Actress, cookbook author and mother of two Tiffani Thiessen know all about sending your kids to summer camp. The financial aspect, the have-to-plan-six-months-in-advance aspect, and how to gear up emotionally for them to spend several nights away from home. Because as we all know, our kids may miss home while they’re gone, but not as much as home misses them.
“My daughter loves summer camp,” Thiessen tells Motherly about her 13-year-old daughter, Harper. “She’s always been one for new adventures, meeting new people and she’s never been one that’s had a hard time with that. I probably had a harder time, you know, because she was my first going off to sleepaway camp.”
Thiessen has partnered with Welly on their Happy Campers Kit, a limited-time trunk full of summer camp essentials approved by Thiessen herself. The kit is actually a trunk filled with goodies as well, including items to help parents struggling with “kidsickness.” Welly will donate $150 to the ACA’s “Send A Child to Camp” scholarship fund for every kit sold.
Thiessen says that her 8-year-old son, Holt, is off to summer camp for the first time this year—and he’s got a few more reservations compared to his big sister. Because going to sleepaway camp for the first time is, honestly, a very big deal when you don’t know what to expect!
“He’s much more sensitive, and he is having like this whole like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know what to expect’ feeling about it,” Thiessen explains. “New things are very hard for him.”
Luckily, as a seasoned camp parent, she knows how to help her son work through his feelings—because she’s had practice working through her own when her daughter went for the first time.
“Well, every kid is different, right? I think you really have to take a cue on what your kid is feeling and what, what you’re sensing from them in the sense of their excitement or nerves,” she says. “Harper had a little bit of nerves just because it was new, but she wasn’t overly anxious about it. I was probably more nervous about sending her away.”
That’s where the Happy Camper Kit comes in to save the day. Thiessen’s son has been able to customize his own camp trunk with stickers, photos from home, and other items to bring along to make the transition easier.
And even though some of us may be counting down the days until our kids are off to camp, it’s still a big deal for parents and kids alike.