Keeping time off a "secret" is common at many camps. It seems weird to people are used to having that be open; likewise, talking openly about time off seems weird to people used to keeping it a secret. I grew up at a camp that didn't talk about it, and moved to a camp where it was spoken of openly.
Basically, the idea is that kids might feel hurt if they think their counselor needs time off from THEM. I've decided I don't think it's a huge deal; kids know that counselors are employees, not, you know, their mothers. What does annoy me is any kind of talk about "I can't wait until my time off" or any discussion about what people did on their time off in front of kids, even if it's benign. Or counselors who keep checking their watches and stop participating in an activity because they're just going off in fifteen minutes anyway. The kids at my last camp took counselors' having time off pretty casually.
One year at my home camp when we had a new director, there was no rule about talking about time off, and the counselors were horrible about it--they were totally working for their breaks, and made no secret about it (like, jumping up as soon as someone came to relieve them--"YES!! Two hour break!" You need to strike a balance.
Since I'm totally anti-lying-to-kids, I don't like it when people make up stories (or are required to) about time off... I prefer the "I was taking a shower" or "that's when I had my me-time" (since the campers have me-time as well).
