If you’re like most parents whose kids are headed to sleepaway or day camp this summer, you are frantically trying to fill out forms, buying packing supplies and counting the days until you wave goodbye to your kids from a department store parking lot.
For those parents whose kids are leaving home for the first time, the entire process can be overwhelming. In fact, filling out all those forms can be downright maddening. The question is – how much should the camp know about your child and when could that information put their identity at risk?
Here are some tips to keep your kids safe and secure at summer camp even when you’re not there to tuck them in at night.
1. It’s okay not to share everything there is to know about your child: These days, camps are sending letters to parents explaining that if they are uncomfortable putting in writing any specific information about their child, they are welcome to omit that information or discuss it with the camp director by phone.
2. Never share your child’s social security number with their summer camp or doctor. While you may be able to trust the camp director or your pediatrician – you never know who might be working in the back office who could potentially steal your child’s identity.
3. Consider enrolling in an identity theft protection service for your family. The more you share, the more you put your entire family at risk. In fact, in the last five years alone, child identity theft has increased over 300% and children’s identities have been stolen at schools, camps and hospitals. Consider enrolling in a service like www.identityguard.com which monitors your entire family’s credit year round and alerts you if someone has attempted to access your information.
4. Arrange for your child to skype with other campers prior to attending camp. If this is their first time at camp, consider introducing them to their fellow bunkmates via skype. That way, they will feel more comfortable if they know the kids they will be spending the summer with before they even set foot on the bus.
5. Attend sleepaway camp with a friend or sibling. Sometimes the best camp experiences take place when you do it with a friend or have a sibling nearby. You don’t necessarily have to bunk with a close friend, but it’s good to go to sleepaway camp with someone who makes you feel at ease when your parents are several miles away.
Do You Need a Career Wake-up Call?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in that deep dark place plenty of times in my career where I wanted to stab someone in the eye with a #2 pencil. Okay – maybe that was just at one job and that was a really long time ago, but I digress…
If you are like millions of Americans who hate their jobs, then Monster.com says it’s time for a Wake Up Call! Over the last few months, the top career site has been going into offices and setting up hidden cameras and horn traps in workstations. The video stars actor, Brian Baumgartner who shows up after the employees have just been pranked with their wake up call. Take a look…
If you hate your job and are ready for a change, then it’s time to get in on the action! Monster.com is encouraging workers everywhere to create their own funny wake up call video and share it via Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #WakeUpCall. Monster.com will then repost the ones they think are the funniest on their Twitter and Facebook pages!
If you’re searching for your next job visit Monster.com.and to get the latest on job search advice, networking and cool jobs, and other tips and advice on managing your career, check out Monster’s blog, www.monsterworking.com.
Wait…there’s more!
We are also offering a prize giveaway if you post a video in our comments section and then share it on Twitter using the hashtag #WakeUpCall @MonsterWW.
One lucky winner will receive:
A $25 Visa Gift Card and a Monster Prize Pack (includes a Monster coffee mug, lunch cooler, duffle bag, backpack cinch bag, snow globe and one air horn).
So make sure you comment below with a link to your video and then share via Twitter so that those master job finders Monster.com can check it out too!
Disclosure: This compensated post was sponsored by Monster.com.
“Epic” Movie Review
By Role Mommy Writer, Danielle Feigenbaum
I don’t know about where you live, but the weather on the east coast isn’t looking so good for the start of Memorial Day Weekend. Well I have the perfect activity for you (and if it’s really hot where you live you will need to escape to the air conditioning)… grab the kids and run to see the movie Epic opening nationwide May 24th.
Having brought to life one of the most beloved and successful animated motion
picture franchises, Ice Age, director Chris Wedge and his teams at Blue Sky Studios (of
which Wedge is a co-founder) achieve new heights of realism, action, adventure and
detail, with EPIC.
“We experience the world of EPIC through the eyes of Mary Katherine (she
prefers M.K.), a smart, spirited and headstrong 17-year-old who finds herself on the
journey of a lifetime. After returning to her childhood home to connect with her
estranged father, Professor Bomba, M.K. loses patience with his endless stories of unseen
people who live in the woods. But when she is magically transported into the Leafmen’s
world, she gains a new perspective. To find her way home, M.K. must do more than
believe in this world; she’ll have to help save it.”
All the characters in the film are amazing, but my two favorites are Mub and Grub, a slug and snail portrayed by Aziz Ansari and Chris O’Dowd. They were absolutely hilarious. Mub the slug had a thing for M.K. “Mub and Grub dream big,” says the star of the acclaimed sitcom Parks and Recreation. Mub’s big – if not impossible – dream comes in his relentless wooing of M.K, an attraction he believes is mutual. “Mub feels that M.K.’s connection to him is undeniable; it’s a done deal,” says Ansari. “Which is kind of strange because he’s not
even a human being, so there’s that barrier.”
I have to be honest, my kids don’t usually like 3D movies but we all LOVED seeing this movie in 3D! The visuals were unbelievably gorgeous. You become a part of the magical forest adventure. They used a new technology that has been in development for 25 years! The message in the movie is wonderful too. Can you tell I really loved this movie?
EPIC features an incredible cast including: BEYONCÉ KNOWLES, COLIN FARRELL AMANDA SEYFRIED, AZIZ ANSARI, PITBULL, STEVEN TYLER, JOSH HUTCHERSON, CHRIS O’DOWD, CHRISTOPH WALTZ and JASON SUDEIKIS.
Click HERE and take a look for yourself!
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