<p>From my 14 yo son who is at a church camp in South Dakota (He REALLY didn’t want to go to this camp. You have to know that this kid is an excellent writer who can use highly descriptive complex sentences–when he wants to. The eye-rolling behind the 3rd grade sentences is what makes it so funny.)</p>
<p>Dear Mom and Dad,
I went fishing. I went hiking. I am carving a sword. My clothes smell bad. It rained the first 5 days of camp. Archery is the most fun thing to do here. The food is good. Mosquitoes are everywhere. We saw buffalo and wild donkeys in the road. We sometimes play capture the flag. They make us write these letters. (Brother’s) Leatherman is dull. Only 7 days left.
Son</p>
<p>Too cute. When ds1 went on a college visit last fall, he called because “they told us if we haven’t called since we got to campus, we should.” He hadn’t, so he did. Thankfully, he was having a wonderful time.</p>
<p>Tomorrow is the last day of camp. I can’t wait to hear the stories. Memories to last a lifetime–even if they are bad memories. The worst thing was probably withdrawal from computer games, ipod, cell phone, etc. which were not allowed at the camp.</p>
<p>My oldest son went to this camp years ago.
He got really sick, (when H picked him up, the director said, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here–we were just about to take him to the hospital. . .”) He hated the food, which he said was filled with onions at every meal, (I am really surprised younger kid said the food is “good”)–and he had a crazy tent-mate who sleepwalked and peed on him one night. . .</p>
<p>Oh, and he carved a wooden sword, too. Knowing S#3 (S#2 somehow escaped going to this camp), I bet his sword is bigger than his brother’s sword. ;)</p>
<p>My younger son hated camp the first year he went. We got a letter saying:</p>
<p>“I hate camp. This place is (*$^. Take me home.” We called to find out what was going on. No one had a clue he was unhappy. We talked to him. He didn’t really sound that unhappy. There was only a week left so we told him to tough it out. </p>
<p>He spent the rest of the summer telling us about all the things he liked about camp. Really he just didn’t click with the kids in his bunk and his best friend was in a different bunk. (They divided people up by strict birth order.) The next year we lied about his birthday, he was in the same bunk as best friend and he had a great time. He continued going till he aged out.</p>
<p>My son identified the teardrops on his letters from his first camp by drawing circles around them and pointing them out. That was a 2 week camp. Luckily the education director from our synagogue was at the camp so I could talk to her. The next year he made it halfway through a one week boy scout camp. The year after that we starting sending him to computer camps on college campuses (in dorms) and he was fine from then on. (He also got to see a variety of types of campuses ranging from small, private colleges to major state universities.)</p>
<p>I myself disliked every camp except the horse-riding one until I started going to summer music camps on college campuses, which I loved. Not everyone is meant for the outdoor life!</p>
<p>This is the first (and only) time my kid will go to an outdoor camp. A couple years ago he went to a Math Contest camp. That was more his thing. They went swimming in an indoor pool and played computer games.</p>
<p>I think it is good for S to try different activities (he has never been fishing before), see different landscapes and wildlife (mountains! pine trees! prairie dogs! bison!) And when he comes back, he’ll appreciate the little comforts of modern life (roof! air conditioning! bed! clean laundry!) Maybe he’ll even THANK me for washing his smelly clothes?</p>