Editor’s Note: The Middle Ground

Hangin’ with Nancy Redd at the New York Baby Show. Photo by Andrew Schwartz.

Many parent acquaintances, when they ask about my summer plans, seem to really enjoy confirming that, yes, both of my children go to sleepaway camp for much of the summer. They smile at me with a delight that feels conspiratorial, like we just exchanged a secret and successful parent handshake.

These exchanges are not infrequent, and there is an embarrassed and guilty part of me that wants to beg to differ: “It’s all about the kids, and how wonderfully independent they are becoming!” Or at least sheepishly demur: “I’ll miss them; I wish camp was a bit shorter.”

But, in truth, their absence, or at least the absence of hands-on parenting responsibility, sibling conflict, and ambient “noise” from TV shows and music that aren’t my own, adds up to the equivalent of a kind of vacation—one that I need and really enjoy.

And, yet, my wife and I are always among the last parents to leave their camp on drop-off day. We magically manage to take our time helping them to set up their bunks, getting their meds squared away at the infirmary, making sure we chat with camp leaders, counselors, parent acquaintances, whomever! Our children shoot us eye rolls and grimaces, but we still take our sweet time.

I have a college friend who volunteers at the camp for two weeks every summer as the camp doctor. I want that gig—I want to be a camp journalist! I love that my children are happy campers, but in an alternative universe I’d like to be present from afar, to see for myself how they’re getting on in life without us, at ages 15 and 11. This a pretty decent metaphor for the greater story in our lives right now, of course—figuring out the middle ground between pulling back and pulling away.

Are you ready for summer? If you have younger children than I, don’t listen to anything I just said, okay? Just read this issue! And if your kids are my kids’ ages, let’s stick to our conspiratorial smiles (even if we know the deeper truth).

Happy June, Folks!
Eric Messinger

Editor, [email protected]

Relevant Directory Listings

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New Country Day Camp

<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">Transportation is provided from Manhattan and Brooklyn to Staten Island’s 75-acre Henry Kaufmann Campground, where swimming pools, hiking trails, and open meadows set the scene for a summer of adventure and enrichment. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">New Country Day Camp, a program of the 14th Street Y and Educational Alliance, is a joyful and inclusive community where campers, families and staff build meaningful connections with each other and the natural world around them, and experience personal growth through high-quality programs that are rooted in the outdoors and guided by Jewish values.</span></p>

Fastrackids Summer STEAM Adventure

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" role="" data-sheets-value="{" data-sheets-userformat="{">Children will explore the weeks’ topic interact with our SmartBoard Learning Station, engage in role play, do arts and crafts, conduct experiments, improve their math and literacy skills and have lots of free play time with their friends! Read more and apply. Academic programs available too!</span></p>

Long Island Game Farm Wildlife Park & Children’s Zoo

<p dir="ltr">Long Island Game Farm Wildlife Park & Children’s Zoo presents programming for children and families of all ages, animal encounters, zookeeper experiences, VIP tours, season memberships, and much more! Camp Zoo introduces and immerses children in nature through outdoor exploration, games, crafts, and other educational hands-on activities. </p> <p dir="ltr">In partnership with their nonprofit arm, the Foundation for Wildlife Sustainability, the game farm also offers culture, education, and wellness programs to connect people with wildlife and the natural environment. </p> <p dir="ltr">A critical aspect of the game farm is serving as a sanctuary to animals that have been rescued, rehabilitated, or re-homed, including Sicilian miniature donkeys, alpacas, African Sulcatta tortoises, peacocks, rabbits, goats, sheep, alligators, and our beloved Gomez, a Sulphur-crested cockatoo, and Nala, an African Serval cat! </p> <p> </p>