PLEASE NOTE: The city’s biggest Camp Fairs are coming up on Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, in Manhattan. For families with children ages 3 to teen, the Camp Fairs are free, child-friendly, and feature both Day Camps (in and around the city) and Sleepaway Camps (all over the Northeast). CLICK HERE for details and to register.
My daughter, who will be 15 in May, is almost four years older than my son. One of the always-interesting aspects of parenting them is seeing how my son’s reaction to a new experience compares to my daughter’s when she was his age. For example, when he was a toddler, I eagerly looked forward to reading him the bedtime classic, Guess How Much I Love You, because my daughter and I read it all the time (and each time was just right).
“But Adam, it’s…wonderful.”
“I don’t like it.”
A child’s taste in board books is one thing. How he feels about summer camp is much more impactful. For a few years now my wife and I have been speculating on whether he’d take to sleepaway camp—and Camp Crane Lake in particular—with the passion and joy that Elena did. Adam was the child who kept up regular visits to our bed at night well into grade school, and we thought that he might not even want to try sleepaway at the same age Elena did (the summer after grade 3). But to our surprise early last year he declared his intent to go even before we raised the subject. I must tell you, once he said it, I realized that I kind of didn’t really want to let go, but I did.
The result? Apparently, he had his homesick bouts like most first-timers, but, lo and behold, within three weeks Crane Lake had worked its magic and had another convert.
I share this because I want you to know that, as a parent, I’ve shuffled my kids through a variety of day camps in the city, day camps out of the city, and now sleepaway camp. I don’t view that sequence, however common, as a natural or necessary progression, but I do think that camp can be one of the great gifts a parent can give a child if the child is in agreement. And the mission of our annual camp guide (as well as our Camp Fairs–click HERE for more info) is simply to help parents identify camps that are good matches for their children, whether you’re looking for day, sleepaway, or a summer of both. To do that, we offer articles on researching camps as well as articles on what makes the camp experience special.
As you read the issue with your own goals in mind, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to enjoy the most personal story in the issue: Our roundup of camp directors reminiscing about some of their favorite summer traditions. Good camp directors are everyday heroes—you can hear it in their words. Let their passion inspire you to find the right camp for your child.
Eric Messinger is the editor of New York Family. He can be reached at [email protected].
