Chapter 8: Maximize your child’s enjoyment 

(and yours)

WRITING LETTERS

Getting a letter means a lot to your child(ren) but don’t get carried away! Parents who send letters every day can sometimes, although well intentioned, make a child homesick. Although campers need to hear from their parents, please understand that many campers do better with mail 2-3 times a week rather then letters each day.

UNDERSTANDING LETTERS HOME

If your child sounds distressed in a letter, do not be overly concerned. Campers’ letters home are usually a “snapshot” of their feelings at that particular moment. We know that when kids feel upset, they’ll use a letter to express their frustration. These moments are most common in their first few days of camp. It is probable that an hour after writing it, they’re up, onto something new and back to being themselves. If upsetting letters become a trend, let us know. EACH YEAR WE RECEIVE PARENTS PHONING US IN A PANIC ABOUT A BAD LETTER AND IN ALMOST ALL CASES, the child is having a great time but used the letter to get out his frustrations at that moment. There is much truth to the famous song “Hello Muddah”:

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
(A Letter From Camp)
Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh,
Here I am at Camp Granada.
Camp is very entertaining,
And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining.
I went hiking with Joe Spivey.
He developed poison ivy.
You remember Leonard Skinner.
He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner.
All the counselors hate the waiters,
And the lake has alligators.
And the head coach wants no sissies,
So he reads to us from something called Ulysses.
Now I don’t want this should scare ya,
But my bunk mate has malaria.
You remember Jeffrey Hardy.
They’re about to organize a searching party.
Take me home, oh Muddah, Fadduh,
Take me home, I hate Granada,
Don’t leave me out here in the forest, where
I might get eaten by a bear.
Take me home, I promise I will not make noise,
Or mess the house with other boys.
Oh please don’t make me stay,
I’ve been here one whole day.
Dearest Fadduh, darling Muddah,
How’s my precious little Bruddah?
Let me come home if you miss me.
I would even let Aunt Bertha hug and kiss me.
Wait a minute, it stopped hailing.
Guys are swimming, guys are sailing.
Playing baseball, gee that’s better.
Muddah, Fadduh, kindly disregard this letter!

 

UNDERSTANDING HOMESICKNESS

Homesickness is normal. This is the first thing we tell a child who is missing home. They need to know that what they may be feeling is not abnormal or unusual and it does not strike exclusively around any particular age. Although it is more prevalent among the youngest campers for whom this is the first time away from home, homesickness can happen to anyone. In the vast majority of cases, any homesickness is over quickly.

When dealing with homesickness, we give one-on-one attention, and the staff involved may be anyone from the counsellors to the camp directors. Our goal is to keep the children busy – at first doing the things most 21familiar and enjoyable to them. We are also wary of the point when too much personalized attention by a staff becomes used as a crutch instead of help. At that point, the emphasis will turn to getting them to be fully attentive and involved in their activity of the moment. Another tactic is to give the child a role in a game, project, or show, which enhances their self-esteem, and importance in the cabin group. Usually homesickness subsides after a day or two, because the pace of camp life is so busy and distracting from thoughts about home. The good news is, like all things, time heals homesickness too.