We spent the last few weekends looking at summer sleep away camps for next year. First PA, then Adirondacks and finally Maine. Besides the fun of road trips with the whole family, it was actually fun to see the different camps, the facilities, philosophies and to see how they were “shown”. Of course the tours that were kid friendly got high marks from the kids - but what’s not to like? Interestingly every kid we met told us that their camp is the best camp in the world and that there is nothing out there like it. Cynically: How many camps have they been to at aged 9 or 10? And each genuinely is having the greatest summer imaginable.

At the end of the day my kids will be happy at any of the camps - deciding which one would be best suited to my child is a tougher question for us. More structure or less structure? How competitive? How rustic? Boys only or co-ed? These are different questions. Where I grew up there was only 1 of two places one could go. Here there are tons of choices. I wonder about the impact of the choice we make on the person our child will become. As sure as the sun will rise in the East, I am certain that he will have a great time. An in spite of and hopefully because of camp, summer will become a great formative experience. For now, Maine looks like the early favorite.