Overnight Camp - Part 2

In Overnight Camp - Part 1, I discussed some uber-early organization you can do for overnight camp, not counting the mental preparation involved in sending your kid away for a week and gearing yourself up to stay awake late and press refresh on the pics page until the day's photos are posted and you can thumb through each one, hoping to catch a glimpse of Junior, even if it's just, "I think I recognize his shorts from behind, that's a good sign, right?  HONEY, COME LOOK!  HE'S WEARING CLOTHES!"

In this Part, I'd like to take on the actual Drop-off Day apparatus.

I mentioned that the facilities at most overnight camps are very bare bones.  A cabinet, a shelf, a bunk bed,  a subtle sense that crawling bugs were around not too long ago and would return shortly.

Over the years, I've gathered some bits and bobs that make drop off easier.  Full disclosure: despite the fact that I can get DS set up and abandoned in about 10 minutes, we never, ever get all of his stuff back and often in the camp photos, he is wearing the same damn shirt 3-5 days in a row.  But here are the bits in bobs anyway, in order of relative usefulness.  YMMV.

Accessories

Label your name in sharpie on all of these if you can.

• Electric clip-on fan
• Electric clip-on light
• Surge protected power strip with a decently long cord, at least 4-6 feet.  Most of these camps have outlets, but not always right next to the bed your beloved has chosen, especially if they're in a top bunk.
• Laundry bag with a handle or hanging peg.  Ours is mesh but I also like this one.  Whatever you pick, I would urge you to select one that can be soaked in Chlorox and holy water post-camp, because you don't want to be the parent who bred germ-warfare level bacteria in your attic while your camping kit simmered in storage.
• Large beach towel clips.  In principle, once these are clipped on the bed, they can act as towel/swimsuit/jacket hooks because there is nowhere else your child can hang things, but in practice, you will probably find their towels huddled in a scared, sopping, sobbing pile next to the community toilet when you come to collect them.
• A variety of carabiners.  I have so many carabiners at my house that it might raise suspicions of some personal marital proclivities.  But I use them ALL THE TIME for travel and for camp.  I like these locking ones mixed with regular ones.   The locking ones stay on the handles of the boys' bags and then they are used to clip things that shouldn't come off like these glasses and retainer cases (the plastic case goes in the zipped case and I use the locking carabiner in place of the flimsy one, because the plastic case, when attached to a bag, will just pop open willy nilly and you will be on the hook for a $300 replacement retainer four weeks after you got the first one ASK ME HOW I KNOW.)

Storage

If you know me well, you know that I have a variety of storage options in my attic.  So I'm not recommending that you run out and buy all of these kinds of storage, but I do find that if I bring a few options to Drop-off Day, the extra flexibility makes setting up a cinch.  Again, these will be in order of the the things we use most to the things for which we may not make as much use.

• Undershelf baskets.  We use the little one in the camp cubby and then we can hook laundry clips to it as needed.  If DS is on a bottom bunk, we also thwack one on the slats above his head to use as a bookshelf or to hold the stationery that he never freaking uses to write us, not once.  Side note: we also use the laundry clips when travelling to keep blackout curtains closed and to hang up wet swimsuits.
• Milk crates.  By far the most useful and economic camp storage collection we have is a few milk crates and a handful of fabric cube bins.  Occasionally they will fit into the cubbies, but they're mostly handiest at the end of the bed for setting up ad hoc shelving or bedside tables.
• Modular storage.  Now we're getting to the area where people go, "WTF is wrong with you, who HAS this stuff lying around?!"  I DO, OK?!   This Like-it line has a series of open bins and modular drawers that stack together, and I have a variety of widths so I can whip up a configuration of cases no matter what the cubby situation is at camp.  When it's not camp, my kids use these in their closets for their sports kits.
• Bunk bed organizer.
• Bunk bed shelf.  I CANNOT find the one we bought for DS1 years ago, but it was in the Target dorm sale.  Here's one kind of like it, but I've not used it.  Note that the camp will want you to install this INSIDE your camper's bed, they do not like sharp edges pointing outwards.  It's kind of weird, if you think about it.  Horse-riding, lake-swimming, precipice-climbing?  ALL GOOD.  Walking to the toilet at night?  PADDED CORNERS, PEOPLE.
• Mesh shower caddy.  Preferably one that stands upright and has a handle so you can hook it to the bunk bed or to the cabinet in the bathroom.  Whatever you get, make sure it has drainage holes.

This is not my finest example, but it WAS for two kids and I was out of that cabin in 12 minutes.

Suitcase

We use the Eagle Creek No Matter What line of luggage, we have an XL wheeled duffel and a smaller duffel.  These fold up to be TINY and can be stashed under the bed or in a corner.   I know a lot of people use the rolling footlockers, but I like to spread DS's stuff out, in the event that it will make it more likely that he will wear more than one shirt over the course of a week.

Schlepping

Although DH can haul all of the bags around like an Estonian pulling a monster truck for a strength competition, I do prefer to bring a folding wagon so that we can mosey along and one of us (not naming names) doesn't end up looking like a Baltic cherry tomato by the time we get to the cabin.

In conclusion

I see a lot of setups at camps.  I have frightened more than one counselor with my... umm.. "preparation."  And the parents who don't have this detritus?  Their kids have just as much fun as my camper, probably more.  But it makes me feel calmer leaving DS with as much of mom as I can when I'm not around, but having said that I'm pretty sure if I dropped DS off with a paper bag full of underpants and a pat on the head, he'd be happy as Larry.  So, take this all with a grain of salt and enjoy your break!