DD, 12, going to camp 1st time. What shtick does she need

amother

Lemon

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 8:38 am

Re: Maarava
My girls go there and I never heard of almost any of the stuff people are mentioning from other camps. Definitely no tutus, funky socks, beach chairs etc. Yes, they want to take "cute linens" (a bed in a bag from Target or Ikea is fine) and generally cute everything else (e.g. flip flops they wear in the shower) and they take fabric bins, laundry bags, etc in cute colors from Target. Their clothes are pretty much Junee t-shirts and long black slinky skirts.

amother

Khaki

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 9:20 am

amother wrote:

Anyone know what girls at Camp Kolos do? My 12 year old is going for the first time too?

My daughter has been going there for a while. She should bring plastic drawers, nice-ish linen (think ikea), a fold up camping chair (they are cheap at walmart), and cute stuff to hang above her bed, like photos of friends. A shower caddy is really helpful. Most girls have monte carlo skirts and butter sweatshirts, as well as sports slides, like adidas, and natives. Fun socks are good, but kolos has special kolos socks that they give out. Cute tshirts for pjs (check out 5below for these).

Chayalle

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 9:42 am

amother wrote:

If you dont mind answering, where did you buy them? If it was online can you please share? Thanks. I am looking for dd and cant find

LOL I got them in Zara, and I see someone mentioned it on this thread.

(I went to an actual Zara store near Lakewood, but try looking online.)

Chayalle

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 9:45 am

My niece went to Kolos and she did the same thing I did for my girls for Linen: she chose 2 contrasting sets in Target, and I sewed the flat sheets together for her to make a duvet cover. So she ended up with a quilt cover that had two sides, and both sheets and pillowcases matched.

(Like leopard print and black; or a cute black and white print and teal...)

Amarante

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 11:46 am

I have no idea what is necessary at a particular camp but I wholeheartedly agree that it is critical that a girl blend in when she goes to camp. You only have a relatively short period of time to assess the other girls so obviously it's going to be a bit superficial.

No one is suggesting that the OP wants her girl to be the envy of all the other campers - she just wants to make sure that when she arrives the other girls all immediately think she is "normal" so that she doesn't have to wait for them to discover that. Camp is such a bonding experience that chances are they would anyway over shared late night conversations but why not give a head start.

I would ask the camp if there is a girl who is returning to the camp in your neighborhood and then try to arrange for the girls to have a nice get together. Not only will she get the real low down but she will know someone when she gets there. I started 7th grade in a completely different non-neighborhood school where I knew no one and the school had a policy of assigning everyone a big sister who was a grade ahead who contacted me during the summer and helped ease my entry until I made my friends in my class.

amother

Babypink

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 12:09 pm

Chayalle wrote:

What did she use as a duvet cover while it was being washed? Or do you mean you bought 2 sets at Target to combine to use as 1 set? And still needed to buy a second set (2 more) as well?

mommy3b2c

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 12:25 pm

I don’t have girls, so I can’t answer but I just want to say that I get you OP. My oldest son is slightly awkward and I always try to find out what is “in” so he can have it. When I was a kid, my parents thought all this “shtick” was stupid and I often felt left out. Till this day, I wish they realized how much it meant to me. So I became the opposite with my kids. Even when they don’t ask for the latest things, j get it for them. I don’t want them to feel the way I did. But obviously I do have limits. I do not get them every last thing, but I try to get them a lot.

amother

Violet

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 12:40 pm

Kudos to you op..
My mom was also one of the clueless ones regarding styles...
Find out what the girls wear- tshirts/skirts (And lengths)
Send enough clothes.
Cute linens, towels accessories help.

Hopefully she'll love it! I lived for camp!

Hope its o
k that im mentioning... plz.... have a talk with her about personal space. Respecting her own and others. Beds are made for 1 .... etc (spking from not so great camp experiences...)

amother

Babypink

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 1:08 pm

What sort of skirts do most girls where at age 13? Half ankle length denim and half knee length? Knee socks with knee length and ankle socks with long skirts? For Camp Bnos.

What sort of pajamas? Cute sparkle t-shirts with coordinating leggings?

amother

Babypink

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 1:20 pm

amother wrote:

Are most of the bunk beds made of metal?

nicole81 wrote:

DD has been in adidas slides (and a no name furry one from amazon) for the past 2 years.

amother wrote:

Do they wear their sport slides in the shower or do they need slides plus flip flops?

Chayalle

Thu, Jan 03 2019, 1:37 pm

amother wrote:

What did she use as a duvet cover while it was being washed? Or do you mean you bought 2 sets at Target to combine to use as 1 set? And still needed to buy a second set (2 more) as well?

My sister actually did 4 sets (so that she had 2 duvet covers.)

I did one set. Um. I came up to visiting day, helped DD take off her linen, put it in the washing machine (along with her shabbos clothes, so they would not go into camp laundry), went to lunch. Came back, put it in the dryer, and spent time exploring camp grounds. Took it out, made her bed, hung her clothes, hugged her good-bye.

so passed 3 years of visiting day, with lots of quality time spent with DD on camp grounds.

imasoftov

Sat, Jan 05 2019, 1:45 pm

champion wrote:

I think its weird how everybody is pouncing on OP.
In general, Chinuch is teaching a child how to handle life, Going to a new camp can be a huge learning experience for a child about how to handle new crowds.
Anybody with decent emotional health knows that the best way to handle a new crowd is to first find out what is excepted in that circle and what the consequeces are for not following the norm. once you are armed with that information, you can make an informed decision whether you choose to follow the norm or not.
A good parent will help a child through this process.

My inner child hears "consequences for not following the norm" and wants to take "emotional health" into the backyard and torture it.