These Are the 14 Things Your Child's Counselor Wants You to Know Before Camp Starts

I spent 12 years of my life attending and working at a sleep-away camp, and I can promise you, a Summer spent making new friends completely removed from civilization is the best thing your child will ever experience. Being a counselor, however, isn't always all fun and games. The job is a huge responsibility — you have to keep another person's child alive and happy all Summer long — and unfortunately, the one thing that never fails to make things even harder is, sadly, the parents sitting back at home.

It's a huge deal to drop off a child — your entire world — in the middle of the woods for eight weeks, and the counselors totally get that. So if you're a parent getting ready to drop off your children at camp in a few weeks, here are 14 things that their counselors want you to know to help prepare you for the Summer.

01
Tell your child’s counselor about your kid — they really want to know everything.
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Tell your child’s counselor about your kid — they really want to know everything.

Counselors live for camp and for the eight weeks they get to spend with your awesome kid. When you drop off your child, a letter or verbal conversation sharing a bit about your kid and what they're into is so helpful. Counselors want your children to get the most they can out of camp, so knowing a bit about them before camp starts can go a long way.

02
Don’t request for your kid to bunk with their friends.
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Don’t request for your kid to bunk with their friends.

If your child is going to camp with a group of friends, having them all bunk together could actually make camp less of an experience — they'll stick to each other, do all of the same activities (even if one really wanted to do something else), and overall miss out on making other friends and being more independent. This won't be the case for every kid, but it's a bummer when it happens.

If you're sending the kids in a large group, try to request them to bunk in pairs, just to break things up a bit — and please, don't throw a fit if your kid ends up on his own with all new friends, because he is still going to have the best time.

03
Don’t tell your child that you’ll pick them up if they’re homesick.
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Don’t tell your child that you’ll pick them up if they’re homesick.

You're sending your child to camp to get the ultimate childhood experience — don't make it hard for them to enjoy their Summer by essentially giving them an out. If your child is the least bit homesick — and you've told them that they could leave upon having those feelings — leaving is going to be the first thing they want to do. Encourage your child to have fun, make friends, and learn new things. If you're really that concerned about them being too homesick, maybe they're not ready for sleepaway camp.

(Conversely, if you're the one that's worried about missing your child too much, try not to project those feelings on an otherwise excited child.)

04
On that note, don’t mention too much about home life and missing them in your letters unless you know they can handle it.
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On that note, don’t mention too much about home life and missing them in your letters unless you know they can handle it.

I was the type of kid to run from my mom's clutching embrace as soon as we reached the camp office every Summer, but not every kid is that way. Most children will adapt to camp and eventually stop thinking about home at all, but if you're writing to them about what they're missing on at home, that's not cool. Don't give them the chance to feel like they're missing out (because with all due respect, camp is probably ten times better than whatever the neighborhood kids are getting up to back home).

05
Most counselors may still seem like kids themselves, but they care about your kids and are going to take care of them.
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Most counselors may still seem like kids themselves, but they care about your kids and are going to take care of them.

It's easy to feel, well, uneasy when it comes to leaving your precious child in the hands of an 18-year-old kid, but those teenagers care about your kid and have been well-trained to handle their job responsibilities. Most likely they were a kid at camp themselves at one point, which means they're even more well-versed in life at camp. Your kids are going to be OK, they're going to have fun, and their counselors promise: they'll make them shower and reapply sunscreen.

06
That being said, accidents happen.
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That being said, accidents happen.

There's nothing worse than having to make a phone call home to a camper's parents to inform them of a sprained ankle from the adventure course, a bump on the head from tripping over a tree root, or worse, an outbreak of pinkeye in one of the cabins. If something is seriously wrong, the camp is obligated to call, but if your child happens to write to you about throwing up because he ate too many hot dogs, please don't blame his counselor for "letting it happen." It's all a part of the experience.

07
Your kid is going to be filthy all the time — for the love of god, please don’t send them with nice clothes.
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Your kid is going to be filthy all the time — for the love of god, please don’t send them with nice clothes.

My mom would pack me up for camp with all of the stained clothes I wore all school year, and maybe a cheap pack of t-shirts that she knew would go straight into the garbage when I got home. Unless you're sending your kid to an air-conditioned computer camp as far away from wooded areas as possible, they are going to likely stain or ruin every article of clothing you send them with (and their trunk is going to have a layer of dirt caked into the bottom). Save the new wardrobe for back to school.

08
And while you’re at it, label everything they own if you care about getting any of it back.
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And while you’re at it, label everything they own if you care about getting any of it back.

Some parents literally couldn't care less about what actually makes it back home after camp — remember, everything is going to be filthy anyway. But if you send your child with plush towels or a handheld fan that you really want back, play it safe and label everything. The worst thing a counselor can go through is listening to two parents go at it about which blue sleeping bag belongs to their kid — especially when they're blaming the counselor for allowing the kids' things get mixed up.

Disclaimer: things will still get lost, but your efforts will be appreciated nonetheless.

09
Don’t try to protect your child from activities that you think may be out of their comfort zone.
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Don’t try to protect your child from activities that you think may be out of their comfort zone.

If you go up to your child's counselor on day one and tell them you know your child is not ready for a ride down a zip-line, so please allow them to opt out of it (a zip-line, by the way, is a true camp rite-of-passage), you're already doing your child a disservice in their counselor's eyes. When you pick up your child eight weeks later, they're probably going to tell you that the activity you thought they "weren't ready for" was their favorite thing all Summer — your child deserves to achieve whatever they put their minds to, so let them.

10
Counselors don’t get paid a lot — they work at camp because they love it — but tips don't hurt.
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Counselors don’t get paid a lot — they work at camp because they love it — but tips don't hurt.

If being a camp counselor paid a ton, more people would do it. The counselors that are there are doing it because they love camp, singing songs in crazy costumes, and most of all, becoming friends with your talented, funny, multifaceted kids. If your camp allows it, throw them a small tip when you pick your little monster up at the end of August to make Christmas come early. Going the extra Jackson — erm, mile — to show you are grateful to them for keeping your kid happy and alive all Summer will be appreciated (and remembered next year).

If your camp doesn't allow tips, a simple thank you really does go the longest of ways.

11
Follow the camp’s instructions for staying informed.
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Follow the camp’s instructions for staying informed.

Please, please, do not call the camp office every day to find out what's going on with your child. There are a ton of kids running around, and every one of them belonging to a concerned parent. We don't have time to give you the rundown of your child's day every night before bedtime, and no, you most certainly cannot speak to them "just because."

We can, however, give you the same general information as all the other parents through the camp's website, social media, photo sites, and newsletters. Every camp is different, so find out what yours offers in the ways of information before you drop your child off.

12
And while you’re at it, follow guidelines for electronics and cell phones.
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And while you’re at it, follow guidelines for electronics and cell phones.

When I was a kid, cell phones weren't a thing that children owned, but it was frowned upon to bring Walkmans, handheld games, and other electronics for two reasons. First, anything you allow your child to bring — whether they're smuggling it in to use after lights out or if it's allowed — can get lost, stolen, or damaged. And perhaps more importantly, these devices cause your kids to miss out on other cabin activities and bonding opportunities.

13
We’re going to watch your child open a care package.
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We’re going to watch your child open a care package.

If you try to smuggle food or other contraband in through a care package, we're going to find out about it, and your kid's probably going to get mad at us for taking it away. Don't make us the bad guys — send activities that your child can do with their friends (like Mad Libs or trivia games), books, socks, or other fun, camp-legal items.

14
Camp is going to change your kid — don’t freak out, this is great.
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Camp is going to change your kid — don’t freak out, this is great.

OK, so they're not going to come back a completely different child, but spending eight weeks in the woods exploring nature and singing campfire songs with new friends changes a kid. They are going to want talk about their adventures nonstop (which may include activities you would have never pictured them doing) and they might even have a whole slew of new interests that they want to continue to pursue outside of camp.

As a past childhood camper, I promise you, this is a great thing. Camp is supposed to change your life, and these experiences — and the people they're shared with — help to shape your child for the better.