but it's different than havingfamily with you.
And you know, if you're goingthrough something tough, that
could become
Speaker 7 (30:41):
hard.
Yeah.
And I think, like you said,it's, it follows kind of the
course of the age anyway, right?
When you're younger, everybodyloves everybody.
Obviously there might be thegirl who always cries or whines
over things versus others, butgenerally you're all
like-minded.
It is that middle school agewhere the same dynamics you're
navigating at home, you'renavigating at school.
You know what I will say is.
(31:01):
Counselors are trained on this.
Most people who work at camp inany leadership position are not
only parents, but they're oftenteachers and educators who spend
their summers doing this.
There are resources for yourchildren, there are resources
for you, and there's alwayschanges to make.
So, if a child is reallymiserable, it is worth
investigating and understandingand not forcing anything.
(31:21):
But children also learn fromthese dynamics and relationships
too.
Okay, so each of you has alsoworked at camp too.
Maggie, you were a waitress lastyear and you'll be a day camp
counselor later this summer.
And Ava, you're going on yourthird year as a summer day camp
counselor, even though you'reswitching camps.
So Maggie, what was the best andworst things about being a
waitress?
Speaker 9 (31:42):
I was a waitress at the same sleepaway camp I had
been a camper at.
So.
It was the worst part was wakingup earlier than all the other
kids to set up for breakfast andthen serve the food.
And it was a million degrees inthe dining hall at all times.
And you had to wear pants and ahat and sweaty, sticky gloves
and a t-shirt the whole time.
But I think one of the bestparts was not having a schedule
(32:06):
during the day.
Especially at that age where youkind of want the freedom.
I would finish B servingbreakfast and then all of us
would go back and sleep and thenwake up by third period or like
second period and then go do anactivity.
You would help bring kids to anactivity.
You could choose what activityyou wanted to do, and it was
nice having that freedom whilestill being able to be at camp.
It wasn't like your camp beerswere over, you were still there
(32:28):
and you still got to be a partof everything you wanted to be a
part of, but you had a littlemore freedom to choose what that
was.
But the worst part wasdefinitely waking up early and
then generally serving the mealswas not always a positive time.
It was definitely a stressfulsituation to kind of throw a
15-year-old into, but it wasdefinitely.
A great opportunity to kind oflearn what it's like to have a
(32:51):
job and work at something whiletaking care of the kids.
It definitely helps me toprepare for being a day camp
counselor this year, but it washard, but it was still being at
camp and it was still being withthe people I loved and having a
good time.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
And Ava, what about being a day camp counselor?
What's the best and maybe theworst or hardest parts?
Speaker 8 (33:10):
I think the best part is getting to like still be in a
camp.
I always loved camp and gettingto like see kids love camp for
the first time and it'sdefinitely not a con to be done
with your day by five and behome and in bed and have
weekends off.
That's definitely such a plus.
And one of the main reasons Ichose working at a day camp.
(33:34):
The hardest part.
It is a lot of kids, it's a lotof hours.
It's long days.
There's definitely harder daysthan some if you have a
difficult group of kids.
But, hopefully if you're workingat a day camp, you have the
support from other staff.
You can get support from parentsif you need.
Not always gonna happen.
(33:56):
I mean, there, I think it's avery 50 50 job, but.
If you don't wanna be inside allday over the summer and you want
to be in the sun, you like kidsenough.
I think it's the way to go.
Speaker 7 (34:09):
And so
Speaker 8 (34:09):
what are you
Speaker 7 (34:10):
both looking forward to about being a counselor this
year?
Speaker 9 (34:13):
I'm someone who likes working with kids.
I like taking kids to activitiesand kind of like Ava said,
seeing them enjoy camp for thefirst time.
So I'm definitely excited aboutstill being able to be in a camp
setting, but also getting to seeother kids enjoy it.
And being able to be on kind ofthe flip side, instead of being
a camper, I'm now the one whogets to be a counselor and see
what that kind of situation islike.
Speaker 8 (34:35):
Like you said, I'm working at a different camp, so
I guess I'm like excited to justget a bit of a different
experience because I have beenworking at my other camp for a
long time now.
You are also
Speaker 7 (34:46):
working with some of your best friends this summer,
right?
Speaker 8 (34:48):
That's
Speaker 7 (34:48):
true.
And that's nice to be aroundother peers still, even in any
camp, the counselors are allgenerally around the same ages.
Right.
So yeah, definitely.
There's still a big social partof it.
Speaker 10 (34:58):
Okay.
I have a question.
Did you enjoy your summers whenwe were away, mom, or did you
and dad miss us?
Way too much The
Speaker 11 (35:06):
truth, it's a mix.
We missed you and certainlythose first few days when you
leave.
And those first few days aftervisiting day, which was always
the middle of the summer, Ithink that's when we missed you
the most, just because we wereso used to your presence and
suddenly things were emptier.
And we talked about you all thetime, all summer.
As I talked about we can't postphotos every day, and I would
(35:28):
obsessively look for both of youevery day.
But there's something very niceabout just being the two of us
and not having kids.
First of all, I don't have tomake lunches at dinners when
it's just me and dad are justeasier and quicker.
The house is so much cleanerand, you know, the school year
is a lot between homework andactivities and running around
every weekend.
It's nice as a parent to have alittle break from your children.
(35:50):
So much less laundry, much lesscooking and just a little more
freedom.
It's not a bad thing as aparent.
Speaker 12 (35:56):
I still always like getting your letters.
When I was at camp, they didn'treally say much besides, this is
what we did Monday and this iswhat we did the last two days.
This is what we're gonna do thenext few days.
And the next letter would be, wefinally did this.
But they were always good to getto just hear from you and know
that you were still there.
Speaker 11 (36:11):
I knew this as a camper and I certainly as a
parent, they'd hear some advice,you know, write letters.
Often your camp allowed us tolike email.
You could type it out and thenthe camp would print it for you,
which made it a lot easier thanfiguring out stamps and all
that.
But I'd write to each of youevery other day at least.
And then dad would do abouttwice a week and sometime a
grandparent something.
The hope was that most days youwere getting some sort of mal.
(36:33):
And one of the things I didcertainly in the beginning was I
didn't like in your earliertimes and when you were younger,
I didn't wanna show that we werehaving too, too much fun without
you.
Like with Ava away at camp, Ididn't overemphasize some great
things we did with Maggie whenshe was home.
Right.
I didn't overindulge the, oh myGod, I miss you so much.
As you were older, I could saywhatever.
So yeah, a lot of it is, I mean,our lives aren't exciting.
(36:55):
We were still working every day.
So it was, yes, here's what'shappening.
Let me tell you about a friendor a cousin or grandma.
But there wasn't that much tosay.
Our lives aren't overlyexciting.
Speaker 10 (37:04):
You guys did go on some trips and stuff though,
right?
Speaker 11 (37:07):
Yeah, I mean, camp's not cheap, so we weren't able to
overly gallivant around withoutyou.
But well worth the investmentfor all of us.
But yeah, we did, weekends away,we went to Maine.
One time we went to Newport withfriends, and one time maybe
alone, we went out to theHamptons.
We were kind of big into justlike relaxing at a beach where
you didn't have to worry about,putting sunblock on somebody
(37:27):
else.
And it was just.
Nice to be less scheduled, andwe would go out to dinner much
more often than cooking at home.
Plus it's so nice out in thesummer.
So it's good for mom and dadtime, I think, and for any
parent, embrace the time withoutyour child.
Speaker 14 (37:40):
All right.
So thanks girls for all yourcamp insights and thanks to our
listeners for joining us for oursummer camp Deep Dive.
Whether you're packing theduffels, stuck in the bunk
photos, or waving goodbye at thebus stop.
Speaker 13 (37:53):
Camp is really a once in a lifetime experience.
I mean, there can be the downs,it can be weird, it can be
sweaty, it can be buggy, but ontop of it all, it's really just
an experience.
You don't get somewhere else.
Speaker 15 (38:05):
And no matter the situation you're in, even if you
get sick.
I sprained my ankle at camp.
I've gotten pink eye twice.
All the bug bites are missingclothes you'll probably always
want to go back.
Yeah.
Once you star, you can't reallystop that easily, which if you
ever
wanna
Speaker 14 (38:19):
listen to David talk about it, we'll go on and on and
on about how camp is the best.
So be sure to follow us.
We have a new TikTok at@elissa-igetitfrommymom.
If frankly you even search, Iget it from my mom.
It hopefully is coming up'causeI'm trying to use hashtags and
there we're gonna share somebehind the scenes of the
episode, some camp photos andother family shenanigans.
(38:41):
So please follow along.
Mommy
Speaker 15 (38:42):
likes to post on TikTok.
Mommy's
Speaker 14 (38:44):
trying
Speaker 13 (38:45):
and let us know through TikTok or Instagram what
your favorite camp memories are,or if you have any questions as
you prepare to send your childaway for the summer.
Speaker 15 (38:53):
Thank you.
See you next time on.
I get it from my mom.
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