Anonymous
Post 02/24/2024 09:35     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
For me, one week is fine, but can make an exception for a spectacular two-week camp. My kids are ES aged. Everyone’s different though.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 22:53     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:I cannot overemphasize how much I hated hated hated camp as a pre-teen/teenager. I am not an anxious person naturally but lost hours and hours of sleep during the weeks leading up to it. I would never send my child to a sleepaway camp for the first time for four weeks. Maybe they love it, but if they don’t it’s an actual form of torture.

I also never thought of sleepaway camp as a class thing but all these “we are high net worth families and sleepaway camp is god” posters are making me think they’re reaaaaal insecure about themselves and their choices.


Why did your parents continue to send you when you hated it?
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 22:43     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
My kids never expressed any desire to do it, so we never did it. I would have been sad to lose them for more than a week or two over the summer.

I don’t think it has done them any harm, they travel a lot independently and have done foreign language exchanges etc, traveled to grandparents and so on. I am sure many kids benefit immensely from it, but I don’t think there is any harm in not doing it.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 21:18     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
I’m not sure how old your kid is. I would worry about potential homesickness but I don’t know your child! I got homesick easily as a child.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 12:29     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Oh my gosh, so worth it. I am from NY, my husband from the Deep South and we now live in the Midwest. I had to convince him to let our kids go to camp since it is so unfamiliar to him. But camp was the most formative and wonderful experience of my life. (I started going for 4 weeks and eventually roped my parents into 8) I think it is even more important this day and age- a month with no helicopter parents, no electronics or social media, no boys (I have daughters), no name brand clothes or social pressures. My girls will be going for the first time this summer.)l I think 3.5 weeks is the minimum time needed for acclimating, feeling at home, and getting the full benefit of the camp instruction. Many camps that are really intentional about curriculum, personal growth, etc. have those as minimum time frames, other than for first time campers. My husband is already getting so sad, but if they have even half the experience I did, I will be so happy for them


100% agree! My husband and I are from Midwest. We didn’t have these camps and I honestly thought it was something from years gone by (like in Parent Trap). But a good friend convinced me and it has been the BEST thing for my kids. They started with 3.5 weeks and now go for 7. They love it. It’s a chance to connect with friends from all over the US and really bond and work through differences, learn, and grow, over the course of 7 weeks. No computers, no phones, no homework. Just talking to each actual people all day long, playing games, learning new things they aren’t to do at home (sailing, etc.). They learn it’s ok to be cold, wet, hot, bored, uncomfortable at times and gain resilience through it all. But it is SO hard as a parent to have them away. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t feel like it is truly great for them, or if they didn’t want to go.


Op - this is the thing - I’ve heard it’s soooo good for mental health, independence, socialization, friends for life etc etc


You’ve heard from whom?


every single person I know who has sent their kids, which is about 50-70% of our peer group and school parents.


No, OP, you’ve heard this from every single person in your group of friends who LOVES summer camp. You haven’t heard anything about summer camp from the ones who didn’t love it. Obviously.


op - well yes i have. I have asked all the parents in dc's year (40 kids) who sent their kids to summer camp if they likes it and what their experiences have been like. And all his existing DAY summer camp friends parents who pulled their kids out of the first few weeks of the day camp to go to sleepaway last year.
Not one of them said they didn't like it. I personally did not love it, but i'm not sorry i went one time!
if dc doesn't like it he wont go back. [/quote]

Or maybe reevaluate and see if he wants to try again or try some place else. Don't make your anxiety his anxiety. And yes this anxiety
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 12:07     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is this their first time going? Weird to start with 4 weeks


what's the other option?


Some camps offer one-week, two-week and three-week options, especially for beginners.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 11:57     Subject: Re:I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Gosh, you hover mothers would have had a hell of a time with a kid like me. First sleepaway at 6 for a week, up to 4 weeks by 10, 8 by 12 and then moved overseas as an exchange student at 16 where I didn't see my parents for a year barring a 2 week visit. Loved every minute of it. You sound so suffocating. If your kid wants to do this kind of thing and gain independence, support them without thinking about your own emotional needs.


Your experiences are not typical. I’m glad you view them through a positive lens.


Why do you say that? Clearly the camps are filled with kids that DO enjoy them.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 01:21     Subject: Re:I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Gosh, you hover mothers would have had a hell of a time with a kid like me. First sleepaway at 6 for a week, up to 4 weeks by 10, 8 by 12 and then moved overseas as an exchange student at 16 where I didn't see my parents for a year barring a 2 week visit. Loved every minute of it. You sound so suffocating. If your kid wants to do this kind of thing and gain independence, support them without thinking about your own emotional needs.


Your experiences are not typical. I’m glad you view them through a positive lens.


I do! I'm proud that I come from a family that is so close knit and tight that we allow each other to branch out and explore ourselves in various ways.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2024 00:47     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Oh my gosh, so worth it. I am from NY, my husband from the Deep South and we now live in the Midwest. I had to convince him to let our kids go to camp since it is so unfamiliar to him.


Because he comes from a place with actual community.


What a piece of sh!t you are. I am from NYC, live in a suburb, and have deep community roots. We have sent our kids to camp in between 4th and 5th grades, and they have thrived. Mangez nerde et mourez.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2024 23:43     Subject: Re:I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Mine never wanted to go for even a week. They did do a few days at a sports camp at a college where they were left on their own at age 11!

Otherwise, we did a few weeks of day camp and a few weeks of visiting family / vacation. Eight weeks seems like a very long time, yet I know that’s popular in certain cultures.

There’s no one answer, and your children will turn out fine either way.

Anonymous
Post 02/21/2024 23:36     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Oh my gosh, so worth it. I am from NY, my husband from the Deep South and we now live in the Midwest. I had to convince him to let our kids go to camp since it is so unfamiliar to him. But camp was the most formative and wonderful experience of my life. (I started going for 4 weeks and eventually roped my parents into 8) I think it is even more important this day and age- a month with no helicopter parents, no electronics or social media, no boys (I have daughters), no name brand clothes or social pressures. My girls will be going for the first time this summer.)l I think 3.5 weeks is the minimum time needed for acclimating, feeling at home, and getting the full benefit of the camp instruction. Many camps that are really intentional about curriculum, personal growth, etc. have those as minimum time frames, other than for first time campers. My husband is already getting so sad, but if they have even half the experience I did, I will be so happy for them


100% agree! My husband and I are from Midwest. We didn’t have these camps and I honestly thought it was something from years gone by (like in Parent Trap). But a good friend convinced me and it has been the BEST thing for my kids. They started with 3.5 weeks and now go for 7. They love it. It’s a chance to connect with friends from all over the US and really bond and work through differences, learn, and grow, over the course of 7 weeks. No computers, no phones, no homework. Just talking to each actual people all day long, playing games, learning new things they aren’t to do at home (sailing, etc.). They learn it’s ok to be cold, wet, hot, bored, uncomfortable at times and gain resilience through it all. But it is SO hard as a parent to have them away. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t feel like it is truly great for them, or if they didn’t want to go.


Op - this is the thing - I’ve heard it’s soooo good for mental health, independence, socialization, friends for life etc etc


You’ve heard from whom?


every single person I know who has sent their kids, which is about 50-70% of our peer group and school parents.


No, OP, you’ve heard this from every single person in your group of friends who LOVES summer camp. You haven’t heard anything about summer camp from the ones who didn’t love it. Obviously.


op - well yes i have. I have asked all the parents in dc's year (40 kids) who sent their kids to summer camp if they likes it and what their experiences have been like. And all his existing DAY summer camp friends parents who pulled their kids out of the first few weeks of the day camp to go to sleepaway last year.
Not one of them said they didn't like it. I personally did not love it, but i'm not sorry i went one time!
if dc doesn't like it he wont go back.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2024 22:54     Subject: Re:I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:Gosh, you hover mothers would have had a hell of a time with a kid like me. First sleepaway at 6 for a week, up to 4 weeks by 10, 8 by 12 and then moved overseas as an exchange student at 16 where I didn't see my parents for a year barring a 2 week visit. Loved every minute of it. You sound so suffocating. If your kid wants to do this kind of thing and gain independence, support them without thinking about your own emotional needs.


Your experiences are not typical. I’m glad you view them through a positive lens.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2024 22:51     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Oh my gosh, so worth it. I am from NY, my husband from the Deep South and we now live in the Midwest. I had to convince him to let our kids go to camp since it is so unfamiliar to him. But camp was the most formative and wonderful experience of my life. (I started going for 4 weeks and eventually roped my parents into 8) I think it is even more important this day and age- a month with no helicopter parents, no electronics or social media, no boys (I have daughters), no name brand clothes or social pressures. My girls will be going for the first time this summer.)l I think 3.5 weeks is the minimum time needed for acclimating, feeling at home, and getting the full benefit of the camp instruction. Many camps that are really intentional about curriculum, personal growth, etc. have those as minimum time frames, other than for first time campers. My husband is already getting so sad, but if they have even half the experience I did, I will be so happy for them


100% agree! My husband and I are from Midwest. We didn’t have these camps and I honestly thought it was something from years gone by (like in Parent Trap). But a good friend convinced me and it has been the BEST thing for my kids. They started with 3.5 weeks and now go for 7. They love it. It’s a chance to connect with friends from all over the US and really bond and work through differences, learn, and grow, over the course of 7 weeks. No computers, no phones, no homework. Just talking to each actual people all day long, playing games, learning new things they aren’t to do at home (sailing, etc.). They learn it’s ok to be cold, wet, hot, bored, uncomfortable at times and gain resilience through it all. But it is SO hard as a parent to have them away. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t feel like it is truly great for them, or if they didn’t want to go.


Op - this is the thing - I’ve heard it’s soooo good for mental health, independence, socialization, friends for life etc etc


You’ve heard from whom?


every single person I know who has sent their kids, which is about 50-70% of our peer group and school parents.


No, OP, you’ve heard this from every single person in your group of friends who LOVES summer camp. You haven’t heard anything about summer camp from the ones who didn’t love it. Obviously.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2024 22:14     Subject: I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How much does 4-8 weeks of sleepaway camp cost?


Low end around 10k, up to 17k


I would spend that money on a nice vacation with my kids.


That’s great. People that send their kids to summer camp likely also take several family trips throughout the year as well. You aren’t wrong and neither are they. Do what works for your family


this. people who can afford summer camps are not doing it at the expense of vacations.


THIS.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2024 21:28     Subject: Re:I know dc will love camp but i'm sad to have him go away for 4 weeks. It's worth it right?
Anonymous wrote:Gosh, you hover mothers would have had a hell of a time with a kid like me. First sleepaway at 6 for a week, up to 4 weeks by 10, 8 by 12 and then moved overseas as an exchange student at 16 where I didn't see my parents for a year barring a 2 week visit. Loved every minute of it. You sound so suffocating. If your kid wants to do this kind of thing and gain independence, support them without thinking about your own emotional needs.


Yes this post has unearthed a weird side of some folks