Do you sign your kids up for summer day camps?

What happened to the days when kids got out for summer and just played in the neighborhood all day?  When I was a child I was always on the swim team which meant I swam for an hour a day and then the rest of the day I was free except for on meet days.  My Mom did the same stuff she always did, go to the market, clean, garden, constantly work on the house and I rode my bike, bugged my neighbor, painted my nails, went to the beach, went to the pool, read books and begged my Mom to drive me places like the mall, bowling, or to the movies.  She usually refused as we lived across the street from the beach so the traffic coming and going to and from our house was always a nightmare.  As a result I pretty much swam at the neighborhood pool all day, everyday.  I never went away to camp nor was I ever enrolled in a day camp, I don’t think they even existed.

Since the evolution of Mother’s hitting the work force everything has changed.  Kids are enrolled in camps whether their Moms work or don’t work, because the neighborhoods are void of children during the middle of the day at least where we live.  Everyone is scheduled from morning until night.  For the past two years Trinity has done junior lifeguards which was the most perfect summer program to ever exist, at least in my opinion.  She decided not to do it again this year and as a result I am scrambling to get her enrolled in some day camps.  I have few lined up but we also have tons of down time, which would be fine if we had a normal life.  A normal life meaning I take the girls to the beach, a pool or hang with friends for outings.  With Tiara’s current state of health none of those options exist at least until I get some help from a nursing agency, so I need to find a way to keep her busy so she doesn’t die of boredom.

We have decided on an art camp, a two week Musical Theater program(MTA), a beach volleyball camp and that’s it so far.  That accounts for 18 days out of the 77 days she has off and a grand total of $825, OUCH! 

Oh well, I know every parent has to deal with this same issue whether they work or not.  I know some parents that refuse to give into the expensive camps but then they are always struggling to find other families to hook up with for beach and pool days.  Most of the Mom’s I know are stressed during summer because the driving schedule elevates to another level since most camps are shorter than school, which means more driving around.  Like everything else we will figure it out!

A funny little side story before I go.  The other night while Tiara was still in the hospital, Tabitha called me and was very angry.  She was riding Trinity’s bike home for her in the dark and both of the tires were flat and she was pissed!  She didn’t realize they were flat until she left my sisters house and she was eager to get home so she didn’t turn around and ask to borrow a bike pump.  Of course she thought she should complain to Tiara and I while she was riding home. The whole thing was my fault because I am the Mom so everything that goes wrong somehow relates back to me.  Ha, Ha.   She was also nervous because it was dark outside and even though she is 20, she isn’t a fan of the dark, especially when she is alone in our neighborhood which doesn’t have many street lamps.  Tiara and I were laughing at her and she hung up on us.  Later that night, I sent her this text before I went to bed:

 

Did you notice I sent it to someone named Tanya, not Tabitha?  How scared would you be if  someone from a random number sent you a text at 11pm at saying “Good night, glad you are still alive!”  I felt so bad when I realized my mistake.  Poor Tanya, I don’t even remember who Tanya is.  I erased her name from my contacts so I never make that mistake again.  Oh well, hope she was able to get to sleep after reading my text.

Have a great weekend!

xoxo tiffani