The older kids are in sleep away camp and most have gotten over the trauma (and expense) of sending them off. Now it’s time to send the little ones to day camp. In my day, day camp meant walking to the YMHA on 14th Ave in Boro Park. From there we boarded a bus and traveled to Staten Island (it was “greener” there). We didn’t have orientation, we couldn’t request certain friends or counselors to be with. We didn’t have designer Tory Burch flip flops nor did we pack our bathing suits in Juicy beach bags. We didn’t have bug spray, suntan lotion, sunglasses or “cover ups.” We got bitten up, burnt and wore dorky white terry bathrobes to the pool. And trust me, there was no way we got out of getting into the pool unless we had a cast on. There were no trips to local gyms for aerobics, trips to the bowling alleys, chocolate making classes or baking. We played punchball, machanayim (I ruled that game!) volley ball and tether ball; do they still have tether ball? Who invented that game anyway?? My, have times changed. I was a counselor in a local camp in the Five Towns before my youngest was born. My two sons were in camp there, and I had friends working there as well; shout out to Jill Sider, Haviva Zwickler, Lea Bernstein and Stefanie Zauderer. Having never been a counselor before, I was a bit nervous. There I was at orientation, greeting all my campers. There were 22 in all, each entering kindergarten after the summer. There were 22 kids, 22 moms and dozens of special instructions being given to me. “My daughter doesn’t like very many foods so she has to have pasta every day for lunch,” “my daughter is allergic to most insect bites so make sure she is sprayed with insect spray a few times a day.” And my very favorite, “my daughter hates nap time so it would be great if you can do a special project with her every day during that time.” By the time I left orientation, I was second guessing my summer plans.