How long should sleepaway camp last?
Some people on TikTok are shocked by a mother who sent her daughters to a seven-week summer camp that’s in a different state.
Others are coming to her defense.
“How could you send your kids away to sleepaway camp for seven weeks?” reads the text on a TikTok video posted by Florida mom Rachael Potash, whose daughters, ages 11 and 13, are at summer camp in Maine.
Potash, 44, tells TODAY.com that her daughters have gone to the same camp since they were each eight years old. The camp is special to the girls, she says, because of their late dad.
“Their father passed away four years ago and he grew up going to summer camp, which I never did,” she says. “He said that camp made the best summers of his life.”
On Potash’s video, people called the timespan “insane” and insinuated that she isn’t a happy mother.
“So much missed time with them. You will never get these summer months back with them. I soak up every minute. I know it goes quick,” one commented.
Potash says her daughters intentionally chose the “sister camp” of the one their father attended.
“I never would have encouraged this but (my late husband) said it was amazing, so I wanted to fulfill that for my daughters,” she says. “It was his wish and they love it.”
Potash says the all-girls camp runs for seven weeks and does not offer briefer sessions. In addition to the fun activities (horseback riding, soccer, figure skating), Potash loves the camp’s technology-free policy.
“It’s a digital detox — anyone with a teenager can appreciate that,” she says. Potash adds that the camp’s required uniforms nixes competition between the girls over clothing.
You’re thinking, ‘I only have 18 summers with my kid’ but it’s not about you — it’s about them.”
Rachel Potash
Potash sees growth in her children at the end of each summer.
“They return more independent and strong,” she says. “They’ve learned teamwork, how to get along with others and share a room. They face the types of problems that some kids don’t encounter until college.”
After three years of camp, her youngest daughter is now brave enough to try water skiing.
“I’m so proud of her for taking that leap because last year she was too scared to try,” says Potash.
As the text on her video suggests, Potash was prepared for the criticisms that surfaced in the comments, including:
- “I mean, maybe two weeks max? But seven?????”
- “My favorite memories are summers with my family.”
- “Not for seven weeks. I like being with my kids.”
- “That’s a ‘never ever’ from me.”
- “And this is exactly why I will always advocate for more women to stay child-free.”
People who either enjoyed camp as children or who allow their kids the same experience supported Potash:
- “My daughter spent her summers at camp. Now she’s 22 and on the camp’s leadership team. Don’t listen to the noise of judgment.”
- “I feel like people with the negative comments never experienced the magic of summer camp. I went for eight weeks every summer and wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
- “My parents met at sleepaway camp. I went for years and can’t wait to continue the tradition.”
- “My son is at camp for two weeks and I promise you he will be begging to stay the whole summer.”
Potash’s daughters left for camp on June 22 and she’s looking forward to Visiting Day. In the meantime, families make video calls or send letters.
Potash says she misses her girls, but with her blended family (her husband of three years has four kids of his own), the couple can better distribute time with each child over the summer.
“We’re growing our relationship while our kids learn to become (independent),” she says. “Camp is one of the best ways to do that, especially for girls.”
Potash says the worst TikTok critics aren’t considering another viewpoint.
"You’re thinking, ‘I only have 18 summers with my kid’ but it’s not about you — it’s about them,” she says. “If my kids want to go away to college or study abroad, I want to empower them to do that.”
Potash says her daughters decide how they spend their summers.
“If they didn’t want to go to camp. I would never force them,” she says. “They go because they want to go.”
