Traverse City Record-Eagle

Jodee Taylor

Related Photos

August 11, 2008

Jodee Taylor: A lesson on independence

BY JODEE TAYLOR

I got a kick out of a recent New York Times story about parents sending their kids off to sleep-away camp, then checking on them multiple times a day. The story, hilariously headlined "Dear Parents -- Please Relax, It's Just Camp," mentioned parents who flaunt the ban on cell phones by sending their kids to camp with two phones in case one gets confiscated and "parent liaisons," described as "almost like a hotel concierge listening to a client's needs" by one camp consultant.

My own kid, 15, went to camp this summer for two weeks. It was math camp at the University of Michigan and I still am stunned that I raised a kid who wants to go to math camp. I got some e-mails from him while he was there. (The high-speed Internet was a novelty to a kid who lives in dial-up land.) There was no ban on cell phones, but he didn't use it, either. In fact, I'm pretty sure he forgot he had parents during two astoundingly fun weeks in Ann Arbor.

We missed him, of course. We had to take out the garbage ourselves and care for all those animals ourselves and, well, nobody mowed the lawn. But it was a nice little mini-taste of what sending him off to college will be like, too.

I was especially proud that he was able to teach his roommate how to do laundry. I got a kick out of the souvenir he bought for me (granted, it was with my money) and I cherished the random e-mails, which had more to do with baseball than Fibonacci numbers. He was definitely taller when we picked him up two weeks later and, of course, he was hungry.

It would never have occurred to me to check up on him or to e-mail his teacher or to even call his dorm. Part of the camp experience is learning to do things without your parents, not having your parents sneak around to rescue you.

I feel sorry for both the kids and the parents in the summer camp story in the Times. The kids are being taught that rules don't apply to them, that adults are there to cater to their every whim and that if there's even an itty-bitty moment of uncomfortableness, someone will somehow save them from it.

The parents are encouraging all of the above, of course, as well as depriving themselves of the satisfaction of doing what parents are supposed to do -- raising independent, contributing members of society.

I'll send my kid over to teach their kids how to do laundry.

Jodee Taylor can be reached at jtaylor@record-eagle.com.

Text Only
  • CSS91D3.jpg
    Jodee Taylor: Retiree finds wellness path

    Continued ...
    Jan 9, 2012 7:37 am 2 Photos
  • Jodee Taylor: Donation counts double for cats
    CSS8069.jpg

    Continued ...
    Updated Feb 9, 2012 12:03 pm 1 Photo
  • Jodee Taylor: Reviving bike-share program
    CSSEB25.jpg

    Continued ...
    Nov 21, 2011 6:14 am 2 Photos
  • Jodee Taylor: The stinkbug fight
    CSS1294.jpg

    Continued ...
    Oct 17, 2011 7:47 am 2 Photos
  • Jodee Taylor: Events, deadlines matter
    CSS238A.jpg

    The email rolled in on a Friday afternoon, just as I was getting ready to shut down my computer. "We're having a bake sale (art opening, fundraiser) Sunday! Please help us get the word out!" As much as I'd like to, I can't, because of deadlines.

    Continued ...
    Sep 19, 2011 7:24 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, August 22, 2011
  • Jodee Taylor: First-World Problems?
    CSS24A.jpg

    An image made the rounds on the Internet a while back — First World Problems. It's also a Twitter hashtag, #firstworldwoes. It's funny in an I-don't-want-to-laugh-at-this way. "My hand is too fat to shove into the Pringles container so I have to tilt it." We've all thought along these lines. I know I have. At least I know to catch myself at it and metaphorically slap myself.

    Continued ...
    Aug 22, 2011 7:14 am 2 Photos
  • Monday, May 30, 2011
  • Jodee Taylor: Ads tell me about pals
    CSS5550.jpg

    There's a series of ads running in the Record-Eagle about the people who work here. Finally, I'm learning about my co-workers. There are plenty of things I know about plenty of people, but these ads are introducing me to new aspects, like, um, last names. OK, it's not quite that bad, but it's amazing how little I know about the people I spend most of my waking hours with.

    Continued ...
    May 30, 2011 7:14 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, May 2, 2011
  • Jodee Taylor: Chicken ratio was skewed
    CSS48EF.jpg

    Ten years ago,we got two dozen chicks in the mail.
    We now have seven grown-up birds and I'd be hard put to remember if the DNA of the original flock is present in any of them.
    But last month I had to do something I never thought I'd do. I culled.

    Continued ...
    May 2, 2011 7:22 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, April 4, 2011
  • Jodee Taylor: Mouse gets help from U.S.
    CSS935C.jpg

    My son came up with the perfect quote at the perfect time. I was so proud. Then I thought about the quote, which made me think about the United States' role in the world. Are we responsible for saving everyone? Or just a few?

    Continued ...
    Apr 4, 2011 7:14 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, March 7, 2011
  • Jodee Taylor: Tweet a revolution
    CSS655C.jpg

    I thought following a revolution on Twitter would be like reading the Cliff Notes for "Pride and Prejudice." I was wrong. I get edge-of-my-seat excitement, unfiltered updates and a mad itch to be where the action is. How could I possibly understand what was going on in Tunisia (Egypt, Bahrain, Libya) in 140 characters? How could I get the depth, the context, the fire-in-the-belly feeling from these tiny messages on my computer screen? And yet I did. And I got hooked.

    Continued ...
    Mar 7, 2011 7:14 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, February 7, 2011
  • Jodee Taylor: Not all have equal rights
    CSS3C87.jpg

    It seemed like Martin Luther King Jr. Day meant more to me this year. Maybe it was because I fear we've dropped the ball.

    Continued ...
    Feb 7, 2011 7:16 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, January 10, 2011
  • Jodee Taylor: U.N. statement a start
    CSS2E2E.jpg

    I scrolled through my Twitter feed and found a bland tweet from WikiLeaks: "U.N. statement on WikiLeaks," it said, with a link. Groan. I sighed, but clicked. "The right to access information held by public authorities is a fundamental human right ... ." Huh? Information is a human right?

    Continued ...
    Jan 10, 2011 7:08 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, December 13, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Plain words are best
    CSS1B1E.jpg

    This fall, the president signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Thank God. The act is mainly about banking language, but the Center for Plain Language is already entrenched in my heart.

    Continued ...
    Updated Dec 13, 2010 1:00 pm 1 Photo
  • Monday, November 1, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: The right to vote
    CSS574B.jpg

    Turning 18 can be pretty cool. You can go to the casino, of course, apparently a rite of passage for teenagers all over northern Michigan. Being 18 also means you're old enough to go to war — or vote against it.

    Continued ...
    Nov 1, 2010 7:17 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, October 11, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Sen. What's-their-name
    CSS5812.jpg

    I had a chance to hang out with some teenagers a few weeks ago. They were a thoughtful, well-spoken, ambitious group. Then I asked, "Who are your U.S. senators?"

    Continued ...
    Oct 11, 2010 7:50 am 1 Photo
  • Saturday, September 11, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Good apples improve whole bushel
    CSSFCA5.jpg

    I don't mind anyone building an Islamic community center in Manhattan. I don't mind that there will be a mosque within blocks of ground zero or anywhere else in the country, for that matter.

    Continued ...
    Sep 11, 2010 7:14 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, August 16, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Ellsberg right on justice
    CSS9738.jpg

    What's kept me thinking the most since the 2010 Traverse City Film Festival isn't a film at all. I was in the same room as Daniel Ellsberg.
    Well, I was in the room with Daniel Ellsberg's giant head.

    Continued ...
    Aug 16, 2010 7:15 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, July 19, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Relearning how to be a mother
    CSS847A.jpg

    My son, who has been gone for a year as a Rotary exchange student in Sweden, is due back this week. I’ve never seen him as a 17-year-old.

    Continued ...
    Jul 19, 2010 9:34 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, June 21, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Americans' geography
    CSS847A.jpg

    The tweet came across on a regular Monday afternoon: "On May 17, AP will restore country names in references to Bogota, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Kabul, Oslo."

    Continued ...
    Jun 21, 2010 6:55 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, April 26, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Two sides to every story
    Jodee Taylor

    Here's a helpful — and reassuring — way to look at things for anyone who's been the subject of a news story.

    Continued ...
    Updated Apr 26, 2010 7:31 am 1 Photo
  • Sunday, March 28, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: The rules of swearing
    images_sizedimage_087233032

    The vice president dropped the F-bomb. Big deal. Well, it was kind of a big deal, because his microphone was on and the place was packed and everyone heard it.

    Continued ...
    Updated Mar 28, 2010 11:30 pm 1 Photo
  • Monday, March 1, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Readers weigh in on sitter
    images_sizedimage_060072603

    My last column was about a pet-sitting experience gone awry. I heard from readers -- more than all my other columns put together, it seemed. And you know what? I think I may have gotten off easy.

    Continued ...
    Mar 1, 2010 7:25 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, February 1, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: Teen took more than our stuff
    images_sizedimage_032074100

    We hired a neighbor kid to take care of our animals while we were out of town over the holidays. We were robbed. We came home to find vomit on the walls, empty beer bottles, used condoms and missing things. An iPod. A hard drive. A phone. Gift certificates. Did I mention the kid we hired is all of 13 years old?

    Continued ...
    Feb 1, 2010 7:40 am 1 Photo
  • Monday, January 4, 2010
  • Jodee Taylor: 'Twenty-ten.' Please?
    images_sizedimage_004071720

    I think everyone should call this year "twenty-ten." See how awkward that is? I have to spell it out. I can't just take to the airwaves and repeatedly say "2010, 2010, 2010" ("twenty-ten," "twenty-ten," "twenty-ten"). But doesn't it sound so much better? And doesn't it make so much more sense?

    Continued ...
    Jan 4, 2010 7:15 am 1 Photo
  • Sunday, December 6, 2009
  • Jodee Taylor: Small-town claustrophobia fades
    images_sizedimage_340222536

    Growing up in Traverse City became very claustrophobic when I hit my teen years.

    Continued ...
    Dec 6, 2009 10:25 pm 1 Photo