My family has part ownership of a rustic wood cabin built by a group of my great grandfather’s friends back in 1906. It sits on a secluded pond surrounded by over 200 acres of woodland. When I get out of my car there I breathe deeply, taking in the smell of the deep pine woods. Just being there moves me, and passion for this place runs deeply through my family. I watch my children and the children of my brother and my cousins frolic in the pond in just the way we did as children. I see my parents enjoying time with their grandchildren in just the way I imagine my grandparents and great grandparents did before them. Sometimes I well up just reflecting on the simple beauty of that - the indelible connection to family past, present, and future.
There has never been a land line at “Camp” (as we call it). There was a time when if you needed to use a phone, you had to go to a neighboring house up the road. There has never been a television. It is simple and timeless, except...
These days when we go to camp, with me and my extended family come cell phones, iPhones, iPads, DVD players, laptops...I think on this last trip handheld devices may have outnumbered people two to one.
Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for wireless technology. My small business has hit the ground running. Honestly, I would not have felt comfortable going away at all this summer had I not been accessible to potential clients and to contractors working on the school.
For us grown-ups, I have accepted that having iPhones or cell phones at the ready is a necessary evil, even at Camp. However (call me a hypocrite if you must), I still cannot get to that place of feeling they are a necessity for the children, particularly when we are in such a historically “unplugged” location.
My family is amazing. My siblings, cousins and I get along really well, despite often differing parenting styles. If we can't agree we can usually laugh about it, sometimes pretty hardily. As my family members read this, some will roll their eyes, while others will be giving me a virtual high five. A good natured ribbing in each direction will likely ensue.
There is no doubt that each of us loves the camp and (obviously) the children. We all want the children to experience the joys of nature, and there is no doubt they do. The kids run and swim and fish and row until they drop...and then they want their iPads...and maybe that’s just fine.
Maybe I am just too nostalgic, but to me Camp should be about time spent enjoying simple pleasures. I love the idea of my children engaging in the same quintessentially “Camp” activities that were enjoyed in turn by my grandfather, my father and me...even if that includes occasional boredom.
My grandfather probably couldn’t have imagined the kind of technology now available in this cabin in the middle of the woods, yet somehow I imagine him arguing that being at Camp without these amenities builds character. Though, I can also imagine he would quickly be in favor of a way for the adults to enjoy a quiet drink on the porch in the evening without interruption.
Do you allow your children to bring video games, iPads and the like with you on vacation? If so, do you place limits on their use? Do you feel that they have an impact on the overall experience, or are they a non-issue?