Anyone pack up and head to a summer home from June-August? Advice please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The travel sport kid is going to be your main issue. Are you asking him to quit? Is he okay with that? Do you care?

He's actually only on pre-travel teams at the moment so it's all hypothetical at the moment. He plays several sports that don't have a travel component so it may just mean he pivots to those if other sports?

Out of curiosity, do you think kids who miss the summer season are left behind?

It’s going to vary by sport. But for the travel baseball and softball I know, the travel year runs mid August to mid July. You basically have off July 15-Aug 15 and that’s it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About your question about kids leaving for the summer being left behind, I don't think that's too much of an issue. There's so much traveling that happens among families, and camps etc.

However, I've noticed as my 2 kids have gotten older and one in high school (youngest is now middle school) that the summers are harder. Our close-in VA city, the fall high school sports or activities (band, etc) start about 1 month before school starts. High schooler is doing an internship. Most of their friends are either taking summer school, going to campus based programs, have a job, or doing an internship. Lots of the things that made sense when they were just a couple years younger (like pool membership) are trickier. This started summer after 9th grade. Earlier than I thought.

High school is the hardest time to be away for the summer. By college it was easy. Kids either had jobs in our summer town or internships in another city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The travel sport kid is going to be your main issue. Are you asking him to quit? Is he okay with that? Do you care?

He's actually only on pre-travel teams at the moment so it's all hypothetical at the moment. He plays several sports that don't have a travel component so it may just mean he pivots to those if other sports?

Out of curiosity, do you think kids who miss the summer season are left behind?

Travel teams are a joke and I think a lot of parents are finally starting to realize that.

[Anonymous]

We spend from the last week of May to then end of August at our beach house in Hilton Head.

Don't know what advice you are looking for. Its't pretty straightforward. Lock up the house and go. We put some expensive things in a safety deposit box. Expensive jewelry and important docs come with us. We maybe bring a small bag of clothes, but I have most of my summer wardrobe there. DH spends more time there throughout the year so it really doesn't impact him at all. We put one car here in storage, take my car with dogs and DH has a car that he leaves there. If we have an important event we just fly back for a day or two.

I think you are making this a bigger deal than it is.

[Anonymous]

We did this for many years when we were young. We had a summer home in a very small town with a house near the beach and sports fields. My mother never had to drive us six kids anywhere as we could walk everywhere in minutes. My father would drive out for weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The travel sport kid is going to be your main issue. Are you asking him to quit? Is he okay with that? Do you care?

He's actually only on pre-travel teams at the moment so it's all hypothetical at the moment. He plays several sports that don't have a travel component so it may just mean he pivots to those if other sports?

Out of curiosity, do you think kids who miss the summer season are left behind?

It depends, but overall the answer is yes. The higher the level of play the more critical it is to not miss ever. It is a commitment that coaches will expect each player to take seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The travel sport kid is going to be your main issue. Are you asking him to quit? Is he okay with that? Do you care?

He's actually only on pre-travel teams at the moment so it's all hypothetical at the moment. He plays several sports that don't have a travel component so it may just mean he pivots to those if other sports?

Out of curiosity, do you think kids who miss the summer season are left behind?

It depends, but overall the answer is yes. The higher the level of play the more critical it is to not miss ever. It is a commitment that coaches will expect each player to take seriously.

What percentage of kids are we talking about here? I find it intriguing whenever summer home threads come up, kids' sports travel is always a recurring theme.

[Anonymous]

My god, the tyranny of children’s sports leaches into every aspect of life. And for what? SMH.

[Anonymous]

I wasn’t in this situation, but I found high school aged kids wanted to be around their friends in the summer. 1 month they could have done, but not 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wasn’t in this situation, but I found high school aged kids wanted to be around their friends in the summer. 1 month they could have done, but not 3.

Let them invite friends to come for visits.

[Anonymous]

The sports thing is a non-issue until HS.

[Anonymous]

Problems may arise with high school kids' boyfriends & girlfriends as they never want to be apart when experiencing their first love relationship.

[Anonymous]

Too bad, I say. Kids should not be accommodated. Yes their pain is real. There are friends, lovers, whatever, they will miss. Too bad. I'd put in place now, that there will not be sports, other activities that interfere with summer plans -- whatever summer plans the adults decide.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the insights. Definitely nudges us in the direction we were going anyway which is to just get out for the summer and kind of carve out an alternate life up north.

Also, just to clarify, sports are honestly NOT that big of a deal for us at all. I was just more curious than anything. Plus, they will double down on sailing which they both enjoy so that's a win.

Thanks again! -OP

[Anonymous]

If your kids go regularly to the same community, they will have a big group of lifelong summer friends. They will get their first jobs in this summer community. They can even play summer sports or go to camps in this area.

They will actually come to prefer it, if they are acclimated to the community from a young age.