Terry’s Time

Terry’s Time- Disconnecting In Order To Connect

Since our most cherished moments and momentous things do not happen online, why then do we feel the need to always be connected?

Camp gives the campers a break from Social Media Anxiety Disorder (SMAD). Ok, so not all of us are at this level but most of would be guilty of feeling that we live with some type of screen in our face. We spend far too much time establishing faux connections with people via social media.

We ask our campers at Marimeta to live in the moment, to make real connections. We work on communicating about the important stuff. Becoming a better communicator is a skill that is learned. Marimeta girls are asked to speak and to listen.

By taking turns and truly listening to each other we can develop our communication skills. Face-to-face interactions authenticate our true feelings, and give the other person the social cues needed to respond in a compassionate way. The time we spend with people has a direct correlation to the sense of our own well being.

Marimeta strives to create those fulfilling moments with many different types of people. We want to create those times that they will cherish and remember fondly. These times don’t happen when we are online. So remember, in order to connect we must truly power off.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to watch your daughters develop their resilience and strength their communication skills. May your week be full of fun, sunshine and most of all laughter.

Love,

Terry

 

Terry’s Time- If we don’t change, we don’t grow. 

Success can depend on our ability and willingness to adapt, not on everything staying the same. Trying to see change as an opportunity, not an obstacle will help relieve the stress then can be associated with change.

Knowing that change is a vital component of self-growth, we at Marimeta embrace change. We try not to see these situations as a challenge; rather, we see them as opportunities for growth. We want the girls to focus on the positive instead of creating self-imposed stress by dwelling on the negative. Part of growing up is learning how to stay calm and learning to be flexible.

As Parents’ Weekend approaches, we would like you to look at the big picture of what we are trying to accomplish, here at Marimeta. As parents, you can understand the roller coaster of emotions that occurs this coming weekend. One of the most important skills you can help your child develop is the ability to deal with change. Change will come in many forms this weekend. For some it will be returning home; for others it will be a change in their cabins. For us parents, it will be taking it all in and trying to decipher what we can do to help.

Typically, our “self-talk” can make all the difference as to whether you become stressed-out about something or whether you sail through it harmoniously. While we don’t have control over the changes that come our way, you do have control over something – the way in which we choose to react and process the changes. Let’s show our kids that you can feel lots of things about change and it is OK.

Simple tips on helping kids cope with change

1. Acknowledge that change is hard.
2. Have a positive attitude. If you are confident about an upcoming change, your child will be positive, too.
3. Find ways to help channel your child’s energy in a positive direction. This will increase her sense of empowerment, and help her feel more resilient in the face of such change.
4. Encourage a diverse group of friends.
5. Ask your daughter what might be some good things that can come out of this change. Many times children haven’t even considered that change can be life enhancing and bring about positive experiences.
6. Suggest a proactive strategy. Help them put their energy into being resilient and coming through the change creatively.

Let’s teach our children that change is a fact of life and not something to avoid, but rather a chance to experience a new adventure in the game of life. Remember, we may not have control over the changes that come our way, but you DO have control over our responses. That, in itself, is pretty empowering. You will find there is no limit to what you can achieve.

Thank you for trusting us with your incredible daughters.Every day is a pleasure when we get to spend time with them and watch them become resilient, accountable and brave young ladies. May your week be full of fun, sunshine and most of all laughter.

Love,

Terry

At age nine, girls feeling of self-worth and confidence crashes. Girls focus starts to shift from their accomplishments and abilities to their appearance. “Girls who avoid risks have poorer self-esteem than girls who can and do face challenges,” says JoAnn Deak, Ph.D., author of Girls Will Be Girls.

Marimeta strives to challenge your daughters daily. We work on developing an attitude of “I can do this” by offering them opportunities to show them that they are capable. We ask our campers to work cooperatively in their cabins and to problem-solve together on a regular basis. They are always participating in team-building activities and they must rely on teamwork to get things accomplished at camp. The neat thing is, our Marimeta campers support each other and gain a sense of empowerment when they are able to be their authentic selves.

With the guidance of their counselors, we constantly ask your girls to come up with solutions on their own. Building their emotional vocabulary helps them identify the emotions they are experiencing so they are better able to deal with them. They learn to take action, to think critically, to express their feelings and acknowledge the feelings of others. We urge them to go beyond their comfort zone. Good communication is a craft they practice continuously at Marimeta. Asking the girls to believe in their abilities and not shy away from challenges is an important skill that helps them take pride in their fortitude.

Strong girls grow up feeling more self-assured. They can rely on their own abilities to make sound decisions. Powerful girls, like all of us, will have times of uncertainty and indecision, but these times will not cripple them because these girls have learned at Marimeta how to work through their problems. They don’t have to sit back and wait for someone else to fix things. They can do it for themselves.

Thank you for sharing your incredible daughters with us. It is always a privilege to watch them grow into strong, powerful and independent young ladies.  May your week be full of fun, sunshine and most of all laughter.

Love,

Terry

Camp is a world unto itself.  For many people who have never experienced camp, it may seem as foreign as the underwater landscape and sea life.  Marimeta truly has a life of its own.  Just like the tide and the ocean currents that change the views from below: The different personalities, the ever changing weather, new activities and age group sizes all play a vital role in how things look and work at Camp Marimeta.

Camp is a place where kids can be kids.  Even the older ones.  It is OK, even kind of cool, to be silly. Because Marimeta is not co-ed camp, our girls are not worried about their hair or their make-up, unless it’s to make it the most outrages or the funniest.  What they wear can be an endless struggle at home, but at Marimeta goofy is the “new black”.  Whether the camper has been with us for eight weeks or the second session they have been working on their independence, self-reliance, leadership, cooperation and community living.  These skills take practice and for some it is their first chance to experience these.  The campers at Marimeta start getting in a routine and thrive in taking care of themselves and others.  When the girls get home it can be easy to fall back into rely on their parents to take care of everything.   Give them some responsibilities that they may not have had before.  Ask them to help out around the house.  All the girls now know how to set a table as well as clear the dishes when done.  They  all can make their beds, and sweep a floor.  It may not always be to our standards but they are attempting and that is usually half the battle.

When at home, some of the girls will retreat to their rooms, others will latch on to their computers and phones.  There are girls who may just seem quiet.  All of these are normal transitions and the girls just need time to decompress.  They need time to slowly come up for air.  The have been living in a unique world that very few understand.

The Lodgies recieved a thank you note from Cami C., one of our senior cabin girls, that says volumes to how special, unique, remarkable and unexplainable Marimeta can be:

Dear Lodge,

They say that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.  As these last few days of camp quickly dawn on us, I finally realize that that saying is best applied towards camp.  This beautiful place that we call our summer home has given all of us so much to be thankful for.  This is a very special place where something as simple as grilled cheese can make us go ballistic and nobody thinks anything of it.  Every single girl is here because they are meant to be here.  Sure, we don’t always get along every second, but hey, what do you expect “sisters” to do.  At Marimeta, strangers become friends, friends become sisters, counselors become moms and memories become a part of us.

When you go home, you try to explain to your parents and friends about the songs, the inside jokes, the cheers and the food-but you end up just telling them “you had to be there…”

I just wanted to say thank you an infinity amount of time for making my time at camp the most cherished experience of my life.

Love, Cami

As the summer comes to a close we want to thank everyone who has giving us the chance to watch your daughters and granddaughters grow. Thanks for making camp a priority for your daughters.  Thanks for believing in the miracle of camp. There are many opportunities out there and we appreciate that you have chosen Marimeta for your child.  The impact that Marimeta can have on molding their future and the life lessons that can not be learned from home or parents are things we hold dear and cherish.  We love what we do and it would not be possible without all of your support.

May  you and your daughter’s school year be full of fun, sunshine and most of all, laughter.

Love,

Terry

We hope you will check in monthly for Letters from the Lodge.  We will be posting interesting articles, fun facts and other interesting news about camp and our campers.

Post season and Alumni camp are available and are a fun way to experience the allure of camp.  If you know of anyone that might like spending a week in the Northwoods, skiing, sailing, and trying their hand on the high ropes course, let them know about Marimeta.  Marimeta is a word of mouth business, please help spread the word about the experiences your daughter has had here.

“I’m not happy”…how many times do we hear this from everyone we work with, from our friends, from our children.  If only this or that would happen I would or could be happy.

We forget so often that happiness is a matter of choice.  Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher said,”Happiness is an achievement rather then a gift…an achievement that requires effort both inward and outward.”  It’s the decision to intentionally choose a frame of mind and behaviors that will lead you to that happiness.  Marimeta wants to foster positive sentiments, such as compassion, peace of mind and especially gratitude.  We want and need to take the time to work on our happiness.

Camp Marimeta develops the skills that are needed to lead a happy life.  There are few better remedies to unhappiness than close friendships, which we cultivate daily.  We place like-minded campers together that work on being nice to each other and respect each others’ differences.  We want our campers to be their true self and choose friends they are proud to know and people they admire.  We don’t want the girls to compare themselves to anyone else.  Our campers know that they should never stop trying to be the very best version of themselves.  We ask them to give it their all in whatever they are doing.

We ask our campers to be grateful for the wonderful opportunities they have in their life.  Our activity days are now called G-day (gratitude) and K-day (kindness).  We encourage them to take a moment and reflect on who has gone out of their way to do something kind for them and what they may have done for someone in need.  Choose to help others when you’re able. When you make a positive impact in someones’ life , you also make a positive impact in your own life. Our bead necklaces are also a way to acknowledge gratitude.  Campers and counselors alike are able to give gratitude beads to people whom have helped them in someway to feel empowered, encouraged them to conquer a fear, give them a voice, lend a helping hand or just for giving a much needed smile.

We have all heard of the person whose smile brightens the whole room. A smile may seem simple but that too is a choice.  A real smile makes you and everyone around you feel better.  The simple act of smiling pumps endorphins through your body which actually makes you happier.  So we ask campers to smile and say good morning to each other on the way to the dining room.

Spend time outdoors.  Shawn Achor, CEO of Good Think Inc, says spending at least 20 minutes outside on a nice day not only boosts positive mood, but broadens thinking & improves working memory .  A study at the University of Sussex found participants were substantially happier outdoors in a natural environment.  With schools cutting back on outdoor activities and our society struggling to let our children run around the neighborhood, camp is invaluable for our futures well being.  Happiness is found in the flow…a state in which your mind becomes absorbed in a meaningful task that challenges our ability.

Our campers at Marimeta learn to be more forgiving. We foster forgivness of self and others.  We all make mistakes and work hard at not building a case against any one particular person.  Girls and drama seem to go together so we work on not getting involved with drama that doesn’t effect us.  We start by being honest with ourselves and everyone else, this makes life less complicated.  Everyday is a new beginning so we let go of the past and create our own happiness today.

The choice is yours.  I choose happiness.  Will you join me?

May your week be full of fun, sunshine and most of all laughter.

Love,

Terry

When we think about education mathematics, humanities, language are the first on our list and the arts usually fall into the bottom.  However, when you read about top executives or talk to business heads they say creativity is the crucial skill for the 21st century.  IBM found that creativity was considered to be the number one leadership trait for the future. People in leadership positions must be creative and become creative problem solvers.  Fortune 500 companies say “we need people who can be innovative , who can think differently.”

Camp Marimeta  rewards our girls for their creative process and innovation.  Most of our special events and evening activities have a special section just for creativity.  Creativity is what make your life fun.  It’s what lets yourself soar and try and figure out a new and better way to do something.  Creativity is really a function of everything we do.  Everybody has an enormous creative capacity and Marimeta works hard to pull these traits out of all our campers.  One of the greatest skills we promote and teach is collaboration and the exchange of ideas.  We don’t want campers to be frightened by being wrong.  We give them permission to make mistakes.  They can experiment and try without judgement.  Our aim is to encourage campers to innovate and to experiment.  We do not give them all the answers but give the the supplies they need to work out the answer or even better, imagine a new scenario.

The skills we teach at Camp Marimeta for girls are many times intangable, they go beyond learning to play soccer or getting up on skis.   Campers at Marimeta learn about empathy, public speaking, patience and problem solving in inventive ways.  We attempt to strenghten their imagination by giving them new and challenging programs and activity each year.  The girls also look forward to many of the annual special events to try out their novel idea that they have been brain-storming.  These annual skits require a genuine creative process involving critical thinking as well as imaginitive insight and fresh ideas especially for our older campers because they have done them before.  These are the events the lodge can’t what for because of the unusual, unconventional and sometimes avant guarde ideas our camper come up with.

When you allow creativity to prosper, you inspire those around you.

May your week be full of fun, sunshine and most of all laughter.

Love,

Terry

CHANGE…..UGH. Why should we have to deal with change?

The answer is because transitions happen every day, to everyone: it is the one constant in life.

At Camp Marimeta we want the campers to embrace change.  Change can and should be a positive thing.  Change can lead you to new friends and develop a stronger belief in yourself.  We want our campers to focus on the positive that will inevitably come from any transition.  We believe that change exists to teach us something, to make us a better person and to put us on a new path.  Many times we get stuck in the past and lose our ability to move forward.  Camp lets us flex our “change muscle”.  By using our “change muscle” we strengthen it each time we except change and move through it.  This muscle helps us maintain a happier outlook and search for genuine solutions to face unfamiliar or tough situations.

With our culture of trying to make sure our kids are content, we try to stay one step ahead of everything our kids are going to encounter.  But we are doing our children a disservice because we know life doesn’t work that way.  Marimeta strives to teach campers and counselors to deal with change on the fly.  By not meeting there every wish we want to help develop their problem-solving skills and their resilience. Marimeta wants to engage your child in figuring out how they can handle challenges, what works, and what doesn’t.

Change encourages you to make a choice.  You can choose to feel better and not blame someone else when things are difficult or you can choose to hold on to self-pity and grudges.  Negative thoughts block our creativity and logical thinking skills. We like to focus on the future, not the past.  At camp, you are surrounded by a group of people that are supportive and have been through many of the changes and challenges that young ladies experience.  Having a group like our Marimeta girls to help navigate through these issues make the transition more genuine.

So let’s try to keep our circle positive and remember what goes around comes around.  Let’s go in the direction life takes us.  Embrace the transitions that camp provides your daughter and know that she is going to come out of theses challenges a stronger, confident, courageous, and happier person.

May your week be full of fun, sunshine, and most of all laughter.

Love,

Terry

It is hard to believe that in less then one week our first four week campers will be home and our second four week kids will be up on Meta shores.

The time has has been full of silly songs, creative skits and funny activities.  We want to thank all of you who have made it possible for us to see your daughters grow in this great environment.  Camp Marimeta’s staff has been working hard to make sure your daughters summer was all it could be.  Each season brings new personalities and endless challenges.  When your daughter returns home please note how she has grown and matured.  Many camper report that they become “camp sick” once back home.  It will take some time for her to decompress back into her usual routine.   You should see that she may take on some more responsibilities at home. ( This usually only last a week or two – Sorry).   We hope you will notice that she is more social at meal time.

We as parents want to know everything they did, everything they said, what activities did they take, and what was their favorite?  We also want to know what they didn’t like, which is a very valid question.  What we need to remember is to take it slowly.  Camp is more then just activities.  Camp is a community that  has ups and downs,  good weather and bad weather, leaders and followers and a place where your daughter’s character was challenged.  For many of our girls this is the first time they have every shared a room more less a bathroom.  It is not always easy to like everyone in our cabin and this is where we see  many conflicts arise.  We strive at Marimeta to make these encounters as painless as possible and a growing experience for these girls.  Reminding your daughters what they learned from these clashes is a way for you as parents to let them know how proud you are of them for their resilience and compassion for others.

Todays girls need to protect and have each others back more then ever.  It is a competitive world and we are working harder then ever to make connections that will last a life time. We want and ask Marimeta campers and counselors to look out for each other through the school year, be kind to each other on the internet and social media.  We believe Marimeta girls are very special and with your help we have created a place that is inclusive, excepting and worth the investment you have made for your daughters.

May your week be full of fun, sunshine and most of all laughter.

Terry

P.S. What an adorable poem from one of our littlest campers that is too cute not to share.

We at Camp Marimeta are so excited to have the chance to help your daughters grow in independence, learn to be cooperative, resolve disagreements and see how important genuine communication is.  These skills are not something as parents we can easily teach but at camp these skills are the essence of every activity and program we provide. It may seem that the campers are just participating in activities and having fun (which is a big part of camp) but in every aspect of these activities and our programs an important element in social finesse is being played out.

Camp teaches kids that they can…….

Camp is a time to learn…..

Camp Marimeta teaches…..

Camp offers your girls a chance to unplug from “social media” which is exactly the opposite of  anything truly social.  Marimeta lets them engage in real activities (not computer games), real people (not just “liking” on Facebook) and true emotions (not just memes).  These are life skills that are slowly being lost on our young people.  Camp offers a break from technology that isn’t a punishment for them.

Marimeta offers your daughters a time without pressure.  Academics for most of these campers is highly stressfull.  The competition for team sports, dance troupes and skating teams all take a toll on their anxiety level.  As the girls get older they have to deal with the added pressure of fitting in and dating.  Here at Marimeta we work very hard to help soften this strain by having all teams and tables assigned and all campers get a chance to participate and be a lead in a skit or play. Camp gives them an opportunity to breath and relax and remember what it feels like to be stress free.

So give yourself a pat on the back, knowing that you are giving your daughters something that will last a lifetime:

• Time to discover their independence .
• Time to engage with the real world.
• Time where the pressure is off.
• Time to learn about acceptance and understanding.

Again, thanks for trusting us with your precious daughters and we hope your week is full of fun, sunshine and laughter.

Terry