What I Wish I’d Known About Packing for Sleepaway Camp TIPS TO MAKE IT EASIER TO GET YOUR KID READY FOR THEIR TIME AWAY FROM HOME By DINA EL NABLI
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START EARLY It may feel like you have lots of time with camp months away but trust me when I tell you, buying what you need, labeling every single item and making sure it all fits neatly into your camp bags or trunk is no joke. If your child is a newbie, you’ll want to budget extra time since you’ll likely be buying a lot of camp necessities for the first time. With supply chain issues brought on by COVID, it’s a good idea to order things now (make sure you size up if need be for the summer months). Buy your labels ASAP and start labeling as early as you can. You won’t want to be doing this the week before camp starts and find out you don’t have enough labels for all their stuff. DON’T PACK THINGS YOU CARE ABOUT My daughter packed a special, sentimental Paris blanket that
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was handmade by a friend. She put it in the laundry along with a comforter and a set of sheets and nothing came back (this is why you need to pack two sets of sheets.) While this is not the norm, it happens and there are no guarantees. If it’s important, skip packing it. And if you have a blanket or comforter you love, tell your kids to pass on sending it to the laundry and instead stick with clothes, sheets and other must-wash clothing items.
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acking my daughter's things for her first summer of sleepaway camp was a lot harder than I thought. It probably didn’t help that I’m a procrastinator by nature and waited till the 11th hour to pull together a two-page list of must-have items—many of which we didn’t own. Then there’s the whole labeling of everything down to socks and underwear and making sure you remember the intangibles—the things that matter but may not appear on a camp list. Here’s what I wish I had known before packing for three weeks of sleepaway camp:
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