Camp Arowhon
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Uh oh, Am I (still) a helicopter mom?
A month ago ago I became a grandmother. It’s as exciting and wonderful as imagined. As they say, if I’d known how much fun being a grandparent is I’d have done that before I had my kids. On the day the baby was one week old, Eli, my six-year-old grand-niece from Montreal, came to stay […]
ContinueBuilding Character
All over North America there are thousands of summer camps that intentionally grow childrens’ commitment to their religion. Embedded in that religious acculturation there is always character building – simply because most religions speak to the question: What is a good person and what is a moral life? For the rest of us, this raises […]
ContinueWhy Summer Camp?
“Hey Dad,” my teenage daughter beckons. “I was talking to my friend today. ” I interrupt her — “Hang on sweetie, were you actually talking to your friend?’ Her: “What do you mean?” Me: “I mean, was there sound coming out of your mouth, going into her ear and vice versa?” Her: “Duh, of course […]
ContinueBad Kid in the Cabin?
This is the time of year when the phone calls start. They usually begin in one of two ways: “I’m not a helicopter mom, but….” Or “I know we’re not supposed to disrequest certain kids, but…” And now we camp directors know what’s coming next. There’s a kid, either a kid new to our camp […]
ContinueTriangle Teens
Triangle Teens There is so much we want our kids to be. For them. Okay – maybe a little bit for us. I confess to a certain amount of unseemly pride when I could mention (casually of course) that my son was at UCC and my daughter at UTS. I’m pretty base. Parents who are […]
ContinueMore bad news on teens and vaping
Last post we talked about teens vaping and then it blew up around us. The government of British Columbia freaked out and dramatically increased the tax on vaping products. They also banned the kid-friendly flavours, capped nicotine levels, and restricted vape ads. Ontario, walking down both sides of the road at once, avoided pissing off […]
ContinueTeens and Vaping
When you think it’s finally gotten easier, you’ve got it right, parenting throws another curve. It’s always like that. Hard. Just when we thought the nicotine monster was licked, here comes Juul. And not only does it come, but e-cigarettes are believed to be causing serious, sometimes fatal, lung diseases. And we thought we […]
ContinueThe October School Blues
October is where the rubber hits the road. Academically speaking. September is all shiny and new and hopeful – new books, clean crisp notebooks with no mistakes or missteps… or missing homework. New school clothes and new friends. But now the shine is off and we’re singing the midterm scholastic blues. Like all blues songs, […]
ContinueGirls and Perfectionism
It was so easy raising a perfectionist daughter. She was always the child who wanted to please. To please parents, friends, sports coaches…. teachers. Perhaps teachers most of all. For school is the great locus of encouragement of girls’ tendencies towards perfectionism. While we fret over our sons’ apparent lack of motivation for school, moms […]
ContinueBack to School Wisdom
We often hear from parents that the kids we send home from camp are more polite, respectful, independent, and helpful around the house than the kids they sent us a month or 2 ago, but sadly, these effects seem to be short-lived and by December they seem to be back to their old ways. THIS […]
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