Ahhh, Summer Camp. Growing up with two full-time working parents made summer camp a necessity. Yes, I was a latchkey kid, but that was just a couple hours after school, not an entire summer. As a full-time working, single-parent, summer camp is also a necessity for my daughter. But the good news is, we both love camp. The bad news is, her summer camp was cancelled because of Covid-19. She is devastated. We knew cancellation was a possibility, but we clung to the hope of camp happening like nothing else.

So, when handed lemons, make lemonade, right? I’m going to bring camp to her. Obviously it won’t be the same, but I think she’ll appreciate the effort, and we’ll both get a kick out of it. I can provide crafts, camp songs and prayers, swimming in a lake, a ropes course, skits, and maybe even a horseback ride. I’ll take a stab at their camp menu. Heck, I’ll even play reveille and taps (on my phone). Sadly, what I can’t provide is her ten other bunk mates or the space away from me to grow her independence.

I’ve been Pinterest surfing to find ideas and stir up memories of my own camp experiences, but there are some things that I need no help remembering. At Camp Jewel there is a giant climbing tower named Mt. Wood, and on the other side of the lake was a ropes course with a zip line. I conquered both. I was the only camper (that poor counselor drew the short stick) that went down to the lake for the Polar Bear swim before breakfast. My favorite stations were leatherworking and photography. They even had a dark room! We woke up in the middle of the night to go out looking for meteor showers. The battles between the cabins and the evenings at the Council Ring were always entertaining. It was my admiration of and the desire to emulate my counselors that led me to accepting a role at camps when I was in college, which then rerouted my career path towards teaching. I bet my parents didn’t know when they dropped me off that summer camp would be the catalyst that would eventually transform my life goals.

I’ve often thought about creating a summer camp for adults. I wonder… if I build it, will they come? In the meantime, let’s see what my daughter thinks of how I set up camp.