In an effort to help Chloe decide whether or not she’d like to spend a couple of weeks at sleepaway camp next summer, I sent away for a bunch of different camp catalogs. We started to receive them last week, and boy, how things have changed since I went to camp so many years ago. Eons ago. Eras ago.
Anyway, in addition to the activities that were popular even when I was a kid (e.g., tetherball, lakefront, arts & crafts), all of the camps now seem to offer enrichment programs that come closer to resembling Club Med than camp. Want to do circus arts? Check. Want to try out extreme trampoline jumping? Check. Want to attempt paintball? Check. Want to fly through the air with the greatest of ease on a flying trapeze? Check.
It’s absolutely insane. So crazy that even I was feeling nostalgic for camp when looking at the brochures with Chloe. And that’s saying a lot because while I tolerated camp, I never really LOVED camp.
We’ve received five brochures so far. And another interesting tidbit is that of the five camp directors, two are recovering lawyers. Just like me. I have absolutely no desire to become a camp director – let’s face it, I’m just not the camp type. But again – makes me wonder about the profession I chose for myself 12 years ago. From the beginning, I always rationalized the decision to go to law school by telling everyone who asked that having the degree would open up lots of doors. Directing sleepaway camps wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but hey, to each his own.