CHICAGO Eve Pidgeon watched the large group of kids, many of them laughing and chatting excitedly as they boarded a bus for summer sleep-away camp last summer.

"They just couldn't wait," says Pidgeon, whose 8-year-old daughter Zoe was among the young campers.

Then Pidgeon looked around and noticed something else: "There were no children crying -- just parents."

These days, camp leaders and family counselors say it's an increasingly common dynamic. It used to be the homesick kid begging to come home from camp. While that still happens, they've noticed that it's often parents who have more trouble letting go.

They call it "kid-sickness," a condition attributed in large part to today's more involved style of parenting. Observers also say it's only being exacerbated by our ability to be in constant contact by cell phone and computer, as well as many parents' perception that the world is a more dangerous place.

For leaders at many camps, it's meant that dealing with parents has become a huge part of their jobs.

"The time and energy camp directors put into preparing parents for camp is now equal to the time they prepare children for camp," says Peg Smith, head of the American Camp Association, which works with about 2,600 camps nationwide.

Pidgeon readily admits she's one of those parents.

Last summer, the single, working mother of two wiped away her own tears, as Zoe left for 10 days at Camp Maas, about 40 miles northwest of their home in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. This year, Zoe asked to go for three weeks and her mother said, "yes," reluctantly.

Before Zoe went to camp last summer, her mom loaded her daughter's backpack with stationery and stamps, since the only way she was allowed to contact her family was through handwritten letters. Both her parents, who are divorced, and Zoe's younger brother Ben wrote to her often.

But as they watched their mailboxes each day, nothing came.

Pidgeon later discovered that, when mailing her letters home, Zoe had decided to use stickers with bees on them that came with a letter-writing kit she'd received. She thought they were the same as the "normal stamps" her mom had given her.

"Her letters, when they came, weren't about missing us -- it was all about her amazing adventures," Pidgeon says.

Zoe had been horseback riding and rock climbing, had taken part in a lip-syncing competition -- and tried all kinds of things she never thought she could do.

"They do keep you really busy," says Zoe, who's now 9.

"I think you get a half an hour from the time you dry off from your shower after you swim until your next activity. You really don't have time to miss your parents."

Child experts say success at camp has a lot to do with a kid's desire to try it, or at least an interest in some of the activities. They agree that you shouldn't force a kid to go to camp. But they say it's equally important for parents to remain open to it.