There are tons of articles out there about being a day camp counselor. It’s a very popular summer job, and most of these articles out there are things camp counselors can relate to. For those who may not be counselors, here is a what a typical day for us crazy enough to do this job looks like ...

THE MORNING

You run to clock in before any of the kids can see you, because you know once they do, it’s game over. You go into camp and at least three kids come running up to you. One is upset, one is showing you something, and the other is talking a mile a minute. The day’s activities haven’t even started and you’re not even awake yet. You give the campers one word answers, exchange “how are we going to get through today?” looks with your co-counselors, and start the day.

SWIM TIME

Once you actually get into the pool with your campers, it’s a good time. Playing in the water with them can be tons of fun. However, changing in out and of swimsuits is a nightmare. It takes your campers approximately three hours to change in or out of their swimsuits and put their other clothes away. You eventually set a five minute timer and tell your campers to HURRY UP because we can’t spend half our day changing.

FREE TIME

Free time is your campers nicely playing board games, basketball, dancing to Silento’s “Watch Me,” or screaming, crying, chaos. And there really isn’t an in between. You debate even letting your campers have free time because things will go 0-100. There is no way to know what you’ll get from your kiddos, so you take a deep breath and announce “free time!” while you hope everyone can last at least ten minutes without a meltdown, fight, or screaming match. When things are going good, you can relax and bond with your kids and co-counselors. Or, you resort to making all your campers sit in silence because they didn’t behave.

DOING CRAFTS

Camp crafts can be fun and cute, or a hot, HOT mess. You start explaining the craft and getting supplies. During that time period, the kids ask “Do we haaave to do it?” Yes, you do. The craft almost never goes as planned, but you make it work. You try your best to follow instructions and help the kids, but it usually ends up with something semi-decent to send the kids home with. You do your best to have fun without making a huge mess, but you eventually give up and let the kids do their own thing with the supplies you put together.

LINES AND TRANSITIONING

At the end of the day, your voice is gone, your head hurts, and you’ve given up all hope of order. This is from a day full of asking for lines, calling out attendance, asking for silence, and yelling over those who ignore your pleas for order. You eventually look at your blob of campers, hope everyone is there, and start moving. You’ve just trained your voice to project and be louder than the murmur of kids who can’t seem to comprehend “no talking when I’m talking.”

Camp counseling a job for the few. You deal with messes and meltdowns as well as bonding and laughter. It’s hard to keep your sanity and be a friend, but we somehow make it work. Camp counseling may be difficult at times, but getting to know some really great kids is extremely rewarding. It’s a fun job that may leave you a little insane at the end.