In Search of the Perfect Summer Camp

Last summer, my daughter attended her first “sleep away” camp for a week, and she loved it. This year, after intensive lobbying on her part to NOT go to summer school for the first time in 5 years, I’m looking at additional camp options and wow – camping sure has changed!

My daughter’s  summer camp last year was a terrific YMCA facility just east of Virginia Beach on the Virginia Tidewater – about a 3.5 hour drive from where we live – and it had pretty much everything:  water sports, pools,  large playgrounds for team athletics, hiking.  The cabins were roomy and very clean with significant distance separating boys’ cabins from the girls’ quarters.  Enthusiastic, fresh-faced teenaged camp counselors rounded out this typical camp experience.

Unfortunately, my daughter doesn’t want to attend that camp for more than a week this year – so I have to find other camps that might provide the right kind of “growth” experience for a 13-year-old girl.

A colleague of mine came to the rescue with suggestions…and now I want to go to camp!

There are really wonderful adventure and leadership camps that feature domestic and international travel in small groups – some focused on physical fitness, other programs focused on community service, still others focused on language emersion, history or writing.  And even though they cost roughly what my annual college tuition did in 1975, I suspect they are worth every penny.  Who wouldn’t want to attend Spanish Middle School  -- in Spain! -- or take a 2-week bike trip on Cape Cod and surrounding islands like Nantucket.  Or  participate in a community service project in Taos and Santa Fe in New Mexico.

Cool.  What wonderful memories to be made!  What interesting new friendships to be had!

I figured my daughter would be excited by these kinds of “camping” opportunities to be considered – not the least of them being a solid 2-3 weeks away from her parents while being part of a team of teens experiencing new things together.  Boy, was I wrong.

“Mom, I hate bike riding.  And I don't want to go to camp to learn Spanish.  You can’t make me go to a camp I don’t want to go to.  I don’t want you to sign me up for anything yet.”

I frowned, and my husband chimed in, “She has a test tomorrow." (I know, because I read the first 6 chapters of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer  -- which I actually enjoyed re-reading -- to get her ready for it!)  "Can’t we stay focused on that?  We have a lot of time yet before we have to worry about camp” – not true, actually -- “and when’s dinner?”

Deflated, I reassured my daughter that I wouldn’t consider booking a camp stay without her advice and consent.  Certainly, this makes the challenge of filling up 10 weeks of summer vacation with activities fairly significant.

Maybe I’ll go to Costa Rica and get a little community service time under my belt – that is, when I’m not drinking Strawberry Daquiris and getting a little sun after a lovely swim in the Pacific Ocean.  Maybe I should just let my husband and daughter figure out this summer thing on their own.

Maybe I should…try again, tomorrow.