By Ari Kalfus

Communications Specialist

It is with a heavy heart that I say “Shalom, GUCI family!” for the final time this summer. As I finish my last few projects, I want to take the time to thank all of you for reading our blog and following us on social media. Your responses and actions have guided how I do this job and made it truly enjoyable. Thank you!

Today, I’d like to talk to you about Closing Day and picking up your child. Information about Closing Day procedures can be found here (under additional resources), but I wanted to focus on the moment when you actually see your child again. Both of you are going to be excited beyond belief, but there may be a mix of other emotions running under the surface that you should be aware of when trying to speak with them about their summer.

Try not to bombard your child with questions the moment you see them, or the moment you turn out of camp’s gates onto Moore Road. Your child has just spent the last four weeks under the spell of “GUCI magic,” and may need time to acclimate back to life at home. They will need time to reflect, to unwind, and to contextualize their summer experience. Give them some time and space, and they will be much more responsive.

Another common feeling is that you, someone who was not at camp, cannot possibly understand the experience they had this summer; that you just “won’t get it.” Even if you are a GUCI alum yourself, allow them to believe this. Your child has just finished an extremely meaningful, transformative, immersive summer experience. For you to “get it” would mean that what they experienced was not altogether special and unique. So even if you have your own Bunk Night stories or you’d like to share your memory of winning Yom Sport, hold onto them for now. The time to relate and to discuss shared experience comes later – for now, simply listening is probably all that they want.

Finally, remember that the less you ask, the more they will talk. If you are lucky enough to have a child who starts talking the moment they’re in the car and doesn’t stop until you’re back at home four hours later, you will understand what I mean by this. If you don’t understand what is so special about a Kesher, what a Splinter Dome is and how it relates to the Mercaz Chevrah, or if you forget the fact that a program in the Merkaz Tarbut is one of the most exciting things that can happen, hold onto your questions. Once they start sharing, they will not want to stop, and asking questions here will only delay the story telling.

Of course, you know your children best. These are merely guidelines compiled after discussion with several GUCI families and from my own memories of being a camper. If you take one thing from this article, take this: silence does not mean your child had a bad summer. Silence usually indicates that your child cannot find the words to describe how important the summer was for him or her. Maybe they would like to share, if they could. But the right words will not come, and they’d rather say nothing than describe the magic of GUCI improperly.

At least, that was why I stayed silent when my parents picked me up.