My kids — actually, I should say, my kids and I — loved camp, though probably not necessarily for the same reasons. We have all attended sleepaway camp in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, my daughter attended an all-girls camp, and when each of them was old enough to enroll, my three boys attended an all-boys camp a few miles away.
When we started camp, my daughter was around 10 years old, and my son was about 8 years old, which meant my two youngest boys were still too little to be enrolled. Lucky for them, they got to come with me to the girls camp, where I cooked and cleaned up after all the meals in the camp’s dining hall — which, coincidentally, happened to be the most strategic and best place to grab Hershey’s bars for me and the kids to snack on. The following summer, I became the camp office manager.
My youngest, a toddler at the time, especially loved camp because the girls doted on him. Every day, a camper would pick him up from the “fancy” nurse’s cabin where we stayed (fancy because it had running hot and cold water) and bring him to all his activities: horseback riding, swimming in the lake and archery, to name a few. Because he was so young, she would bring him back after each activity so I could check in with him and make sure he went to the bathroom and got snacks. Then, off he would go again!
One afternoon, he received a surprise package from his dad — always an exciting moment — which contained what my now ex must have known would be the perfect gift for a mischievous toddler: a remote-controlled tarantula. As cute as my grinning, lunch-bell-ringing little guy was, he used it mercilessly to scare the girls on the badminton court. I still laugh whenever I think about it.
Camp remains one of my and my children’s fondest memories from their childhood. A way for kids to become self-reliant and enjoy the outdoors away from screens, summer camp came to mean as much to them as it did to me, especially after I became a divorced parent with limited funds. Here’s why.
Camp relieves the pressure
Camp is a place where a child can go to enjoy some peaceful, uninterrupted time without the pressure of shuffling back and forth to school, sports practices, extracurricular activities, and, in the case of children whose parents are divorced, different houses. When run well with attentive staff who care, camp can quickly become home, not just a home away from home.
For a divorced parent trying to juggle it all, it can also mean a breather. A breather from day-to-day obligations, a breather from the stress of co-parenting, and a chance to breathe in fresh air somewhere serene. Unstructured time in a beautiful setting is simply good for the soul.
Camp teaches independence
The whole point of parenting is to raise independent, free-thinking, kind humans who can function in society. Camp is the perfect foray into that reality. At camp, kids learn to make friends on their own, resolve conflicts and solve problems, from how to light a fire to finding their sneakers.
Adults aren’t so different in this way, and yes, there are grown-ass adults who can’t keep track of their stuff. That wasn’t my issue; however, getting camp (which can be pricey) paid for in those days was. When I discovered I could defray the cost of camp by working there, it was a prophetic message that I could stand on my own two feet one day, just by getting creative.
Camp sparks creativity
I don’t know what it is about being in nature, but it sparks creativity in me every time. Opportunities for crafting at summer camp abound, and just the thought of my kids having access to those opportunities was enough inspiration for me to hatch a plan for getting them there. Bonus: I got to go, too.
My kids are adults now, and camp is in the rearview mirror for them until, I imagine, they send their own children. Not so much for me. You see, those memories at camp, even as a mom, left their mark and are probably what led me to buy my forever home with my forever second husband on Puget Sound.
It’s at home, at the veritable summer camp I’ve created for our blended family, where I find my greatest inspiration and joy for parenting adult children with adult wisdom. I can focus on growing my businesses intentionally and coming up with solutions to change outdated ideologies I don’t believe in. And just as how camp shaped my kids’ childhoods, it shaped me, too — teaching me that independence, resourcefulness and reinvention can turn any chapter of life into a new adventure.
