I’ve been getting sad phone calls from parents….. It sounds to me like kid-sickness. As a mom myself, I 100% empathize with this. Control, after all, is my middle name. As a camp director I feel okay about my control gene… as a mom, I know it gets in the way. When our kids were young, Leon and I both knew it would be better for our kids if we sent them away for the summer – to another camp. But neither of us had the courage to do that. He was afraid that other camps wouldn’t have Arowhon’s commitment to anti-bullying, and I was afraid that the lifeguarding at the swim docks wouldn’t be up to our  standards… Bottom line: We feared sending our children away. Likely most parents feels this fear; and it’s at its worst in the early stages of kids’ time away from home. We all wonder: Who will care when I’m not there? What will happen if they’re lonely/hurt/scared, and I’m not there to help?

This is the great challenge of parenting. Another word for it, when your kids go to overnight camp, is “kid-sick.” Kid-sickness can be worse for parents than homesickness is for kids. They’re here at camp making new friends, learning fun new activities, getting lots of attention from fun and caring counsellors… and the VAST majority of our campers are doing just great. There’s very little homesickness at camp today. But for parents the transition can be harder. It’s easy to be overcome with worry when we have no assurance (from them) that they’re okay, we can’t talk to them or see their faces… and their departure has left a big hole in our home and our heart.

This is the great challenge of parenting – letting go. It’s tough, and it’s required, for they need wings, not just roots. It’s tough because it requires a great act of faith. This may be the greatest challenge – and the greatest gift – of sleepaway camp. As parents, when our children leave home, we face the challenge of trusting both the people whom we entrust with their care, and our children themselves, to have the resources to discover their own independence, their ability to thrive without us… and their wings to soar. This is how they grow.