It’s camp time! Here’s an important piece of advice.

Posted on May 31, 2021June 3, 2021 by Matt Todd

This post about summer camp contains affiliate links. That means I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the appropriate links. You can learn more in my Disclosure Policy. As always, thank you for your support.

I know I said that I never really did the whole church camp thing while growing up. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t go to other forms of camp: Boy Scout summer camp, Philmont Scout Ranch, and Summer in the Son, were regular parts of my summer schedule. When you throw in family vacations, there were many summers when I was out of town for more weeks than I was home.*

Philmont Scout Ranch - you could say it was like camp on steroids.

We’ve also sent Aiden and Aly on many church camp trips. And Mihret has had her share of camp experiences, There are a few years when she’s spent two weeks away at camp and then another week at day camp.

I’m no stranger to packing for a week away at camp (or a camp-like experience).

One thing I’ve learned…

Label everything.

Seriously.

Label. everything.

Get some custom camp labels from Name Bubbles and just go to town. You’ll thank me for this. Trust me. I can’t tell you how many things that weren’t Aiden’s that we’ve “inherited” over the years. It’s just far too easy to lose track of things and your kids will wind up coming home with stuff that wasn’t sent with them. Labels will help prevent that.

It will also help if you have your kid help you pack. And if they’re old enough to pack their own things, I recommend you go through the camp’s packing list with them, anyway. It’ll help them (and you) to know what they’re bringing with them (and what they should bring back).

But seriously.

Label everything. Even if they think it’s the uncool thing to do. Do it anyway. I wish someone had told me to do the same. And I definitely wish there was something like Name Bubbles to make it so easy.

Label. everything.

You’re welcome.

Endnotes

*That’s the exact reason my first girlfriend broke up with me. I was going to be gone more than I was home that summer and she didn’t like that I wasn’t going to be around that much all summer. I didn’t understand it then. I’m not sure I understand it now. But things wound up turning out pretty OK. Especially since Christy didn’t break up with me because we were going to be halfway across the country from each other for an entire summer.

Header image photo by Melissa Askew on Unsplash

Web hosting by bluehost

Bio
Latest Posts

Matt Todd

Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"