Some helpful hints for parents planning to visit camps this summer:
1. Don’t go by what “everyone” says about Camp X – make your own decisions and go with your heart.
Everyone else isn’t you. So if you’re listening to the chatter or rumor mill or plug your ears and put on blinders. Find the camp that feels right for YOU. People love to talk even when they don’t actually KNOW that what they’re saying is true. They’ve “heard” that the camp you’re looking for is for spoiled rotten kids or they’ve “heard” that there are too many counselors from abroad or they’ve “heard” that the camp directors don’t return calls or that there are too many kids from one town…Do the research yourself. This is for YOUR child and your family and not for anyone else.
2. Prepare your child for what’s in store…ask the camp director how the tour will go.
Will you be with your child on the tour? Will your child go with a counselor and separate from you? Will there be activities? Many kids need a preview to help calm their nerves.
3. And speaking of nerves…it’s totally normal for your child to be nervous or anxious about going on a tour or participating in a camp rookie day.
This is a really big deal – for some kids because they’re really scared about the idea of sleepaway camp, for some because it’s the unknown. Don’t roll your eyes or tell your child there’s nothing to be nervous about…lean in and talk it through. Let your child know that you understand and it’s okay to be nervous. Maybe even tell your child that you’re nervous, too. Talk through what s/he is nervous about…and if your child can’t vocalize exactly what it is that’s causing nerves, that’s okay too.
4. Allergies
If you have a child with food allergies or any other allergies, inform the camp when you arrive or ahead of time. Lots of camps give snacks/treats while on tour so it’s helpful for them to plan for your visit.
5. Operation same page
Make sure you and your spouse are on the same page and that you’ve prepared your partner for what to expect from your tour or tours. If you’ve researched all of the camps you’re seeing and you’ve planned all of the tours, make sure s/he knows what is ahead. And…do your best to keep your strong opposing opinions from popping up along the tour. Save your arguments and disagreements for the car or for when you get home. Keep the peace in front of the tour giver!
6. Avoid this awkward moment!
And while we’re on the topic of awkward tour mishaps…if you say to your child prior to a tour, “You’re not actually going to GO to this camp – you’re going to another camp. But we’re going to tour this camp because our neighbor/cousin/friend goes here”…I assure you your child is going to share that information with his or her tour giver. And THAT is SUPER awkward. Set the right tone and have your child go into everything with an open mind and heart!
7. Channel your inner camper…and unplug!
We KNOW that we all live in a connected world and texts and emails are super important to read on a timely basis. Do your best to “disconnect” for the hour or hours of your camp visits. Do it for you – so you can really get a sense of the camp you’re visiting and see and feel and understand what the camp is all about. And do it for the tourgiver that is taking the time to spend with you. Tour givers care about the relationship they build with you, and when you’re on the phone it’s hard to stay on track and connect. And, it’s…borderline…rude.
8. Take it all in!
When you are preparing to leave the camp you’ve been visiting, make sure you have AND your child has taken it all in. If your child doesn’t remember seeing the gymnastics center or the ceramics station or something that is important to you, ask to go back. This is your chance to see everything before you make the all-important camp decision.
9. Take your future camper’s lead
When you get back into the car as you leave each camp, you’re either going to be super energetic and excited…or exhausted from the heat or the sun or the long day. So is your child. Follow your child’s lead…if s/he wants to talk and answer questions, ask away. But if s/he is quiet and not super chatty, give your child time. Some kids need to absorb what they’ve seen and heard and experienced before they’re ready to talk and share with you their thoughts.
10. Post tour follow up
After it’s all over…and after you get home…and after you and your family make your decision…PLEASE…respond to follow-up emails or calls from camp directors. Ask your questions…let them know you’re still deliberating and need more time…deferring the decision or waiting another year…or a quick email telling the camps you visited and did NOT choose that you’ve made a different decision and chosen another camp. You cannot imagine how appreciated this gesture is after the energy, effort and time camp directors put into your visit – whatever the outcome.
ENJOY your tours…have FUN! Relive your own camp memories while seeking out the perfect summer home where your child will build his or her own!
We hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy! Speaking of HEALTH, which is constantly on all our minds these days, we have an exciting announcement to share as we launch into 2022. Summer 365 is continuing our partnership with PM Pediatrics, the nation’s largest provider of pediatric urgent care. They have over 50 child urgent care locations in 13 states and have been around for 15+ years.
As a trusted resource and advisor to families and clients, summer camp and program partners, and the industry we serve, we love to share other experts and valuable resources we know our community would benefit from. As we all know, in this new normal and COVID world we are living in, there is an abundance of information being shared. It can be overwhelming on how best to make informed decisions specific to your child and family. We want parents and camps to feel as empowered as possible to tackle this next year and summer ahead. We are so thrilled to have PM Pediatrics and Dr. Christina John as our specialized pediatric expert and a 365 day a year resource to collaborate with and talk about health, wellness, and best practices for keeping our children healthy and safe. This knowledge and understanding will help build confidence to take us into summer and to camp. Stay tuned for upcoming events and information we have in store exclusively for our partners, clients, and community!
About:
PM Pediatrics was founded on the belief that there is a better way to deliver urgent care to kids and young adults. Their mission is to ensure our patients receive superior quality after-hours care when they need it, without having to wait long for it. Unlike traditional urgent care practices, PM Pediatrics specializes in treating patients from the cradle to college. They are staffed by pediatric emergency specialists, including pediatric emergency physicians and board-certified pediatricians, who are specially trained in treating children in urgent care situations while minimizing pain and unnecessary tests.
PM Pediatric’s brand spokesperson and Senior Medical Advisor is Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency medicine physician with over 20 years of experience and a Masters in education, who leads their community education initiatives
Written by Laurie Rinke, Owner/Director of Echo Lake
As an adult, sometimes it is hard to remember the feelings that you had leaving home to go to camp, or even college for that matter. Do you remember what it felt like to once again sleep in your own bed or get something from the refrigerator whenever you wanted? Campers returning home after the summer enjoy the comforts of home and, of course, the individual attention of family showering them with love and affection. The idea of leaving the happy cocoon of home can be almost unfathomable to any child, especially those who recently finished their first summer at camp, or are planning on going to camp for the first time next summer. They are flooded with a mix of emotions about home and camp that are not only hard to identify, but also hard to resolve.
It is not at all uncommon for even the happiest camper to hesitate when being asked to commit to another summer away from home, especially when they have only been back at home for a short period of time. Occasionally, there are conversations with parents who are dealing with camper uncertainty about next summer. These conversations, which happen every year around early enrollment deadlines, are always very similar…
“My son/daughter got off the bus from camp saying that they had the best summer ever! They told us about their friends, counselors, and all of the fun they had. In fact, they reached out to their camp friends because they were “camp sick.” When we asked them if they wanted to go back to camp next summer, they said they didn’t want to go. I don’t understand what happened, or where this change in heart came from. We know they loved camp, but now they are saying they don’t want to go back.”
This reaction, especially from first-year campers, is incredibly normal and more common than most people realize. However, it does confuse parents tremendously, and can create conflicted emotions about camp for the entire family. Asking a child, who may have had a tough adjustment to camp, and/or experienced homesickness during the summer, if they want to leave home again after being home for a relatively short time, can be difficult. When you factor in that they have also had to adjust to everything that comes with starting a new school year, while reconnecting friends from home, the question becomes even more daunting to the child. It is hard enough for them to predict how they will feel a week from now, much less ten months from now.
For many children, there can also be a psychological or subconscious impact if they expressed “homesickness” over the summer, and they are afraid of losing face. There can also be a feeling that if they say that they want to go back to camp, it is somehow a rejection of their parents because they’re choosing camp over home. Even as adults, trying to sort out and accept multiple emotions at the same time is a difficult task, but for a child, it is like climbing Mount Everest.
So what is a parent to do? If you know that your child had a great summer at camp, and you can see the positive growth your child experienced at camp, have confidence in your personal assessment. Remind yourself that your child’s reaction is totally normal, and that there are understandable reasons why they have inexplicably changed their tune about camp. Keep in mind that the start of camp is still nine months away. In addition to your child going through nearly a year of growth and maturity, home will not feel as “shiny and new” as it does right now. If you feel confident that your child should, and ultimately will want to, return to camp, then you should re-enroll them. After all, you have the ability to see the bigger picture far more clearly than your child can.
Make sure that you express your confidence about them going to camp, loving it and being successful. It also helps to remind them that they will be a veteran at camp, and everything will feel much easier because they already had a successful summer (or two).
At this point, children can go in one of two ways. Some will want you to help talk them through their positive camp memories and will want to be reminded of the fun that they had there. Others will want to put off talking about camp for a while, and allow themselves to live in the moment of school and home life. Both of these approaches are totally fine and very healthy. Follow your child’s lead on camp discussions, but remember, if they are giving you concerns about camp, it is best to both validate those concerns and help remind them of the positives they may not be thinking about at this point in time.
Here are some helpful hints to navigating camper uncertainty:
· Schedule play dates, sleepovers, and get-togethers with their camp friends. Make them fun!
· If there are off season events – bring them!
· Look through the summer website photos with them and ask them to describe what they are having so much fun doing in the photos.
· Ask them to sing you their camp songs and cheers, or teach them to younger siblings.
· Show them the happy letters they sent you from camp.
· Create positive associations with camp. For some children this can be done immediately, and for others it may be best to wait until after the new year or the spring.
· Remind them that nothing exciting – certainly not as exciting as camp – is going on at home, so they would be bored if they stayed home for the summer.
· Reach out to your camp! Your children will need to – once again – borrow your confidence that camp is awesome and the right place for them! Your camp directors are also always here to help remind you of that if you need to borrow our confidence as well! They are always happy to connect with you, and / or your camper, to remind you and them that they are here to support you always!
By the time June rolls around, and the weather is warming up, and you need to start packing your child’s camp duffels, they will be so ready and excited for camp, they will ask you to send them immediately! And, yes, you will (sometime in the future), laugh with your child about the conflicted yo-yo feelings that they had about camp – probably when they get off the bus at the end of next summer, crying, because they are “campsick” again!
Contributor: Wendy Siegel, Owner/Director of Tyler Hill Camp
PRE CAMP JITTERS? A LOT OF THEM… NONE OF THEM…WHAT’S NORMAL? it’s totally normal for your first time camper to feel heightened nerves! It’s not uncommon for kids to start expressing that they’re nervous especially after a year of unprecedented togetherness. You might see this displayed with their words or with “new” behaviors (waking up in the middle of the night, wanting to sleep in bed with you, a little separation anxiety). On the other hand there are some kids act totally cool as a cucumber and don’t seem phased. You’re wondering, hmmm is this normal and are you even going to miss me? In these instances keeping the conversation light, positive, yet normalizing feelings that might come up for them (plant the seed to normalize if the emotion or feeling does come up). So talking about drop off, the possibility of homesickness through a different perspective like by sharing a personal story that might frame a time when you were so happy but missed home and dealt with it – i.e if you went to sleepaway camp, going to college, etc. and how that was for you.
CAMP IS A ROLLERCOASTER…JUST LIKE LIFE!! Each summer at camp is a journey – a marathon – not a sprint. There will be ups and there will be downs. Just like at home, camp is real life. And if you happen to have your weekly phone call with your child and it’s a “down” day, DO NOT FREAK OUT!! Calmly assess what is actually happening for your child…and decide whether it’s worth a call to your camp director (or group leader – whoever is your contact). All campers have rough days here and there – a fight with a friend, a swollen mosquito bite, a counselor that took away flashlight time two nights ago. Expect a down day…it’s NOT the end of the world or time to switch camps!! Number one piece of advice here: STAY CALM.
DON’T BE SHY – PICK UP THE PHONE!! We camp directors actually ENJOY talking to you parents!! Don’t start every phone call to your camp director by saying, “I hate to bother you – I know you’re so busy!” We’re never too busy for you…our customers, our clients, our “family”. Don’t be afraid to contact us with any concerns or questions – no matter how big or how small. You’re about to join our camp family for years to come and we enjoy opportunities to build closer relationships with you!
YOUR CHILD IS THE ONE GOING TO CAMP AND S/HE HAS A VOICE…Remind your sons and daughters that this summer is THEIR summer! AND, if they need ANYTHING, they just need to speak up! There are LOTS of adults in camp to talk to if they need something, if they have a problem, if they don’t like the food or if they can’t find where their counselors put their underwear when they unpacked. For the first time, your kids are not going to have you to speak up for them and they will get to find and use their own voices! How lucky are they!! Practice this at home before they leave so that they’re READY and ABLE to speak up when they get to camp.
WHO HAS TIME FOR MORE FRIENDS?!! The answer: YOU! Some of the other camp moms and dads whose names you’re just learning are going to become your closest friends. It may be hard to believe, but fast forward and you’re going to talk to them daily (yes, group chats are a thing), travel with them on vacations, hug them with authenticity on Visiting Day and depend on them for advice and friendship and carpools over the next year….and over the next ten years. Embrace it!!
SERIOUSLY…NO TV OR YOUTUBE BEFORE BED? MY KID WILL NOT SURVIVE! Ummmm…yes. Your kid will survive and it will be the GREATEST thing that ever happened to him or her!! Being unplugged is one of the best “gifts” that camp will give your child (next to friendships and confidence, of course). Giggling, flashlight tag, “apples and onions” and counselor bedtime stories will take the place of TV and video games and we PROMISE your son or daughter will love it and won’t ever look back!!
SHAMPOO vs. CONDITIONER…APPLYING SUNSCREEN…SKIM vs. 2% vs. WHOLE MILK vs. SOY…We know that these are just a few of the hundreds of questions that are keeping YOU awake at night. How will your kids navigate new responsibilities that you have always managed for them? How will they tell the difference between shampoo and conditioner? What if they choose skim milk instead of the soy that you serve at home? Don’t you worry….that’s what COUNSELORS are for!! We promise that the counselors we hire are capable and amazing, and they will be the ones to help your sons and daughters figure it all out all day every day at camp.
ADHD…OCD…BED WETTING…RITALIN and MORE…We’ve seen it all and nothing scares us. We all have campers in our camps who take medication, who wet the bed, who struggle socially…and we BEG you to be up front with us before the buses roll into camp…because the more we know about your child ahead of time, the better we can take care of him or her during the summer and the more amazing we can make his or her summer at camp!! You don’t need to be embarrassed or afraid to tell us the truth about your child because we’re the ones caring for him/her for 50 days and nights and we all have the same goal – an AWESOME and HAPPY and AMAZING summer!!
Is this actually happening? 22 months after leaving their beloved summer home, my kids are finally heading back there.
This Saturday. It sorta doesn’t feel real after this last year +. We’ve gone through (and not done yet!) a (hopefully) once in a lifetime global pandemic, over a year of different version of learning and school, social distancing, masking, missing out on seeing & celebrating with loved ones, minimal activities, and an entire summer of no camp. Child experts always talk about the resilience of kids, and while that’s never felt more true, these kids have truly been total rockstars. They’ve had no choice in any of this and have had to go along with the constantly ever changing “rules”.
But they are going back. These camps have worked incredibly hard to make this happen and the moment is finally here. It doesn’t even feel real. Like, I know they’re leaving but I cannot imagine not having them at an arms distance – where they’ve pretty much been since March 2020. And while it sounds totally amazing to get a much deserved and needed break – it feels totally bizarre we are not going to be together.
We’ve gone from baking banana bread, chalking our walk, and completing way too many puzzles to dropping them at camp – in a school drop off line fashion – for 7 weeks with no visiting day. I went from baking way too many banana bread loaves to feeling like it’s kinda bananas.
Don’t get me wrong – I couldn’t be more excited for them. When I think about it for them – there’s nothing better. They get to be kids. Without a care in the world. As their summers should be. At sleepaway camp, they can play, and run, and hug and just be. A big smile forms on my face just thinking about that. What more could I want for them?
They also gain some independence back. They get to make some of their own decisions – some smart, some maybe not so smart – but all part of the growing up process. They get to make new friendships and strengthen ones they’ve already established. What more could I want for them?
But what about me? I’m used to having them home. I’m used to hearing every minute detail of their day. I’m used to way more hugs than I’ve ever gotten. I promise I won’t miss the constant X-box screaming and non stop Tik Tokking, but I will miss their “noise”. It’s going to be really quiet. After a long time of no quiet.
But as you’ve probably already thought this (if you’re still reading it!) – this isn’t about me. It’s really not. It’s about them and the gift they are getting this summer at overnight camp. There’s just so many feels. But on Saturday – rest be sure – I’ll put on a brave face and share in their excitement and watch them literally RUN out of my car into the waiting cheers and arms of their friends & counselors. I do plan on sitting in between them the entire car ride up and keeping dark sunnies on – but part of me is a teeny bit excited to come home and walk into my too quiet house and have a cold glass of wine – while I wait for the refreshing to start….
By: Katherine Stiroh
After spending many summers at an all girls overnight camp in Pennsylvania, a veteran sleepaway camper turned counselor writes a letter to her younger self sharing genuine lessons and advice with all first time and future campers.
My first summer at camp was when I was going into 4th grade, and I was so excited to start camp after three years of drops-offs and visiting days for my older sister. I heard countless stories of her funny moments in the bunk with her friends and the cool things she got to try every day like biking, making s’mores, and arts and crafts. I couldn’t wait to start my own camp journey. Although I wouldn’t change a thing about my camp experience, if I could go back and tell my nine year old self a little about what’s to come – this is what I would say.
Dear nine year old me,
Right now, you’re sitting in the backseat of your parent’s minivan which is packed to the brim with your trunks full of color war tutus, stationary, and enough socks to last you a lifetime (but they won’t even last the summer). Your stomach is turning with the most emotions you have ever felt at once: excited to meet your new bunkmates and counselors, nervous to be leaving your parents and house for the first time, and anticipation to see the place that will become your home for the next seven weeks. These emotions are completely normal, and although you may feel overwhelmed, you will soon feel right at home.
After initially meeting your counselors, unpacking your trunks, and having your first camp meal it’s time to get to know your bunkmates. These are the girls who will soon be your best friends in the entire world. You will share everything and talk about growing old together and visiting camp summer after summer. Nothing can compare to the bond you have with the girls you spend your summers with and they will be there for you through absolutely everything.
With your new camp friends by your side, you will then begin a schedule full of activities and sports. TRY. EVERYTHING. Sign up for trips, join the intercamp sports leagues, and dance and sing your heart out at every chance you get. In the next two months, you will do things you never imagined yourself doing. You’ll try water skiing for the first time, you’ll be in the play, and you’ll dance and sing in front of the entire camp more times than you can count. Every unknown step and every chance you take will lead you to discover something new about yourself and the people around you.
Right now, it all might seem so new and scary and I know it’s hard to imagine yourself away from your parents for so long, but this is about to be the beginning of the most important and meaningful chapter of your life. Enjoy every minute and hold on to your friends as tight as possible. These summers will fly by and before you know it you’ll be wishing for just five more minutes in your summer home.
Sincerely,
Seventeen year old you
By: Julie Kaiden
Camp is under a month away (yes, you read that right!) and it’s time again to start thinking about the infamous “Last Meal”, or for some families, “the week of a thousand meals”.
Campers can be overwhelmed with the first day jitters, but are also anxious to reunite with camp friends and get back into the much deserved summer routines. Parents are getting emotional about separating with their kids, whether it’s for 2, 4 or 7 weeks – especially after all the time they have had together over the last year +. It certainly brings up all the feels as we watch our children experience a push into adulthood, far from home but embarking on the summer of their lives. They really do grow up fast!
Even though campers live 10-for-2 and love their camps, they also are obsessed with their favorite food from home. Indulge with your child one last time before they take off for the summer with their family meal and enjoy some more family time. Here are 3 easy steps to nailing your last family meal together:
The first step to pulling off the perfect “Last Meal” is crucial – picking the cuisine! What type of food will your camper miss the most while at camp? Is it Japanese? Italian? Mexican? A delish steak dinner? A home cooked meal? Although food at camps has improved greatly over the years from the mush to a bevy of options including salad, pasta, and the occasional lobster (Helllllllo Maine!) and steak, your camper still wants to say goodbye to home in style.
The next step is to pick the perfect setting. Besides the food, this meal is an opportunity for valuable family time before the kids leave. You want to make sure you have time to chat about the excitement that lies ahead – yet also feels like a festive, celebratory night. Does your child have a favorite restaurant in your town or city? Is there somewhere your child is aching to try? This year in particular, campers will be laying low before camp to reduce the risk of COVID-19 – so bringing in sounds like the best option if you are wanting the restaurant route. This gives you the controlled, comforting environment of being home – while still enjoying favorite foods from whichever restaurant your camper will be most excited about! This step can get a little tricky when you’re sending multiple kids off to camp. Be prepared for multiple lunches and / or dinners for some good QT and to satisfy the needs of each sibling. It would be wayyyyy too easy to just pick one place!
Editors note: Every year, we take our kids to their most favorite local restaurant for dinner – and it’s where we go for lunch when they return – but this year, keeping in mind staying careful before camp – we are opting to have our last supper at home. My kids don’t know this yet (so I hope they aren’t reading this. Just kidding. They aren’t!) but we are going to create a “restaurant” menu with all their favorite dishes in mini courses. Chez Kaiden, if you will!
The final step (drum roll pleaseeeeeeee!) is to relax. Let the night be about your child. What they are looking forward to. What they may be anxious about. And of course, what their first meal will be once they are back from camp. Keep the night light and positive and rest up – find your darkest sunnies for the next day – and let them fly. They got this!
By: Jessica Greif, Summer 365 Counselor located in Brooklyn, New York
Sleepaway camp has been a part of my life since 1986. I went from being the youngest camper in my bunk at age almost-8 to feeling like the oldest cabin counselor ever in the universe at age 25. And now, 35 years after beginning my camp journey, I have a new job title: that of camper mom. It’s a role in which I was initially cast leading up to Summer 2020, but with production put on hold for a year, I’ve spent the last 12 months rehearsing. Now that it’s May, we’ve begun gathering bits and pieces of gear in our guest room, in hopes that we can pack without last-minute stress. As I think about my own summer preparations over the years, and about shifting into this new phase of my relationship to camp, I can’t help think of my mother, who was–and is still–a master of labeling, Ziploc-bagging, and making sure her kids had what they needed. Looking ahead to our son’s first summer away, I am aware that there is one aspect of camper-momming for which I have unknowingly been in training since childhood – a set of guidelines that my mom laid out through her unflagging consistency as plainly as if she were writing a how-to manual, but in words that were inquisitive rather than instructive and playful rather than pushy. And so I give you, as best I can piece them together, the top 5 lessons I learned from my mother about writing to a kiddo at sleepaway camp:
The top 5 lessons I learned from my mother about writing to a kiddo at sleepaway camp:
1. Quantity Above All
My mom started writing to me each summer when I was still at home, and when I arrived at camp, there was invariably a letter–and sometimes several–waiting for me, narrating what we were up to during those last few days before I left. She wrote to me daily while I was away and I’m not sure I’ve ever told her how much it meant to me to be that girl who receives mail every darn day. I rarely struggled with homesickness during the majority of my camp career, and while that was due to many factors, such as keeping busy and being very happy at a just-right-for-me camp, I also think it had to do with never feeling as though the people I loved the most were very far away, because they appeared in our cabin mailbox daily.
2. No Need to Have Anything Specific to Say!
Most of my mom’s letters were about what she had done that day, whether it was laundry, errands, a haircut, a movie she and my dad had seen, or dinner with friends, and I ate it up as a reader. It simultaneously made me feel as if I were there with her, and also, if I’m honest, that I was lucky to be at camp, where it was way more fun than at home! Even when she traveled to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents and went on the bike rides I loved and ate at favorite restaurants, I never felt as though I were missing anything, because she brought me along with her.
3. Break Out Allll the Nicknames
I have a stash of letters from the summer of 1992, my last year as a camper before becoming a CIT, and in the ones I’ve been rereading from my mom, she greets me variously as: Jezel (twice), Jezel-Bezz, Jess-a-belle, Jess Greif, and just plain Jess. Some of these were familiar, while others I’d never heard before or since. The great thing about using silly nicknames in a letter is that you’re not embarrassing your kid in front of anyone, but it is guaranteed to make them smile, even if they would never admit it to you. A corollary to this is:
4. Have Fun with the Visuals
My mom is big into cards, and so almost everything she wrote me was on a greeting card, rather than on plain paper or stationery. I turned 14 the summer I received these letters and I can assure you, nothing she sent me was ever subject to the annoyance and eye-rolling I doled out so generously when we were together in person. This is a selection of the cards she sent that summer, and while that level of cutesy would no doubt have not been welcome in our live interactions, they positively hit the spot when I received them at camp. There is something about being away from home that, while making a young person worlds more independent, also strips kids down to their essential kid-ness and does away with the need to assert oneself as separate, because the circumstances have already taken care of it. So the top hat-clad duckies, the snuggling kittycats, and the rodents clutching heart-shaped balloons? Bring ‘em on. All of that and then some.
5. Settle on a Signature
I can’t say why this made a difference to me, but there was something comforting about how my mom would sign her letters. The most frequently used sign-off I can recall was Lots of love from Dad and me – Mom. The “Mom” went on the line below the rest of it and usually had a little swirl underneath. Something about the regularity of that goodbye and its variants was soothing to me and I came to count on its rhythm. I’ve compiled the sign-offs from the pile of cards I’ve been looking at, and they all have some version of the patented my-mom farewell. I haven’t decided how I’ll end my letters to my daughter this summer, but I’m thinking I might put the “Mom” part inside a heart – stay tuned.
And with that, I leave you to your letter-writing adventures that will—no matter what form they take–be perfect for your kid(s), because they will reflect your unique bond. There is no wrong way to go about letter-writing. We may be out of practice in this somewhat lost art–or even in writing by hand at all–after spending so many years in front of screens and keyboards, sending instant missives and expecting instant replies. Just as our kids are stepping away from what is easy and comfortable at home and immersing themselves in the slow, tangible delight of time spent at camp, I encourage us to do the same in our communications with them. Write early and write often, and your kids will know they’re on your mind and in your heart.
