One Nervous Camp Parent

Each year as we put together our camp guides, I love seeing all of the different camp options that are available for area kids and choosing day camps for my girls to attend. With both girls homebodies, imagine my surprise when Tori announced she wanted to attend overnight camp this year. The camp had done a presentation at her school, and she came home fired up and ready to attend. After researching the camp, Ty and I decided to let her go (it also helped that three school friends would be attending the same camp). So we now have one excited soon-to-be camper and one nervous Nellie left-at-home parent.

I honestly never thought I’d find myself in the role of “parent of a child who attends overnight camp,” so I’m a bit unprepared. See, I’m the type of person who likes control and likes to know what my kids are up to. And for three days this summer, I won’t have any control over what Tori is doing and won’t have any idea of what she’s up to. It’s making me a bit uneasy, and I’m already worried, imagining all sorts of situations: What if she’s homesick? What if she gets hurt or sick? Will they call me? Will she make friends? Will she be polite and remember her manners? And the list goes on.

I try to calm myself by looking at things logically (what a novel idea!). Many of her friends have attended the camp and they love it. She asked to go. She’s going with a friend. I’ve looked thoroughly into the camp, and it seems like a terrific program. She’ll be learning so many things she otherwise wouldn’t learn. She’s growing up and gaining independence. And that’s what I think it really boils down to. Overnight camp is just one more step down the road to growing up, maturing and, at some future point, moving on and moving out. I, for one, am just not ready for this. It boggles my mind that my firstborn is already of the overnight camp age.

And so, this summer, I’ll find myself in a new role: the mom whose child attends overnight camp. Just like with every other milestone, I’ll worry and fret, and in the end, everything will end up just fine—and I’ll earn one more notch on my parenting belt.

Margaret Sarver spends way too much time worrying about things she has no control over in Lenexa.