Camp Packer for Hire

It is 30 somethng days until the camp bus leaves. What have I done to prepare? Nada...yet. But that is me. Every week I say I will print out the list, go through Zach’s clothes from last year and see what still fits him and figure out what he did not bring home from last summer. I HAVE to do it this week. I literally just made the deadline by calling camp baggage on Friday. I asked my friends what their status was regarding packing. 3/4 of them are ready to go, 1/4 of them are almost packed but need some last minute things. Yup.  and then there is me who has yet to do a thing. I do operate best this way, always have.

A few days ago a little article in the New York Post appeared about hiring a professional camp packer. You can read it here.

Um, where do I start?

I finished the article, sat down and started laughing. Laughing at the absurdity of this article the Post published. Laughing at these mother’s who are packing their kids with 1,000 thread count sheets and french milled soap.  My boys better steer clear of these girls!  I will be the first one to tell you I am not  low maintenance. I actually just hired an organizer and she will be featured in my next blog. I work, I have help and I am type A to the max. I am also far from being the ultimate do everything mother. It is amazing I remember to bring both kids home from school. But some things a mother just does. Like pack a camp trunk. Maybe because I have boys and they don’t need the “special” items a girl needs, it is easier to pack them? Hmm. Doubt it. I know how crazy life gets and how hard it is to do “everything”. Believe me I do. But I am going to step out on a limb and tell you I don’t think it is brain surgery. Last year, it was Zach’s first summer. I wrote about packing, remember? Since then I began writing a book. In one of the chapters, I give a full, detailed tutorial on how to pack a camp trunk with a colorful do it yourself fold-out! Oh yes, are you excited?  Instead of paying $1,000, you can pay $20.00 and learn how to pack a camp trunk in 5 minutes. Voila! Literally buy the belongings off the camp list, fold, place in the trunk and you are set!

I would love to know which camp “permits” candles. Does anyone remember the fire at camp last summer?  I have to think whatever camp allows you to “bring” candles is a camp not in this country. Right?

Another thing, the mom that wants to “replicate” the bedroom at home, I can guarantee this mom never attended sleepaway herself. What mother in their right mind is purchasing over hundreds of dollars in bedding to send their kid to camp? Is this what she thinks the camp bunk looks like:

What does she think her kid is doing at camp all summer? Massages, nails, and blowouts! Are these same mother’s going to bring their housekeeper with them on visiting day to dry clean and press their linens so the softness is restored to their liking? I hope to god these mothers are sending their kids to uniform camps because the thought of the clothes they are shipping to camp is something I would die to see. I hope these professional packers are telling the mothers to leave the cashmere and mohair at home. I also hope the professional packers are addressing the Hunter boots. Only need one color, not the rainbow.

Finally, I wish these mother’s would get a grip. Since when is camp about scented candles and Frette sheets? I went to a dump where I prayed for the first shower to avoid cold water. I have no idea what thread count my sheets were or what my comforter looked like. My mom packed my trunk and I unpacked myself. I counted down the days until camp began again every year. Camp was a haven for me. A place where friendships were made, life lessons were learned and  color war breaking being the greatest high of the summer . It was never about “recreating my bedroom”. Truthfully, I couldn’t wait to get out of my bedroom and get  back to my gross bunk bed with flannel sheets and 10 girls I lived for. If you are instilling in your 9-year-old that sleep away camp is about duvet’s and lavender, I think you need to slow down, kick back, and talk to the camp experts, not the camp packers.

xx