My DD is at sleepaway camp and I miss her terribly - how do I get through the next few weeks?

[Anonymous]

OP, ignore the snarky comments. I went to sleep away camp for 8 weeks starting at age 8. I LOVED it and couldn't wait for school to get out so I could see my summer friends and do all of all of the activities I couldn't do at home. I looked forward to letters from home and sometimes I missed my parents, but I never wanted to be home. I knew my parents loved me and that it was a gift to give me camp.

Now my kids go to camps. They go to more than one over the summer and I miss them when they are gone but they know it costs a lot and we have to give up other things so they can go and they thank us. No one spends that much to get rid of their children. Anyone who says that has no idea. Shut out that noise and pat yourself on the back for giving DD such a great few weeks. You'll see her soon.

[Anonymous]

OP, I agree to ignore the snark in this thread. Overnight camp is a wonderful experience for a child. I went from the time I was 10 until 20 (I ended up working at one for several summers). I would not trade my experiences for anything. I remember calling my parents to beg them to let me stay for the entire summer (I went 4 weeks). Sadly, they could not afford it (even when I went it was several thousand for 4 weeks). I think the snark is coming from folks who never ever had the experience, so of course they are going to say what they are saying. I'm about to experience what you are in a few weeks (although my child is going for a trial week for the first time). He is so excited he is literally bursting already (and I am excited for him, even though I will miss him).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, ignore the snarky comments. I went to sleep away camp for 8 weeks starting at age 8. I LOVED it and couldn't wait for school to get out so I could see my summer friends and do all of all of the activities I couldn't do at home. I looked forward to letters from home and sometimes I missed my parents, but I never wanted to be home. I knew my parents loved me and that it was a gift to give me camp.

Now my kids go to camps. They go to more than one over the summer and I miss them when they are gone but they know it costs a lot and we have to give up other things so they can go and they thank us. No one spends that much to get rid of their children. Anyone who says that has no idea. Shut out that noise and pat yourself on the back for giving DD such a great few weeks. You'll see her soon.

I am glad to hear you say this. Camp is a sacrifice for us. Thousands of dollars (we have more than one child)

[Anonymous]

My kids go to SINGLE-SEX camps. There are not many co-ed camps, at least not in the traditional camp world I grew up in. My parents and their siblings went to all-boy and all-girl camps on the shores of Squam Lake in NH. My sibs and I went to single sex camps in the mountains of NC, near Brevard. My kids are not away at camp for the first time, brother-sister camps that are 5 miles apart. The boys and girls get togther for dances on Saturday nights but other wise it is just the girls and just the boys. Each camp starts at $3,000 for about 2 weeks and goes up from there.

[Anonymous]

Every time you miss her, think of the wonderful time she's having!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to SINGLE-SEX camps. There are not many co-ed camps, at least not in the traditional camp world I grew up in. My parents and their siblings went to all-boy and all-girl camps on the shores of Squam Lake in NH. My sibs and I went to single sex camps in the mountains of NC, near Brevard. My kids are not away at camp for the first time, brother-sister camps that are 5 miles apart. The boys and girls get togther for dances on Saturday nights but other wise it is just the girls and just the boys. Each camp starts at $3,000 for about 2 weeks and goes up from there.

They sound like great camps! What are they called?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to SINGLE-SEX camps. There are not many co-ed camps, at least not in the traditional camp world I grew up in. My parents and their siblings went to all-boy and all-girl camps on the shores of Squam Lake in NH. My sibs and I went to single sex camps in the mountains of NC, near Brevard. My kids are not away at camp for the first time, brother-sister camps that are 5 miles apart. The boys and girls get togther for dances on Saturday nights but other wise it is just the girls and just the boys. Each camp starts at $3,000 for about 2 weeks and goes up from there.

They sound like great camps! What are they called?

They are REALLY great camps. They are Camp Carolina for Boys and Rockbrook Camp for girls. both have amazing owners, directors and staff, some of whom I have known since I was a child myself. They hire the greatest counselors, many of whom went to the camps themselves as children. They have a great mix of structure and freedom, and a very strong nuturing tradition that helps kids discover new things about themselves and grow as individuals.

[Anonymous]

I'm just reading this thread after dropping my son at Camp High Rocks in North Carolina today. We dropped my daughter at Rockbrook last week. Both are going to camp for 4 weeks and both begged to go. It's such an invaluable experience for both kids and parents. I didn't grow up going to camp, but recognize how wonderful it is for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm just reading this thread after dropping my son at Camp High Rocks in North Carolina today. We dropped my daughter at Rockbrook last week. Both are going to camp for 4 weeks and both begged to go. It's such an invaluable experience for both kids and parents. I didn't grow up going to camp, but recognize how wonderful it is for our kids.

Hi. I am PP with kids at Carolina and Rockbrook. I have heard good things about High Rocks. Two old camp friends whom I ran into when dropping my daughter at Rocbrook, send their boys to High Rocks and they loved it. How fortunate for your kids that you are doing this for them even though you didn't do it yourself. They will thank you forever.

[Anonymous]

I hated camp because I was bad at sports. Don't send an unathletic kid to a sports oriented camp....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question: this is not being snarky, I am genuinely interested. The only sleep away camps I know are for Jewish girls or Jewish boys. OP, is this a Jewish camp? And do you think there are other sleep away camps that are not just for one (any) type of group? I just wouldn't want to look into something and show up and have her/him feel left out. I am curious if there is a more mixed camp, by gender, of course. Thanks.

Seriously??? Sleep Away Camps are where upper class WASPs have been spending a portion of their childhood summers since the 1900s. There are hundreds of these camps, on the East Coast they are mostly in North Carolina, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. They are fairly expensive and many have long legacies.

This is also a tradition among upper class AA's and Jews. And the really prominent WASP camps are in Michigan and upstate New York; MA is more AA (Camp Atwater) and Maine (Camp Modin) more Jewish.

Wrong. The most prominent WASP camps are in North Carolina and Maine/New Hampshire. No self respecting East Coaster sends their child to Michigan for camp. Ugh. Midwesterners love to send their kids to the East for camp. The adirondacks are lovely but not a top chilldhood camp destination.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sleepaway-camp-adirondacks-costs-11-201915282.html

This camps is definitely a top destination in the adironacks.

[Anonymous]

Ridiculous. People choose camps all over the U.S. depending on the type of camp and the kind of interests. New Yorkers go to camps from art camps like Manituwabing in Canada to single sex camps in NC that cater to sailing like Sea Gull and Seafarer and horseback riding like Mondamin and Green Cove. They head to more art and drama camps in MA and NH and more sports camps up and down the east coast. Here in the DC area girls seem to love Rim Rock for its all around sports, water, arts, and horseback riding (West VA). There's a camp for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Don't any of you go on summer vacations with your kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't any of you go on summer vacations with your kids?

Yes, after they get home from two weeks of sleep away camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't any of you go on summer vacations with your kids?

Yes, both right after school gets out in early June and again in August after they return from 4 weeks at camp. August is family beach/ vacation month. It was the same in my family as a child Even families I know with full time summer homes send their kids to camp elsewhere for a month or so. This is about what is good for you child and what they want to do. Most kids love going away to camp. Its incredibly fun and a chance to be your own person and try out new things.