At the beginning of a session, campers might hear a yoetzet explain to them that “You can feel two things at once.” On Sunday, when our campers leave, they are likely to be feeling even more than that! They may feel sad about leaving friends and counselors, excited to see family and return home, and exhausted from everything they have done. The end of camp also signifies the end of summer approaching, bringing with it additional feelings about the upcoming school year, events, activities, and responsibilities.
After being in the role of yoetzet for 10 summers and as a camp parent myself, I know that these feelings look different for every camper, and the transition back home can take several days.
Here are some tips and tricks for supporting your camper (and yourself) when they come home:
- Campers may need a nap and some of their favorite foods. Our campers stay busy until the final minutes of camp and, between the pace of camp and the strong emotions of the final days, they are often exhausted.
- Don’t take it personally if they seem sad about leaving camp and not as excited as you expected to come home. They missed you (we promise!) but camp goodbyes are hard, even if they see camp friends during the year. Additionally, they might have a hard time adjusting to no longer being with the counselors who have supported them 24 hours a day.
- We know that campers benefit from being given time to share about their summers at their own pace. At camp, we say that each day feels like an entire week; that’s a lot of memories to process and reflect on. We find it best to avoid yes/no questions and therefore instead suggest the following to help surface meaningful reflections from your campers:
- What was your favorite part about Shabbat?
- What types of things did you do at the farm or while camping out?
- What did you do for your chug (elective)?
- Tell us about your village’s sing performance? bonus points if you can get your camper to perform one of their songs!
- What is a village time program that you remember being fun?
- What were some of the things you did as part of your team during Maccabiah?
- Our amazing photography team did a great job capturing special moments from the summer. Parents are encouraged to show campers photos and watch the videos that have been shared by camp. This also is a great way to create opportunities for campers to share with you what is going on in the photo.
- Let your camper teach you something they learned or got better at while at camp. Our campers learn card games, ways to make bracelets, dances (including the annual camp dance), sports tricks, the Birkat Hamazon (blessing recited after a meal)(, Hebrew words, and more.
At the start of camp, when campers feel homesick, I often remind them what a gift it is to have a home so special that they miss it when they’re away. Now, as they transition home, the roles are reversed because you’ve given them the gift of camp, a place and experience so meaningful that they miss it when they leave.
Deborah Harburger, MSW
Benjamin Village Yoetzet