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When I tell people that I am a Director of a Summer Camp 90% of the time the very next question is “What do you do when it's not summer?” To be fair, it is a good question. The view from the outside is that my job has huge importance for three months during the summer and then the rest of the year I disappear from peoples minds. I can understand this even as I started on summer staff I did not fully understand what the year-round staff did during the “off-season.” Now that I have worked in a year-round position for a few years I figured I could give you a little insight into some of what I do as a director when it's not summer time.

“How was school?”
“Good.”

This is how so many dinner conversations start and end with children today, and not all the blame can be put on screen time and shorter attention spans. It is true kids today do have challenges interacting with not only with adults but with their own peers. But I would also like to put some fault on the way we as adults communicate with them. 

“Summer Camp is fun but when are you going to get a real job.” I have heard this or similar statements for years. From family to friends so many times I have been asked why I was wasting my time “having fun” instead of developing my resume or getting my name into professional fields. Even now as a director I still have some people ask “how long is this going to last before you get a good job.”

In the age that we live in now, families are bombarded with different programs, schools, and systems that promise to teach their child how to be the best. Whether it is sports, school, or the arts, there is something out there that will get your kid to be the best at it. As a parent, I think that there is a hope that your child will succeed and be happy in whatever they choose to be “their thing.” One of the many options available to parents every summer is having their children attend summer camp.