Shower Time, Cabin Clean-Up, and Mail - New Camper Blog Series

Shower Time:

Girls live in cabins with 8-10 other campers and 1-2 counselors. Most of our cabins have 1 shower, so as you can probably guess, shower time requires some finesse to get all of our campers in and out in a reasonable amount of time!

For the most part, girls shower after their classes and before dinner. We have what we call “free time” on the schedule, but this time typically involves showering and cleaning the cabin. So, most girls will head back to the cabin after classes to get clean after a busy day.

We joke at camp that “Greystone girls know how to shower and shave in less than 5 minutes.” While this is just a fun Greystone saying, it is also a reminder to all of the girls that they can’t be in the shower for a long time. To get everyone in your cabin in and out before dinner, you’ve got to keep moving!

So what do you need to know about shower time before you arrive? We encourage you to talk to your daughter about getting in and out of the shower in a reasonable amount of time. Our counselors will remind our campers to “keep it moving” in the shower, but we never want anyone to feel rushed. Work with your daughter on washing herself and getting out when she is done, and she will be all prepared for camp. She can save those long soaks for when she gets home!

This summer, we are also going to help girls figure out ALL of the times they can shower, and we will be reminding them of the many shower times throughout the day. While most girls do take a shower before dinner, there is often quite a bit of time after dinner and then after Evening Program to get clean - these extra times will give every camper plenty of time to shower!

One final thing to know about showering…we also have something new we are trying this year to help you with your packing. This summer, we will be providing shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in all of the camp showers; we hope this will free up some valuable space in your trunk. However, if your camper needs or wants to bring her favorite products, please do! We know many girls need specific shampoo for their hair. So use what we have, or bring your own - it is up to you!

Cabin Clean-Up:

Every cabin will have a Job Wheel where each camper is assigned a job for the day to keep the cabin clean. The Job Wheel rotates each day so that the jobs also rotate around equally. Girls will help clean the cabins two times a day: before breakfast and before dinner.

After cleaning, we will have a bugle that calls girls to our Flag ceremony. During Flag, counselors will inspect on how the cleaning went, and girls will earn points for their camp team for keeping their cabins clean during the day. The hope is to have “perfect inspection” on Banquet night (our last night of camp) so that your cabin has earned the most points possible for your team at the end of the session.

The main reason we do our cabin clean-up is to keep the cabins clean… which is probably obvious! When you have 8-10 girls living together in a small space, things can get out of hand fast (I’m sure many of you can relate with how things go at home!). We want girls to keep their own spaces clean as well as the cabin as a whole. By all pitching in, everyone does something small that ends up making a big difference.

Cabin clean-up also helps the girls learn responsibility by taking ownership of their things (“taking ownership” is a big part of our Honor Code). If your bed is really messy, or if you left your shoes and backpack on the floor, your cabin is not going to receive perfect inspection for the day. By chipping in to keep your things neat, you’re helping not only your cabin but also your camp team. Girls then gain some ownership in the final team score at the end of the summer as well!

Mail:

Girls love getting mail at camp – it is a highlight! We did a New Camper Blog post last year about communication – how you communicate with your daughter and camp, and how we communicate with you. It’s a great place to start to get the basics of our mail system.

A few things you should know about mail at camp:

• Girls like receiving letters and emails! I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve gotten a call from a parent who says, “My daughter keeps writing me saying she’s not getting any mail but I am emailing her every day. What is wrong with your email service?” In all of these instances, the campers are talking about letters in the mail as “true mail,” instead of just emails. So, even if you email, send letters as well. Girls love it!
• Don’t go a long time without writing! We have a handful of girls every year who come to us in tears because they haven’t received any mail from their parents. Often, the parents have gone on a trip and sent quite a few letters ahead of time, but then all of a sudden there is a long break in the letters. If that’s going to be you, make sure your daughter knows! Also, think about still sending emails when you are gone, or drop off some pre-written letters on Opening Day for those days you’ll be out of town. Campers don’t love feeling like the only ones not receiving mail, and they start to worry about you.
• Pre-address those envelopes. Campers just don’t know how to address letters these days, so either practice beforehand or preaddress envelopes for your daughter. This will ensure that you receive her letters.
• Don’t send packages! We package-free at camp, but every year, parents miss this and send packages to their girls. Mailing a package is expensive, and we hate when you have to eat the cost of the mailing because we have to send them back when they arrive. The biggest culprit? Grandparents and friends! Make sure to tell all of your daughter’s relatives and friends that girls cannot receive packages at camp. And, make sure to read up on what to do if you need to send something your daughter forgot.

We hope you’ve learned a little bit about these daily parts of life at camp: showering, clean-up, and mail. If you have any questions, post them below or reach out to us. We are happy to help!