What does a camp mother do?

amother

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 6:53 pm

Hi,

Just wondering what the position entails?

What expectations can I have as a mom that my child will be taken care of by her?

If I’m sending to sleep away camp, my child should be ready to not need major mothering for those weeks, no? I did not attend sleep away as a child.

Just wondering about this for a long while.

What was the role of camp mother like when you/your kids were in camp?

Would love to hear whatever you can share.

amother

Burgundy

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 7:00 pm

My mother was a camp mother for years in a large camp and very busy - always away at meals.
Settle conflicts between campers and/ or counselors
Help if someone bed wets
Take care of homesick girls (very busy first 2 weeks)
Check on girls with food allergies or eating issues at meals to make sure they had what to eat
Check up on girls when parents ask
Field questions from parents
Take care of laundry and lost and found
Talk to girls who are surprised with period first time in camp
Helps girls solve issues- like missing clothing, torn clothing, lost stuff, etc
And much more

amother

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 7:18 pm

amother [ Burgundy ] wrote:

Wow! So she was busy all day? How did she take care of her own toddlers/babies - or were you all grown up?
Did you resent that?

Sounds like it was a full time job there.
I did not realize they needed to do laundry and things like that. Isn’t there a service in most camps?

Do boys camps have camp mothers also or camp fathers instead?

amother

Chartreuse

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 7:21 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

In most cases they are older more like a grandmother than a mother. And if they have young kids they are assigned a girl to watch their children, or their children are in day camp during the day. They don't wash laundry they are in charge of making sure it's in the proper bags and they supervise it being picked up and dropped off.

Notsobusy

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 7:25 pm

Most girls have nothing to do with the camp mother. I had a dd who had been going to camp for a few years and something came up and I needed to speak to the camp mother, my dd didn't even really know who she was, she recognized her but had never spoken to her before.

She's there for girls who need extra TLC for any reason.

notshanarishona

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 7:30 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

As a mom you can have no specific expectations of her . She is typically employed to help hundreds of girls. If your daughter is having a hard time first her counselor will try to help. If she is unsuccessful she will either go to the next level counselor or the camp mother.

SuperWify

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 7:54 pm

In camp the camp mother would check by the dining room to make sure all girls were eating. She’d make a sandwich maker for those that didn’t like dinner (me 🙋‍♀️).

She was in charge of supervising the laundry, lice checks upon entering camp, hugs and encouragement to those that need it. Ect.

Cheshire cat

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 8:03 pm

She'd administer meds, antibiotics... to kids who needed them, tend to poison ivy, sprained wrists etc.

Kids who had health conditions or needed special care for any reason were seen to by her

imasinger

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 8:07 pm

Cheshire cat wrote:

She'd administer meds, antibiotics... to kids who needed them, tend to poison ivy, sprained wrists etc.

Kids who had health conditions or needed special care for any reason were seen to by her

Sounds more like a camp nurse!

Cheshire cat

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 8:14 pm

imasinger wrote:

Sounds more like a camp nurse!

You are right. I guess the camp I attended had one woman fill in both roles...

I remember at one point going for my twice daily antibiotic dose, and there were girls drifting around with tea and cookies in the evening, or just chatting with her. So it was a sensible setup. She was a motherly figure , and an effective nurse.

thunderstorm

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 8:15 pm

I remember my camp mother was the sweetest lady and would do as mentioned above. She also mended girls clothes , like sewing on buttons to or fixing a hem.
She made sure girls were eating. She walked around the dining room with her warm smile and greeting. She knew which girls needed monitoring.
Even though she took care of various things the girls weren’t very involved with her. She was there if needed. Most girls didn’t need her to be involved with them.

thunderstorm

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 8:16 pm

Cheshire cat wrote:

That sounds exhausting. When I was in camp the camp nurse was busy all the time, she would not have had time to fill the camp mother role as well.

Cheshire cat

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 8:24 pm

thunderstorm wrote:

That sounds exhausting. When I was in camp the camp nurse was busy all the time, she would not have had time to fill the camp mother role as well.

She was a legend.

But now when I think about it... wow.

amother

Cobalt

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 8:28 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Yes, boys camps have a camp mother. In some boys camps the nurse or women that's in charge of the laundry is the camp mother.

avrahamama

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 9:24 pm

Interesting. I didn't go to a frum camp. But what you're all describing we had as a camp social worker. We also didn't just have a nurse we had a full infirmary with a place for sick children to sleep and even a quarantine room (I can only imagine the use it would have gotten if they opened last summer) there were two nurses, two cit who helped and a doctor 2 times a week.

Meds were administered in the cafeteria by the nurse and she took her locked nurses cart from table to table.

Notsobusy

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 9:28 pm

avrahamama wrote:

The frum camp I went to also had an infirmary, although we only had one nurse. We also had a doctor who came a few times a week.

Interesting that she administered the meds in the cafeteria. I would think they would do that in the infirmary for privacy reasons.

amother

Chartreuse

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 9:30 pm

Seems the camp mother varies in each camp. We had a doctor and nurse and the camp mother had nothing to do with medical. She also didn't walk around the dining room. She was there to deal with issues that came up.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Feb 02 2021, 9:32 pm

I never had anything with the camp mother in the camp I went to, I only remember her announcing any lost and found items after lunch.
She was busy with a lot of girls individually. I have no idea with that but the above seems about right.
Except we had a different person as the camp nurse.
I really would like to be a camp mother one day. It sounds hard but rewarding.