The transition from camp back to home is a big adjustment - here are some tips and tricks to help navigate your son’s re-entry.

He’s going to be exhausted

For campers who spent nearly 2 months here at Winaukee, and even those who were only here a few weeks for the second session, they really left it all out on the field. They’ll probably be a little scraped up and VERY tired when they give you that first hug. Give him the space and time to rest and try to avoid overscheduling right away.

Big Feelings

Some boys may default to being quiet and expressing very little feelings about the summer. If this is your son, give him the time and space he needs to process. Stories and information will likely trickle out over the coming days, weeks and sometimes even months! If your son has a lot of big feelings right when he gets home, this is totally normal as well. There is no right way for a kid to respond after the kind of experience he just had at Winaukee. He may be quiet, he may talk your ear off. He may be teary and have intense sadness about camp ending. All of this is ok, and sometimes these reactions and feelings change from minute to minute or day to day as well. If it’s a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster, know you’re not doing anything wrong. He needs you to be patient and present while he acclimates.

It’s ok if camp infiltrates home a little bit

If your son wants to listen to the ‘hamburger cheeseburger’ song after dinner, or says it’s ‘too quiet while you eat (we listen to music during meals), calls his shower ‘shower power hour’, says things like: ‘but at camp we….’, it might be a good idea to try to integrate some of those traditions and routines from camp, at home! These are also great entry points for you to ask questions!

Plug-in slowly

Your son has spent weeks off of his devices and electronics. This space and time away from technology is more important today than ever before, don’t be so ready to re-introduce those items. I can tell you personally that the boys are excited to get back on their phones and ipads. Try to set healthy boundaries and talk with your son about what it felt like at camp without these devices, and how we can try to build on that experience to benefit him throughout the year.

Be a Good Listener

Avoid peppering him with questions. I know it’s hard, I know you want to hear ALL about it. And, the transition back to the real world, exhaustion, saying goodbye to his counselors and friends and adjusting back to home is a lot to process. Let the stories come out over time as their memory is triggered by events at home and school. Looking through pictures and videos from the summer is a great way to open those lines of communication and help your son talk about all of the fun he had this summer at Winaukee.

Build him up!

Living at camp for any period of time is a big accomplishment! Certainly there were challenges and tough days for every kid. AND, your son learned how to manage those emotions with support and has learned even more about himself and how to navigate challenges moving forward. The type of questioning where you focus only on one or two negative experiences, gives those experiences more weight and power with repeated attention. Your child managed those challenges which is a big win for his confidence and social skills. Make sure you tell him, as frequently as you can, how proud of him you are. No matter how long he was at camp, he endured rainy days, moments of failure, big losses, scrapes, bug bites and conflicts with peers. Focusing on what went wrong or centering a conversation around the negative events pushes our children to focus on and remember those as well. Gather important information but do your best to center the conversations with your son around his success and all that he accomplished this summer.

Lastly, give him a hug from us! As we work with our staff this weekend to ‘close up camp’, the campers’ presence is greatly missed. Our staff did everything they could to care for your son this summer, and he will be someone they always remember and are missing quite a bit today.