YMCA Day Camp, a Little Nervous...

It's ok and perfectly normal to be nervous. My daughters have been going to day camp for 8 years, and sometimes I still get nervous.

Keep in mind the councelors have all been trained and they have tons of rules and guidelines they need to go by. Chances are he'll fall asleep on the bus ride home.

Lather him down in the morning with suntan lotion and make sure he brings some to reapply during the day. Our camp requires them to bring a reusable water bottle everyday, and it gets filled several times. Remind him to drink lots of water.

He'll have a great time.

I know it is scary, isn't it. I panic every year. However my son has the time of his life at camp and always asks to go back. Apply tons of sunscreen in the morning, teach him how to put it on himself, back the bug spray and plenty of water. Be prepared for him to come home filthy and exhausted. Share any of your concerns with the counselors, I always pack a note on the first day with any special requests. He will do great :)

I understand where you are coming from. I have my 7 year old son at the YMCA Camp Carter Day Camp, and this is the first summer there. He is absolutely loving it. They have swimming and canoeing and hiking and tons of things for them to do. I worry about sunscreen and bug bite and if they watch him close enough in the water. And if he will find other kids etc etc etc. He is so excited about going to camp each morning that I don't have to wake him up.
The counselors are trained and seem to interact with the kids alot. And if you feel uncomfy ask questions. Talk to his counselors and get to know them.
You are not alone, we Moms get nervous all the time but our babies have to grow up even if we don't want them too. :)

My 6 year old daughter is at Girl Scout day camp right now. She has been going all week. At her's they do not need to ride a bus , I drop her off right at the facility. They have gone to the swimming pool each day and went canoeing on a lake two of the days. My daughter is not a strong swimmer so we were a little nervous, but she is having a great time and has been perfectly safe. As the week is ending, I'm so glad I let her do this! She has shown such independence and courage as she was really nervous about the canoeing. It's been a really good thing for her.

Good luck,
K.

it is ok my daughter went to a stay away camp with people i didnt know and i was nervous but when she came back she said it was really fun so dont be to nervous its ok he'll be fine if hes with the ymca

I wouldn't recommend anyone put their child in our local Y day camp program. I have personally called the police on them for letting the kids run into traffic to try and get people to pull in to their car wash fund raiser. The staff were standing around talking and not even watching the kids.

We go to the free lunch program here too and the Y brought their 2 bus loads of kids to the school at the same time. The kids would run around and make so much noise that my tray would be moving on the table, to talk to your neighbor you had to yell. Their was one little girl who kept getting bullied and the teachers were too busy visiting and flirting that we finally stepped in and told the other kids to leave her alone. They would get in to food fights and the Y staff would just keep taking and then walk out for the school staff to have horrible messes to clean up.

They attend the local free movie on Tuesdays and the theatre puts them in the balcony so the other kids can enjoy the movie. One day when they were showing "Mary Poppins" which ran over the time for the next show to start, which we were waiting for in the lobby, there were little kids coming out crying because the Y kids had throw chewed up candy down on them for fun. It was stuck in their hair, on their clothes and the parents were just livid.

I took a young man who had developmental disabilities to Y camp for the whole summer one year and it was the most miserable I had ever been. We spent a lot of time outdoors, in the heat of the day, had hot sweaty kids who were dehydrated and cranky, and the few times we actually got in the water in the Y pool was nice but that was only every couple of weeks.

I think if you are considering this you need to check with lots of parents in your area and see if there have been complaints.

I know how you feel. Our children always do just fine, it is us that freak out!

When I was growing up once I started 1st grade all the away through 5th grade I attended summer day camps.. I loved them I was never bored. I met kids from all over town and the counselors were always lots of fun and enthusiastic.

Many of the neighborhood kids with working parents attended summer day camps and the kids LOVE them.. Going places many of the stay at home moms do not have the energy or the ability (with young siblings) to take the kids to each day .Your child is going to do great. The Counselors are trained in first aid and keep stict records of all of the kids.

It is hard to let our kids go and experience these events, but they all grow from each experience they succeed at.. .Your child will be more confident and independent by the end of the summer, you are going to be amazed.

I get nervous too! The worst was putting my not-yet-four year old child who is anaphylactic to peanuts and tree nuts on a bus to a bowling alley two years ago when we went to a juvenile arthritis camp (for kids) and conference (for adults).

It was her first time on a bus and the first time I wasn't going somewhere with her when she would be traveling off-site. We got to Shreveport late and I had to quickly explain to a high school-aged girl how to use an epi-pen and how my daughter was not to eat anything at the bowling alley. All sorts of worst case scenarios ran through my head, but everything was fine and we have been back the last two years as well.

Once you do it once, it gets a little easier, though I still have moments like last summer when a camp counselor at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science told me she could not administer my daughter's epi-pen -- my daughter would need to do it herself unless she was passed out on the floor! I went into panic mode with that one since the Museum had never told me this policy even though I filled out all the forms about her epi-pen/allergy/etc., and we had been dropping her there for two years! I contacted the head of the camps and she said the same thing - they wouldn't administer the epi-pen unless my daughter was incapacitated. I tried to explain that she couldn't wait til she got to that point and that a four/five year old is not yet capable of injecting it herself. Needless to say, she's not returning this year.

Regarding YMCA camps, I almost enrolled my daughter, but then decided to find indoor activities because she is sensitive to heat and also because there was going to be an emphasis on swimming and my daughter is just learning to swim. But I have only heard good things about the YMCA camps and parents of my daughter's friends have suggested we give it a try so hopefully your son will enjoy it and you won't be a nervous wreck wondering how things are going all day. It's difficult!