Summer Camp

The first step for kids to enjoy summer camp is to stay calm and be in control.

I remember my daughter's first outdoor summer camp few years ago, back when separating from parents was a real struggle. I was close enough to a brutal dad sending his girl to the Survivor without her agreeing. I tried to put myself in her (then) five-year-old shoes and imagine how she must have felt. And that's not the worst part. To add to the frustration, her teammates seemed not able to get along with a kid who cried.

Fast forward to this year. We signed her up for a summer camp at the Ocean Park. As it happens this time, she is head over heels for this adventure. We knew we don't need to worry on the first day, when she returned home and told us every bit of her learning. Things are so different. She never gets bored, and keeps telling us stories like a National Geographic reporter. I still don't know her recipe for preparing biscuits for pandas, but I get to tell the difference between a seal and a sea lion.

It is a great experience for my daughter, but I didn't know how much she loves it until the last day of the camp. On our way home, she told us she was beginning to miss the camp, so much so that she asked, "Mum and dad, I miss it and want to cry. Can I?" She made a sob. Then another. A serious one.

"Yes, of course, you may cry. Remember, it's your emotion." So there we go, if nothing else, parental empathy.