You have already decided your child is ready for his first sleepaway camp experience. So when is the best time to begin the search? I am often asked., “Am I too early?” or “Am I too late?”
The answer is it is never too early or too late to begin to explore the world of camps. If you know you will be enrolling for 2021, Winter or Spring are great times to begin to explore options and plan tours of camps for Summer 2020. But if you are like most parents, planning that far ahead is not how you operate, so you will begin the search for 2020 whenever you have time between now and Spring. Here are some answers to the questions I am asked most often about timing:
- Will the “best” camps already be full?
In a word, NO! Just because a camp fills sooner or later does not determine whether that camp is “better.” When a camp fills depends on a number of factors including size, types of sessions and numbers of returning campers, to name a few.
- Should I be visiting the camp before enrolling?
A visit is NOT a prerequisite to finding the right fit. If you have the foresight to begin a search a full year or more ahead, you will want to visit, but most families do not. In fact, many camp directors will come to your home if you ask them. And if this does not happen, don’t worry; an extensive phone call with the director and/or a skype or facetime can work just as well. A visit in the “off” season can sometimes be a turn off as campers are not there, and many of the facilities are shut down.
- Is Spring too late to look for camps?
NO! While ideally you will begin your search the previous Fall or Winter, many wonderful camps still have space in certain age groups or sessions well into Spring. It will help if you are flexible with which sessions/dates your child attends.
Holiday time is the perfect time to think Summer. Beginning a camp search over the Winter break is a wonderful gift to your child.
Camp is over and I am choking back the tears. Why am I crying, you may ask or some of you may think, what type of parent am I? Aren’t I excited to see my camper? Of course, I am excited and of course, I missed him all summer. But each summer when camp ends, is one summer less for my children to be just that – children. Each summer that passes, means one less summer for them to smile, laugh, grow and learn in an unplugged world. I know this – how? I have seen children start camp at the young age of 7 or 8. I have seen children grow into preteens and not have to deal with the awkward middle school moments during the summer. I have seen teens be able to feel safe and happy with their camp family and temporarily escape the overwhelming stress and pressure they feel all year. I have also seen my own children mold and shape new campers as their counselors. Don’t think that being a counselor for the summer is the easy way out. Far from it, it’s hard work, but the rewards include maturity, personal relationships, time management, conflict resolution and so much more. If you think there is joy in seeing your happy camper, there is another sense of joy and pride when you see happy campers looking up to your happy counselor. But like everything else in life, all good things come to an end. So why am I crying? Because I don’t want any of this to end and the end of each summer means we are all getting closer to the end of this stage. 
For some campers, walking off the plane and into their home is a seamless transition. For most, the transition from camp to home has its up’s and down’s. Don’t take it personally. It is totally normal for parents to be exploding with joy while their campers may be somewhat sad upon summer’s end. After all, summer camp is your child’s home away from home!
