{"id":1258,"date":"2013-05-08T14:09:15","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T18:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.positivelyparenting.com\/?p=1258"},"modified":"2015-12-04T12:48:53","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T17:48:53","slug":"getting-the-parent-ready-for-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/parenting\/getting-the-parent-ready-for-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting the PARENT ready for camp!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-12 columns entry-content__output non-vc-entry\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovery.com\/.a\/6a00d8341bf67c53ef017615ad1532970c-pi\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 0px;\" title=\"Cute-kids-320x240\" alt=\"Cute-kids-320x240\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovery.com\/.a\/6a00d8341bf67c53ef017615ad1532970c-800wi\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nWell, the summer has arrived.\u00a0 Your sweet baby, your little one (now maybe nine, ten, or eleven years old) is heading off to his first sleep-away camp, and while you know he or she is ready, you are feeling nervous.\u00a0 Maybe even downright worried.\u00a0\u00a0 The questions swirl:\u00a0 Will she stay safe?\u00a0 Will he reapply his sunblock?\u00a0 Will she make friends?\u00a0 Will he ask for help if he needs it?\u00a0 Will he or she miss me?\u00a0 And even worse, what if they don\u2019t?<\/p>\n<p>To help your child get off to camp on a positive note, I have a compiled a quick Do\u2019s and Don\u2019ts list!<\/p>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tell your child you will come get him from camp if he is sad and misses home.\u00a0 Dr. Michael Thompson, author of\u00a0<em>Raising Cain<\/em>, and his newest book,\u00a0<em>Homesick and Happy<\/em>, maintains that when we say that to our children, we are eroding their belief that they can cope.\u00a0 We are also sending a message that the camp cannot handle it.\u00a0 We are hurting their efforts before they even try, not what we want to do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>INSTEAD, DO:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tell your child that you believe in them.\u00a0 Make a list of the different things that your child can do if he or she is feeling lonely and homesick.\u00a0 For instance, write a letter home, keep a journal, make a piece of art, talk to a counselor, find a friend, etc.\u00a0 Let them know that it is normal and okay to feel homesick, and lots of other campers feel the same way.\u00a0 The whole camp is ready to help you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Try to over-monitor your children.\u00a0 Don\u2019t ask them to jump into photos for the camp\u2019s website, sneak them a cell phone, ask to write you everyday, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>INSTEAD, DO:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Expect to hear very little from your children.\u00a0 A happy camper is a child who becomes immersed in the camping community and therefore, has amazing and new experiences.\u00a0 You child is too busy and happy to be thinking about you, and this is a good thing.\u00a0 Know you have done your job, as a parent, when your child can fully enjoy something like sleep-away camp!<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Think they are going away for too long of a time.\u00a0 The experts recommend\u00a0<em>at least two weeks\u00a0<\/em>for sleep away camp, four weeks is even better!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>INSTEAD, DO:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Acknowledge that, yes, it feels long to you and it is okay for you to miss your children!\u00a0 BUT, most children over nine years of age\u00a0<em>need<\/em>\u00a0to be at a camp for at least two weeks to receive the full benefit of the community spirit.\u00a0 Four weeks is really not too long!<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>DON\u2019T:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Think that the sports\/ballet\/math camp is going to yield any great results\u00a0<em>unless\u00a0<\/em>your child is really excited to go.\u00a0 If your child begged to go to cheerleading camp, then great, but if this was your idea\u2026don\u2019t expect much return, in terms of skill-building.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>INSTEAD, DO:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Simply ask if they had a great time, made friends, etc.\u00a0 Don\u2019t check their skills; just let the experience be their own.\u00a0 And make note for next summer: if your child did not appear to be enthusiastic about her skills camp, you may want to rethink your choices for camp next summer!<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Excellent Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.acacamps.org\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>http:\/\/www.acacamps.org\/<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tipsontripsandcamps.com\/\" target=\"_self\">http:\/\/www.tipsontripsandcamps.com\/<\/a><\/strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tipsontripsandcamps.com\/\" target=\"_self\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.michaelthompson-phd.com\/\" target=\"_self\">http:\/\/www.michaelthompson-phd.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, the summer has arrived.\u00a0 Your sweet baby, your little one (now maybe nine, ten, or eleven years old) is heading off to his first sleep-away camp, and while you know he or she is ready, you are feeling nervous.\u00a0 Maybe even downright worried.\u00a0\u00a0 The questions swirl:\u00a0 Will she stay safe?\u00a0 Will he reapply his sunblock?\u00a0 Will she make friends?\u00a0 [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Getting the PARENT ready for camp! - Meghan Leahy Parent Coach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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