Second home - all summer

[Anonymous]

DH wants to buy a 2nd home at a beach. He wants us to stay there all summer - he would work remotely and tend to matters he needed to in person periodically. His idea is to join a local country club and have the kids play tennis and swim there (we belong to a pool club here), and just live the beach life in the meantime. Kids are 7,4 and 1.

To me, this sounds a little…boring? I tend to rely on activities outside of our house to entertain my kids (a little bit of camp but lots of pool time and other outings). We usually take a vacation or 2 in the summer - we would probably curb those until the little one gets a bit older and trips with longer flights are doable again.

If you stay at the beach all summer, do you enjoy it? Does it get old? DH says it’s “stifling” here (he doesn’t mean the weather) and just wants to escape. He can’t really disconnect when we are on vacation due to work demands so thinks this is the next thing. I do respect his viewpoint and don’t want to sound whiny, but it’s daunting to me to entertain 3 kids for 3 months away from home. I am on board to buy the house, but only use it for 6 ish weeks and then rent it out so we don’t feel bad about it just sitting there.

Interested in others’ experiences please!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH wants to buy a 2nd home at a beach. He wants us to stay there all summer - he would work remotely and tend to matters he needed to in person periodically. His idea is to join a local country club and have the kids play tennis and swim there (we belong to a pool club here), and just live the beach life in the meantime. Kids are 7,4 and 1.

To me, this sounds a little…boring? I tend to rely on activities outside of our house to entertain my kids (a little bit of camp but lots of pool time and other outings). We usually take a vacation or 2 in the summer - we would probably curb those until the little one gets a bit older and trips with longer flights are doable again.

If you stay at the beach all summer, do you enjoy it? Does it get old? DH says it’s “stifling” here (he doesn’t mean the weather) and just wants to escape. He can’t really disconnect when we are on vacation due to work demands so thinks this is the next thing. I do respect his viewpoint and don’t want to sound whiny, but it’s daunting to me to entertain 3 kids for 3 months away from home. I am on board to buy the house, but only use it for 6 ish weeks and then rent it out so we don’t feel bad about it just sitting there.

Interested in others’ experiences please!

Can you find a summer camp for the kids in the beach town you're considering? Or a college student to be your summer nanny? We talk about this, too and are looking at a lake home for 6 weeks of summer, and I like the idea if we have child care plus 2 cars.

[Anonymous]

The "country club" part sounds awful. Why spend the summer at the beach swimming and playing tennis at a friggin' country club? Is your place gonna be ON the beach? Are you gonna have your own pool? If not, what's the point?

[Anonymous]

OP, you are not part of the beach crowd. If we have to explain to you how to enjoy it, just give it up.

[Anonymous]

We bought in Nantucket and joined Westmoor and Sankaty and works great for us (going on many years).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are not part of the beach crowd. If we have to explain to you how to enjoy it, just give it up.

This is OP. Hahahah…I could fill ALL the days at the beach. I get it. I am a beach person. Coffee on the porch. Reading. Sunsets. It’s my jam. It’s my kids and entertaining them that I’m worried about. I tend to be an over scheduler and cruise director type mom because I’m scared of them being bored.

[Anonymous]

i guess your kids don't play any summer sports? odd

[Anonymous]

When your kids are a little older, they will have more activities that they want to do at home. Summer swim team with neighborhood friends, camps with friends, etc. Not every family does those but it’s hard to see how that works when your oldest is 7.

Also, sleep away camp. Do you want to send them for several weeks or even a month? If so, maybe pick the camp first and get a second home near the camp. Our kids go to 4 weeks of sleep away camp in New Hampshire and we are thinking of just getting a summer place near there. We can enjoy it alone for a month with no kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are not part of the beach crowd. If we have to explain to you how to enjoy it, just give it up.

This is OP. Hahahah…I could fill ALL the days at the beach. I get it. I am a beach person. Coffee on the porch. Reading. Sunsets. It’s my jam. It’s my kids and entertaining them that I’m worried about. I tend to be an over scheduler and cruise director type mom because I’m scared of them being bored.

I don’t know any kids who get bored at a beach.

But a PP has a great point - most of my kids’ neighborhood friends are actually pool friends. Your kids will miss out on that. Also, by high school, your kids can’t leave town all summer if they do sports or marching band.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i guess your kids don't play any summer sports? odd

Not odd at all. Kids need a break from organized sports. We shut it down during the summer.

[Anonymous]

You don't have a job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We bought in Nantucket and joined Westmoor and Sankaty and works great for us (going on many years).

I’d love to know who this is. Westmoor has a $350k initiation fee. And Sankaty has about 500 members with priory given to legacies.

Op, your kids are a perfect age to start doing a summer beach home. Just need to put time and effort into the right location and club.

[Anonymous]

There will be ups and downs on usage, especially during teen years but if it is a great house and great area, kids will come back hard as they get into 20s and then bring their own kids later on.

[Anonymous]

If you do this, buy in an area with other families. Makes a world of difference for kids to have their own friends wherever you end up. You will meet people that are out there all summer and can hang out with. And agree... just find some camps out wherever you are. Surf camp, tennis camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i guess your kids don't play any summer sports? odd

This is such a stupid comment. The kids are 7, 4, and 1. So, no, they don't.