I love letters from kids regardless of the situation.  They have an honesty that’s refreshing to say the least.  As I recently cruised the web I discovered a web site that posted sample letters for adults to send to their kids at camp. I would hope that most parents just might be offended by the assumption that they’re too stupid to write a proper letter to their child.  I ‘m also certain that if the kids received these cookie-cutter letters  they would know just exactly what they were.  They’re way more aware of things these days than we were.

No matter what parents say, they actually do miss their children when they’re attending summer camp.  I would think that writing that first letter to your child after they’ve been away from home for a period of time would be tough.  Not the letter itself but all the worrying you’ll do when your child has been out of touch for a few days or weeks.  I certainly wouldn’t need assistance from some web site to communicate with my kid.  Here are a few of the samples provided to assist any lazy parents in writing a freaking letter.  They’ve even broken it down by age and sex of the child but for my purposes these two should be sufficient to make my point.

For a 10 Year Old Boy

Dear Xavier,
I miss you! I have been thinking about you a lot and all of the fun camp activities you’re involved in. Have you tried any new sports? When I went to summer camp, my favorite sport was "Monkey Soccer". Ask me about it when you get home.

I hope the food is okay. What is the favorite thing you’ve eaten so far? Have you done any funny camp skits? Or seen any funny camp pranks?

I hope you are having lots of fun. If you are having a hard day, please hang in there. Scruffy misses you too. I know he will want you to play fetch when you get home. We had some rain yesterday and he enjoyed getting muddy.

I love you bunches! See you in a few days!

Love,
Mom

For a 10 Year Old Girl

Dear Michelle,
How is camp? Have you made any neat crafts? Did you like horseback riding? I hope you are enjoying the activities!

I miss you lots! Be sure to take several photos so I can see what you did at camp. We can make a scrapbook together after you get home.

Have you played any fun games? I remember when I went to camp, my favorite was "Capture the Flag." I liked playing it with water balloons the best.

Fluffy missed you too. She slept on your bed last night, I think she will be happy when you come home.

I love you to the moon and back! See you next week!

Love,
Mom

I could show you many more examples but they just seem kind of lame to me. I remember attending camp as a kid and I wasn’t all that interested in receiving or sending letters anyway.  I was having a great time and couldn’t be bothered.  I assume that’s the case with most kids.

Just to give you a giggle or two here are some quotes from actual camp letters from kids to their parents.  There are plenty available for viewing on the web and easy to find if your interested. Many books have also been written and are available from many Web book sellers. They are just too damned cute.  Spelling and grammatical errors are included for your amusement.

• “Hey Mom! I’m having so much fun!! …I miss u! But this is so much better than u yelling at me, Joey and dad! (no offense)..love, Googie.”
• “Dear Mom and Dad,  Our cabin is so dirty and unclean that this bacterial disease called Empitiga so far 4 people in our cabin have it under their armpits. I have it all over my face…”
• “A ginormous tree hit our cabin and knoked it down! When I was in it! No one got hurt, though. It was so scary! When the roof fell off our cabin everyone got soaked!… Love, Juliet. P.s. please do not be alarmed.”
• “Dear Mom and Dad, I love everything about this camp except the campers. Love, Sarina”
• “…they made me clean the table. I want to go home!…I stopped crying…But we have chores today. I am the Scraper, Sweeper and Maid.” 
• “Dear Mom and Dad, This is not a camp from my dreams, it’s the 100^th level of hell. I hate this stupid camp. I am getting out of here. Write me. I NEED MORE STAMPS. Save me!!! I am out of stamps.”

Camp is just another phase we’re forced to endure on our way to adulthood.  I must say that the camping trips I took during my dating years were way better than summer camp.  By then I was a little smarter about girls which made my continuing education much more interesting.