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My Favorite Things about Being Camp Mom

By Anne Izard on May 11, 2017

As camp mom, most of your time is spent helping out in the office, what I call “office-izing”—answering phones, making copies, sorting camper mail, organizing files, helping manage the cleaning and up-keep of the property, delivery items across camp, and of course, greeting campers with smiles and hugs. More than anything else, being camp mom gives you a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on what makes this community so unique and so successful. Below are some of my favorite things about spending part of my summer on the Preserve:

  1. The beauty
    Anyone who has visited the property has seen the true beauty of this place, but the opportunity to truly experience it across several days is a real gift. Waking up every morning to bird calls and lush greenery. Enjoying coffee by the lake as the morning mist rolls off, hearing campers in the distance laughing and scurrying about, pumped for the day’s adventure to begin. Discovering a quiet trail in the woods in the early morning or at dusk. Falling asleep to steel pan drums playing quietly in the distance by one of our many talented musicians on staff. These are some of moments that make GRP so memorable and keep me coming back.

2. The occasional mentor hike
On rare occasion, usually once or twice a session, you get to go on a mentor hike and experience what these lucky campers get to do every day. No hike is the same, even if the trail is. These 2.5 – 3 hour hikes are led by highly educated mentors who excitedly point out animal tracks, fossils, insect life, and edible plants (complete with a taste test, of course!). Whether you’re entering the new underworld of a dark cave, taking in an expansive and breathtaking view of the balds, tromping through a river, or standing under a 55 degree waterfall, each experience is unique. What’s more impressive than the mentors’ knowledge of nature is their understanding of child development. I’ve watched mentors expand children’s wonder and curiosity about the natural world, be at peace in the quiet and stillness, or patiently coax a camper down (or up!) a steep bald.

3. The snacks!
Let’s be honest: camp mom is synonymous with snack mom! Nothing gets kids more excited than a yummy snack—delivered three times a day at GRP. When kids learn to associate you with food, well, the love just keeps on growing. Some of their favorites: frozen banana chunks covered in chocolate, frozen grapes, and no-bake chocolate-oak-sunbutter bars.

4. The people
The energy here is infectious, and it starts with the people. And everyone at GRP brings it every day, spanning all ages and roles—from camp directors and senior mentors, to the administrative staff, to cabin mentors and counselors, to the bright young people who embody the spirit of this place. GRP staff are people who truly “seek the joy of living” each day (one of the Woodcraft laws) and spread it to those around them.

5. Watching your own kids (from afar) become the people they will be. As a camp parent, you really don’t have much individual interaction with your own child(ren), and that’s important for their growth and maturation. GRP is a place away from home where kids can try out different identities, discover new interests, and meet and make friends with people they might not normally interact with in their everyday lives. It’s a chance to learn from others other than their parents—mentors, counselors and peers—about new ways of seeing the world in a challenging yet nurturing environment. It’s an opportunity to develop the life skills that will carry them through into adulthood, and I love watching my kids push themselves past their boundaries and ultimately discover who they are.

Written by Camp Mom, Leigh Moscowitz

Anne Izard
Anne Izard

Anne has worked at Green River over the years at summer camp, expeditions, and the school programs as a counselor, expedition leader, mentor, and program director. Anne’s related camp experiences include working as a counselor and program assistant at Camp Ton-A-Wandah in North Carolina, an expedition leader for Wilderness Ventures and an environmental educator and expedition leader for the Teton Science School. Prior to returning home to GRP, Anne was the Director of Education for the Mountain Studies Institute in Silverton, Colorado. Anne and her husband, Steve, are both actively engaged in the American Camp Association, The Association of Environmental Education, and The North Carolina Youth Camp Association. When Anne is not working, she can be found trail running, paddling, cycling, or backcountry skiing with her husband Steve, their sons, Phen and Hawkins,daughter, Alida,and golden retriever, Irie Bird!