To all you nature-lovers…WHAT I LEARNED BY TAKING 6TH GRADERS TO CAMP!!

1.  The kid with the screechiest voice is always in YOUR cabin!

2.  The bed-wetter will always choose the upper bunk!

3.  The kid who picks his/her nose is always at YOUR table!

4.  The sleepwalker wants the bunk by the door!

5.  Never let any kid set an alarm clock, just so they can wake up early to do their exercises!

6.  One kid will always fall in the stream, creek, swamp, mud, etc.!

7.  You can over pack and still not have your hat or gloves!

8.  Kids need to go to the BR as soon as you get far enough away from the dining hall!

9.  Even when there’s a relatively mild winter in NJ, it will always come the 3rd week in March in time for camp!

10.  The “Swamp Walk” is not fun in the pouring-rain!

11.  You can only assist with the  “Cider Press” station once, and then it’s bo-o-o-ring.

12.  There’s not enough privacy unless you wake up an hour before the kids and shower very quietly!

13.  The snow is beautiful unless you’re doing “Orienteering”, “Survival”, “Wetlands Ecology”, etc., and your head and feet are soaking wet!

14.  The mountains are gorgeous unless you’re climbing one…and feel a heart attack coming on…and you’re too embarrassed to tell anyone!

15.  If you are cold, wet, hungry, and tired you won’t care whether you can read a compass or not, even if you’re the
teacher!

16.  By the end of camp, you will thank GOD you Survived!

17.  Only the camp director can hike without his gloves and not get frostbite!

18.  When the weather’s bad every day is one too many!

19.  When the weather’s bad and all the kids and teachers are whining…the director will run out of  “Whiner Cards!”

20.  Kids cannot carry the luggage their parents pack for them!

21.  And it’s always wet and muddy where they drop their pillows!

22.  Your stuff never packs the same when it’s time to go home!

23.  My son was at camp on this last trip, so I know that even if your mother is at camp, you will still not dress with the proper cold weather gear!

24.  And even if your mother is at camp with you, you still need to clean up after yourself!

25.  When it’s snowing, you can never have on enough layers!

26.  When it’s raining, it doesn’t matter if your poncho looks dumb or not!

27.  At camp, you never get to see the end of a movie!

28.  The “Snake Man’s” Show is still great after all these years. The snakes are still awesome and the big bugs are just
plain “creepy”!

29.  Adults, during camp week, you can only “go to the bathroom” if someone brings their famous BRAN muffins!

30.  At camp, there’s enough food to last a normal person an entire week, but don’t make the mistake of bringing any of it to your cabin, or you’ll invite the very large carpenter ants to sleep with you!!

31.  When you get home from camp, vow to go on a “Starvation Diet”!

32.  Never plan to do anything the night you come home from camp, and if there’s school the next day, forget it!!

33.  Kids are wonderful at camp!!

34.  Teachers are fun at camp!!

35.  I will never forget the “Camp” experience!

36. Teachers, next year plan ahead, take your VACATION the 3rd week in March, and come visit me in sunny FLORIDA!!

37.  ‘Til then, good thing I have all these GREAT memories!!