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Written by Julie Freedman Smith
Over the past twenty years watching parents make decisions about sending kids to camp, one thing remains true. Parents fall into one of two camps (pun intended): those who feel guilty about sending their kids to camp, and those who feel guilty for not sending their kids to camp! If you’re feeling guilty about sending your little ones to camp this year, here are five reasons why sending kids to camp is good for you, too:
- Camp means a little time for yourself. Whether you head to your regular day job or get other things done, you have a dedicated time to do what you need to do without entertaining the kids or worrying about what they’re doing on their own.
- Camp creates time to reconnect. When your child is at camp it allows you to reconnect with those friends you never get to see. This is also an excellent opportunity to grab lunch with your friend who has kids that do not play nicely with your kids (we all have a friend like that, right?).
- Camp decreases screen time guilt. While I’m not saying that a parent should feel guilty about screen time, I do know that many parents struggle with creating screen-free time in their child’s summer days. Camp is one way for that to happen without it landing on your shoulders. Leave the screens at home and drop the kids at camp.
- Camp helps you teach your child courage and independence. Let’s face it, there are kids who love camp and jump out of bed, ready to go. There are kids who will stay or go, and it's no big deal. Then there are the kids who really don’t want to do that new thing in that new place. It’s hard and scary and it would be much easier on everyone to keep them at home. Courage is built by feeling fear and finding the strength to do it anyway. One benefit of working through the fear of heading to camp is the gift of courage. Finding strategies to face the scary things, planning how it will happen, and following through are all steps that will stick with your child and build their ability to find courage in the future to move slightly more independently. You’ll notice that I didn’t say ignoring fear, but ‘feeling the fear.’ Ignoring emotions or wishing them away will not help your child. In fact, when we deny our kids’ feelings, they tend to express feelings more loudly and dramatically. If your child is feeling nervous, cautious, or scared about going to do this new thing, acknowledge the feeling, “I hear you. Your body is feeling nervous about this camp. That’s a pretty normal feeling. It’s okay to feel that and to let that feeling out – you can cry or write about it. You can draw it. I can hold you or leave you to feel it on your own, whatever feels right to you.” Once they’ve had a chance to let the feeling out, they’ll need your help to build a plan for how to find the strength to ‘do it anyway.’ This can come from knowing that they’re not alone, that they’ve got others on their side, supporting them with strategies and a belief in their abilities. Can they take a rock in their pocket to remind them of the family while they are at camp? What will they do if they need help at camp? Practice some scenarios of asking a counselor for help. Make it clear exactly when you’ll be picking them up. Start small. If they are nervous about camp, start with a half-day adventure and then work up to a full day. Every step forward gives them a belief that they can withstand the difficult feelings and find the positives.
- Being away at camp means enjoying time when we’re together again. As good as camp feels for parents and kids, there is something wonderful about coming back together at the end of the day, week, or month and hearing the stories of time away. Absence does make the heart grow fonder and when we come together after time apart, there are those few honeymoon hours which feel great. They won’t last long, so cherish them while you can.
Author, blogger, podcast host, and parenting expert, Julie Freedman Smith has been supporting parents across North America for 20 years. Through her company JFS Parent Education, she helps parents find relief from their everyday parenting challenges. Want to know how she can help you? Email her today: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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