I’m writing this note on a gorgeous Friday morning in mid-July, when the humidity itself appears to have gone on vacation for a few days. My wife and I are set to travel to the Berkshires this weekend for visiting day at our children’s sleepaway camp. My children are now 15 and 11, and this is the second summer that both of them have been at sleepaway camp for a stretch of seven weeks. Parents who haven’t had this experience always seem to ask me, with a palpable look of lust, if being apart from them for so long is the heavenly gift it would seem—and I’ll cop to liking it a lot. As much as I like being a parent, it’s remarkably restful to not have to actively parent for a stretch, nor have to actively worry about them.
And then there’s visiting day, which is a wonderful experience all its own—a mash-up of hugs and enthusiasm and curiosity that, within its limited time frame, doesn’t detour all that much into the uglier flashpoints of family life. There will be plenty of time for that in the fall.
The big question, which most of us treat with a sense of humor as long as it doesn’t drag out, is how long will my wife and I insist that our children actually talk to us before we hand over their cell phones and allow them to devour all the social media that they’ve been without for three and a half weeks.
Whether you are with or without your children, our August issue will hopefully have few articles that you enjoy, or value, or both. I recommend that you start with our cover interview with New York City’s own Dascha Polanco, who was ready to give up on acting just before she landed the role of her life on “Orange is the New Black”—and make sure to check out our bucket list for end of summer fun, which has all sorts of inspiration. Finally, if you’re in school admissions mode, we’ve got you covered as well.
Happy August!
Eric Messinger
Editor, [email protected]
