Am I the only who would like to do away with visiting day?

amother

Gold

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 10:57 pm

Simply not worth it! My ds is literally coming home next week, is it really necessary we shlep almost 10 hours in the car to see him? I love him and miss him but we can really both wait another week. The reason I go is because it seems everyone else is and I don't want ds to feel like his parents are the only ones who think the trip isn't worth it. Am I in the minority here?

Mon, Jul 18 2016, 11:13 pm

I hate it as well. It costs me over $350.00 , 12 hours that I don't have, and end up seeing them for about an hour. Then they come home for a Shabbos the next week. Doesn't make any sense. I tell them to call me as often as they like so they're not as home sick. I also allow them to come home for an extra Shabbos. This has worked well for me.

Skippy!!

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 3:47 am

I imagine, that if a camp gets rid of visiting Sunday they would have to deal with parents visiting every Sunday. It's probably easier for them to just have an official visiting day.
Some camps have activities for the campers who don't have visitors.

Maya

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 7:14 am

amother wrote:

Many camps have actually already done away with it! Maybe if you get a petition going, you can work it out for next year. Wink

Yes.
My SIL's camp has already eliminated visiting day. Furthermore, they take the girls off grounds on a trip on that day so parents can't come even if they want to.

I don't think that will cause visitors to come every Sunday. It's just a change of attitude that you CAN survive without seeing your family for four or eight weeks.

greenfire

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 12:56 pm

gotta say I never went on visiting day ... such is life when you live 500 miles away from camp

did I feel bad - yes - but there was nothing I could do especially because I also made the 500 mile excursion to pick them up

mha3484

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 12:59 pm

Growing up in non jewish camps, visiting day was between the sessions. It was only for the kids who stayed the entire 8 weeks. We liked it but were happy when our parents left. Camp in the frum world seems to be a whole different experience.

watergirl

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 1:00 pm

Skippy!! wrote:

Says who? The camp just says that they dont allow it and thats all. My overnight camp NEVER had visitors day. We lived.

amother

Gold

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 1:15 pm

greenfire wrote:

I agree with you about not going as I wouldn't either go if it was 500 miles, but there were parents from the mid west and Florida who spent Shabbos in New York and then went to camp on visiting day. So I'm not sure everyone would agree that there was "nothing you could do about it".

greenfire

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 1:35 pm

amother wrote:

they obviously have an excess of monies and time ... I do not and therefore there was nothing else I could do ...

Chayalle

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 1:43 pm

I think the concept of visiting day came from the era where children used to go to camp for the whole summer. I know my mother A"h went to camp every summer, from when she was 5 till she got married.

Nowadays, at least in my community, most campers go for a half - 4 weeks - and start at around age 12 or so. That being the case, I don't think visiting day is a necessity.

OTOH I did go up to visit DD this past Sunday, and it was a very nice day for us. The costs for us were gas and tolls from Lakewood, and we also treated our family to icecream from the camp canteen (which is admittedly a hiked up price when compared to the local places, but it didn't quite break the bank). The camp puts out lunch for visitors, and we spent some quality time with our daughter, and got to see the camp and meet the staff. It's nice to get an idea of the environment where your child spends a chunk of his/her summer, kind of like PTA.

debsey

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 3:15 pm

Personally, I love visiting day. I love seeing the kids, meeting the counselors, getting my pulse on what's going on. I like the enforced day off from work for me (I work Sundays) and the whole relaxed day in the country. I hate the traffic on the way home!

flowerpower

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 3:31 pm

My kids are away for 8 weeks. There is noooooo way I can last that long without visiting them at all. They look forward on us seeing their bunk, meeting the staff, and seeing their younger siblings. We make sure to be upstate that weekend so the traveling isn't that taxing. Second half visiting day comes out on tisha bav so they have the option of coming home that shabbos instead.

ra_mom

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 5:55 pm

mha3484 wrote:

This is how I always imagined it should be. Visiting day in between both halves for those who stay all summer.

Another mom

Wed, Jul 20 2016, 5:59 am

Coming home for 1 day wd be like jetlag for me.... taken out of the "אוירה"Boy hope my parents didn't sound like u/ I'm sure they didn't. They truly missed us. Plus we got spoiled with goodies.
In Israel camp is one week and there's visiting day!! Smile

Sometimes we go, not always. Depends on kid, location, etc.
A month?? GO!!

amother

Saddlebrown

Wed, Jul 20 2016, 6:30 am

I hated visiting day bc. Dd was so misbehaved. She had so many issues. I used to be embarrassed by the stuff she did plus other issues that I felt uncomfortable going back t I went no matter what and I knew it ment a lot to her. But my other kids when they go iyh " I would definitely want to go. I get to see what I spent money on and meeting the staff that put in effort to make this place so good for my kid. And yes I wanto see where my kid is for that many weeks.

amother

Vermilion

Wed, Jul 20 2016, 7:27 am

I went to camp far far away from home. most years I spent visiting day with friends like me. we would arrange rides to the mall and have fun. camp was finally time away from my dysfuncional family and time to pretend I was just a normal kid. I was glad to be on my own. sometimes relatives would visit and I was always glad when they did. as a parent I cant imagine not wanting to touch base with the place my child is calling home for so many weeks. and I would love the oppurtunity to shower that extra love on my child who has had so little parental contact in the last weeks. if within reason, I would like to go. I pray that I never feel that my childs needs and wants are burden to do away with