What does camp no packages policy exactly mean??

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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling -> Summer Camps

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amother

OP ↓

Thu, Jun 30 2022, 11:50 pm

Is it only no packages from home or also no packages also from Amazon or Walmart from stuff that they need like a chair or socks? Does it mean only letters?

amother

Goldenrod

Thu, Jun 30 2022, 11:55 pm

My daughter's camp one year (maybe more?) allowed packages only first few days (so you can send them the Walmart/Amazon stuff). After that, only letters. Was such a relief!! Hate the package pressure.

amother

↑ OP

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 12:05 am

amother [ Goldenrod ] wrote:

Is it also for junior counselors? Also I already sent her a package with a little necklace are they doing to give it to her?

amother

Rainbow ↓

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 12:17 am

I like the no package rule. Packages create major peer pressure and jealousy. The kids don't starve in camp. No need for elaborate food packages on a weekly basis.

amother

Dustypink

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 1:37 am

I hate the packages. I dont have a kid in sleepaway camp yet but I remember back when I was a camper/staff. I hated it. I got letters of course and maybe a small package with a small bag of candy. Or socks. But some kids and families went way overboard and got lots of stuff. Like boxes of cereal and crazy amounts of nosh and other items. The camp food was not horrible or sparse. But when you saw kids getting special stuff all the time it made you like the camp food less and it made kids unhappy because they didnt get that (or got less or nothing), competition, and it took away the camp experience.
And that was like 15-20 years ago before the crazy packages/amazon/walmart situation.

amother

Dill

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 1:37 am

I sent to a camp that started a No package policy the second year I sent there. They prominently stated it in the handbook and kept reminding the parents. It was for the hs staff as well. No online purchases. No packages bigger than a Manila envelope allowed.

I suspect they probably did give out things that arrived the first week, but most people I know honored the rule and did not send.

I love love love the policy.

ra_mom

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 5:11 am

Our camp didn't allow packages this year. Just emails that they print out and letters in the mail. If special permission is needed, you have to call ahead of time and see if they'll give allowance.

amother

Bergamot

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 6:59 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Is it only no packages from home or also no packages also from Amazon or Walmart from stuff that they need like a chair or socks? Does it mean only letters?

You can ask them.

My daughter's camp didn't ban packages but they requested only necessities be sent, like if shoes break or more socks or whatever.

My son had bunkmates who would get huge packages every friday. The latest comic magazines, nosh, food, even novels. Basically what was happening was the boys didn't want to be in camp and the parents were bribing them into staying by sending these weekly gifts.
My son didn't care much, he got to read the magazines and books.

amother

Azalea

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 7:00 am

How you feel about this policy reveals your love language.

NotLazySusan

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 7:03 am

amother [ Azalea ] wrote:

How you feel about this policy reveals your love language.

And your financial constraints.

And your parenting ideology.

amother

↑ Rainbow

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 9:18 am

amother [ Azalea ] wrote:

How you feel about this policy reveals your love language.

Seriously?????
Or it shows that we're smart.
Or it shows on our chinuch.

ChutzPAh

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 9:21 am

amother [ Azalea ] wrote:

How you feel about this policy reveals your love language.

Not at all. Going to camp is an expensive privilege for a child and there really is no need to send over the top packages for the one or two months they will be there.

keym

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 9:45 am

ChutzPAh wrote:

Not at all. Going to camp is an expensive privilege for a child and there really is no need to send over the top packages for the one or two months they will be there.

Im not talking about over the top
If my relationship with my daughter is one where we shmooze and she feels loved being listened to, then I would be the mother who feels wonderful about letters.
If my relationship with my daughter is one where she feels loved when I buy or give her stuff, then I probably will feel uncomfortable going a whole month without sending her her favorite chocolate chip cookies and the cheap dollar store cute pens.

There's no better or worse relationship.

Chayalle ↓

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 9:49 am

amother [ Azalea ] wrote:

How you feel about this policy reveals your love language.

Nah, I think it shows a parent's insecurity (which gets passed down to the child). If you have the NEED to send your kid elaborate packages, it says something about your parenting.

I never sent camp packages when my older girls went to camp - they were so thrilled to go, and managed just fine with camp food, the nosh they took up, and occasional canteen treats.

My youngest is in camp now and it's a different generation. She wants homemade packages every Shabbos, and honestly it's a pain in the neck. Sure, I love her, and it's definitely HER love language, but I wouldn't mind one bit if her camp would ban it.

In the meantime, my DD dropped off a package containing cinnamon buns, a homemade Challah roll, and some clothes that came out of the laundry after she left (with someone going up for Shabbos). Nothing too elaborate (she wouldn't have minded a full Shabbos meal, but I wasn't dealing with that.)

amother

Snow

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 9:51 am

The camp I went to didnt allow packages just because they got over 100 packages in one day and it took over the whole lobby

↑ Chayalle ↓

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 9:53 am

keym wrote:

I think that's possible in one situation but it doesn't encompass everyone.

I happen to be the type that loves cooking/baking for my family (not so much the giving bought presents...more the chocolate-chip cookie type...) but I'm perfectly fine with not dealing with sending that for a month.

↑ Chayalle

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 9:54 am

amother [ Snow ] wrote:

The camp I went to didnt allow packages just because they got over 100 packages in one day and it took over the whole lobby

I remember dropping off a package (not over the top) for DD last year and felt sorry for Rabbi Newhouse to have to load and unload everything....you should've seen the pile of packages outside his house.

watergirl

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 10:08 am

amother [ Azalea ] wrote:

How you feel about this policy reveals your love language.

I think you may be misunderstanding love languages. YOUR love language is how you receive love. The manner in which you show your children (husband, etc.) love is supposed to be in THEIR love language. If I am the child and my mother expresses her love to me with gifts and sends me packages at camp, but my love language is not gifts, what is that doing for me?

- If your child's love language is gifts - perfect! You gave them a very expensive gift of camp.
- If your child's love language is words of affirmation - write letters.
- If your child's love language is acts of service - I assume you worked your tush off you fund camp.
- If your child's love language is physical touch - send them to camp with a special pillow or blanket that they can wrap around themselves and think of you.
- If your child's love language is quality time, make sure to make it to camp for visiting day.

I think this policy is fantastic. Some parents can send to camp easily, others have to scrimp, save, beg, borrow, and find money for it. These packages are really out of hand and not only separate the financial haves from the have nots, but also the kids who have parents who "get it" and those who don't. After reading on here about the insane things people send to camp (camp chairs are apparently a thing now), we don't need yet MORE opportunities for kids to feel horrible.

And lets not forget one of the huge benefits to camp - a chance to be AWAY from home, from the comforts, from the home pressure or bad feelings, from smothering or being ignored...

amother

Ecru

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 10:13 am

amother [ Azalea ] wrote:

How you feel about this policy reveals your love language.

So no parents loved their kids years ago when sending packages wasn't the "norm"?

At this point it's ridiculous and over the top. And makes the kids whose parents can't afford it feel really bad.

amother

IndianRed

Fri, Jul 01 2022, 10:15 am

If your child's live language is gifts, you can still give them gifts in letter form. I send dd pictures drawn or colored by her siblings and the children she babysits. I send her printed photocollages I make. I send printed word puzzles or the like. You can even put in a couple pieces of a flat candy. These days, with emails so prevalent, sometimes a physical letter is almost like a package in the sense that it's something you went out of your way to do for your child.

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