Encouragement for Homesick Moms

For many parents (moms and dads), their concern is not necessarily that their camper will be homesick, but that they will be homesick from their child. Be encouraged! Not only is overnight camp an opportunity for your child to grow in ways they cannot at home, but you also have more access to your child’s Camp Huawni overnight camp experience than ever before. My hope with this blog post is to encourage you moms and dads to know that it will be okay, and that your child will be better for it. Here are 5 things that will help you to get over your parent homesickness!

#1 You will get to see a picture of your child daily.

Twice a day we post pictures on your CampInTouch account. You’ll soon be hitting refresh about a thousand times at your workplace to see these pictures the minute they’re uploaded. In addition, we try to take a picture of each camper every day, so that you see their smiling face.

#2 You can email your child and get a response back the same day.

Through your CampInTouch account, you can send your child an email before 11am each day that they will receive it at lunch. If you check the “e-reply” button, we’ll print a second blank page that they can write on, return to our mailbox, and that gets automatically scanned and routed to your inbox that same afternoon. Letters provide a new and special way to connect with your children at overnight camp.

#3 Your Counselors will know your child and their specific needs before arriving to camp.

Once you enroll for Camp, you will fill out a Youth Development Intake Form (created by my lovely wife Mandi Adams, LPC-I). This form will ask 7 essential questions so that your child’s cabin counselors are prepared from day 1 to meet your child’s needs.

#4 We are a small camp…you can call us!

One of the huge advantages to Camp Huawni is our size. With 160 campers (max) and a 3:1 camper to counselor ratio, we are a small enough overnight camp to communicate with you and keep tabs on your camper day to day. If in doubt, call us and we will check in on your child and get back to you.

#5 You will receive a Mid-Session Letter updating you on how your child is growing.

For two-week sessions, Counselor’s will write to parents and give you an update on your child. It will include a blurb or story about something they saw your child do or experience. It also includes something about how your cabin Counselors are seeing your child grow. These become very meaningful keepsakes!

And remember, overnight camp gives your child the opportunity to grow in ways he or she can only do away from home. For more on this, read the research behind this on our Homesick & Happy blog.

You can do it…your child is counting on you!

For you returning parents, what helped you to beat the challenge of parent homesickness?