DS1 (now ten) first went to overnight camp when he was six. He was always a little mature and/or socially oblivious so he didn't seem to mind that he'd be wee man on campus.
I diligently compiled a spreadsheet (Quelle surprise!) based on the packing list that the camp provided, but when we showed up, I was annoyed at myself for not brainstorming accouterments that would make the drop and dash a little less chaotic. The "cubbies" that the camp provided were literally just cabinets with no doors, no shelves, and two small hooks.
The DS1 is a lot of things, but he's not a kid who would be able to keep his bits and bobs organized for 24 hours, much less an entire week. He's like an anti-Marine. At six years old, he could recite all sorts of mathematical constants, but he would not be tell you if he had on underpants AT THIS VERY SECOND, much less if there were spare pairs running around. As an extremely free range parent with an absent-minded professor kid, I've resigned myself to his losing 8-12% of anything on any given day. Like how big box stores have an accepted shrinkage rate, but instead of expensive razors walking away, I expect that there are a certain number of underpants that are never going to make their way home. Undergarment orphans, doomed to journey an unsanitary and endless world of lost of found.
But I digress.
DS1 has now gone to three different overnight camps six weeks in the last four summers, so I am a lot more seasoned with what works with various cabin configurations and also with how I can prepare far in advance.
Did your child have a growth spurt and you bought a new round of shorts into which he or she can grow, but the old shorts * just * about fit still? Throw those soon-to-be short shorts into the scrap bin.
Same with shirts with a spot or two of grease or indelible stains that render them not-appropriate for general public consumption. Scrap bin those suckers. Socks where a toe may be about to break free? Bin.
Why? You don't want to send nice things to camp. 1) Your precious is going to lose stuff and 2) camp is GROSS; even if your kid is a pint-sized picture of diligence, a week's worth of sweat, humidity, post-lake dampness, and pre-pubescent odoriferousness is inevitably going to corrupt those clothes.
Once I went to pick DS1 up from a Renaissance-themed camp that REALLY went in for authenticity and had only dim lanterns lighting the sleeping tents. I reached under his bed to retrieve his clothes and they were covered in something... fuzzy and biological. I was used to the mushroom fungus funk of summer camps past, but this was a whole new level of disturbing. I recoiled violently and ran into the warm Texas sunshine, leaving DH and my two sons to gather the rest of DS1's things.
So... scrap bin.
And if your child goes to more than one sleepaway camp, this scrap bin can be converted into the packing receptacle. As soon as kit is washed (sanitized? exorcised?) from the first camp, dump it all back in the scrap bin, ready for round two or three or ten.
For one of my milestone birthdays, DH got me a posh Brother label maker. This machine will accept iron-on tape as one of the materials on which it can print. So in the early days, I dutifully printed out seven million tiny labels with our last name and generic email address, I loaded up a few episodes of Jane the Virgin, and I ironed for-freaking-ever, tagging underpants, shorts, swimsuits, and shirts, losing some of my humanity along the way.
I did try other options (tag mates, scotch tags where you could write in permanent marker, a stamp ordered from overseas), and then. AND THEN. Mabel's Labels came up with a clothing stamp that actually WORKS. Even on rash guards and swim suits. So now I use iron-on labels for dark colored clothing and this stamp for everything else.
I keep a small tote bag of things I might need the day of drop off, and I throw painters tape and Sharpies with two nib sizes into the tote in case I need to suddenly label something I've forgotten.
The final label I want to discuss is the camp care package label. I try to order the care packages far in advance so I can wrap them in plain paper bags or newspaper. DS1 normally gets two small packages per day: one to share with his cabinmates (like Ring Pops, you're welcome, camp counselors!) and one that is just for him (like a book or a reminder to try to locate his underpants). Then, because I won't always know in which cabin DS1 will be placed, once we get his assignment at drop off, we can scribble the cabin name on the blank line and deliver the packages to the camp's postal point on our way home. I tend to use Avery circle labels, I don't know why. I think I just had spare the first time I went to do this project and it turned into habit.
This blog post has turned really flipping long, so let me leave you here. There will be a Part Two, hopefully in the next day or two, depending one how long I can bribe my children to give me some peace.
I diligently compiled a spreadsheet (Quelle surprise!) based on the packing list that the camp provided, but when we showed up, I was annoyed at myself for not brainstorming accouterments that would make the drop and dash a little less chaotic. The "cubbies" that the camp provided were literally just cabinets with no doors, no shelves, and two small hooks.
The DS1 is a lot of things, but he's not a kid who would be able to keep his bits and bobs organized for 24 hours, much less an entire week. He's like an anti-Marine. At six years old, he could recite all sorts of mathematical constants, but he would not be tell you if he had on underpants AT THIS VERY SECOND, much less if there were spare pairs running around. As an extremely free range parent with an absent-minded professor kid, I've resigned myself to his losing 8-12% of anything on any given day. Like how big box stores have an accepted shrinkage rate, but instead of expensive razors walking away, I expect that there are a certain number of underpants that are never going to make their way home. Undergarment orphans, doomed to journey an unsanitary and endless world of lost of found.
But I digress.
DS1 has now gone to three different overnight camps six weeks in the last four summers, so I am a lot more seasoned with what works with various cabin configurations and also with how I can prepare far in advance.
Scrap Bin
The few warm months pre-camp, I set up a scrap bin.Did your child have a growth spurt and you bought a new round of shorts into which he or she can grow, but the old shorts * just * about fit still? Throw those soon-to-be short shorts into the scrap bin.
Same with shirts with a spot or two of grease or indelible stains that render them not-appropriate for general public consumption. Scrap bin those suckers. Socks where a toe may be about to break free? Bin.
Why? You don't want to send nice things to camp. 1) Your precious is going to lose stuff and 2) camp is GROSS; even if your kid is a pint-sized picture of diligence, a week's worth of sweat, humidity, post-lake dampness, and pre-pubescent odoriferousness is inevitably going to corrupt those clothes.
Once I went to pick DS1 up from a Renaissance-themed camp that REALLY went in for authenticity and had only dim lanterns lighting the sleeping tents. I reached under his bed to retrieve his clothes and they were covered in something... fuzzy and biological. I was used to the mushroom fungus funk of summer camps past, but this was a whole new level of disturbing. I recoiled violently and ran into the warm Texas sunshine, leaving DH and my two sons to gather the rest of DS1's things.
So... scrap bin.
And if your child goes to more than one sleepaway camp, this scrap bin can be converted into the packing receptacle. As soon as kit is washed (sanitized? exorcised?) from the first camp, dump it all back in the scrap bin, ready for round two or three or ten.
Labels
I really feel like I could write an entire blog post on labels alone, but let me focus on clothing labels.For one of my milestone birthdays, DH got me a posh Brother label maker. This machine will accept iron-on tape as one of the materials on which it can print. So in the early days, I dutifully printed out seven million tiny labels with our last name and generic email address, I loaded up a few episodes of Jane the Virgin, and I ironed for-freaking-ever, tagging underpants, shorts, swimsuits, and shirts, losing some of my humanity along the way.
I did try other options (tag mates, scotch tags where you could write in permanent marker, a stamp ordered from overseas), and then. AND THEN. Mabel's Labels came up with a clothing stamp that actually WORKS. Even on rash guards and swim suits. So now I use iron-on labels for dark colored clothing and this stamp for everything else.
I keep a small tote bag of things I might need the day of drop off, and I throw painters tape and Sharpies with two nib sizes into the tote in case I need to suddenly label something I've forgotten.
The final label I want to discuss is the camp care package label. I try to order the care packages far in advance so I can wrap them in plain paper bags or newspaper. DS1 normally gets two small packages per day: one to share with his cabinmates (like Ring Pops, you're welcome, camp counselors!) and one that is just for him (like a book or a reminder to try to locate his underpants). Then, because I won't always know in which cabin DS1 will be placed, once we get his assignment at drop off, we can scribble the cabin name on the blank line and deliver the packages to the camp's postal point on our way home. I tend to use Avery circle labels, I don't know why. I think I just had spare the first time I went to do this project and it turned into habit.
This blog post has turned really flipping long, so let me leave you here. There will be a Part Two, hopefully in the next day or two, depending one how long I can bribe my children to give me some peace.
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