How do you deal with summer camp hours and work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - one of the camps is a fully outdoor sports camp. I am worried about my 8 year old being in the sun for more than 8 hours. So I didn't think a camp with after hours in the sun so she would be there for 10 hours would be the best idea.

My kids always went to fully outdoor camps with aftercare, so 10 or so hours a day. They were fine. Absent medical issues, kids just aren't that fragile. But, if a fully outdoor camp with aftercare isn't going to work for your child, then it would be off the list for me because I am not spending my summer worrying about childcare pick up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We only did camp with some inside space and later hours.

+1 YMCA for us.

[Anonymous]

Well…didn’t you think about this when signing up for camps? Plenty of camps do offer aftercare

[Anonymous]

No one can answer for you if your kids will be fine in this bike and then alone scenario so your options seem to be hire someone to pick them up if they don’t have friends who you can send them home with for a few hours. Or call in sick or reschedule your meetings or your husband’s travel.

Not sure there are other options if you don’t have friends or relatives who could grab them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Always chose camps based on availability of aftercare.

+1 Or where you can carpool with another family if you can't do all the dropoffs/pickups. But yes, sounds like you have no choice but to hire someone now if you can.

[Anonymous]

ugh, i really hate this too, OP! i cannot believe this oversight of society. i dont understand why we dont have year round school for this very reason. no one is working on the farms anymore!

[Anonymous]

Pp here whose kid is now a teenager and did before and aftercare camps pre-pandemic - your kids will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Always chose camps based on availability of aftercare.

This.

Also we could leave early if necessary back during our camper parenting days.

My kids were always picked up in the last allowable time slot.

Well that’s sad for them. Why did you even have kids? But anyway, OP needs to hire someone. I am pretty free range, but that can get you a CPS visit at those ages in DMV area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ugh, i really hate this too, OP! i cannot believe this oversight of society. i dont understand why we dont have year round school for this very reason. no one is working on the farms anymore!

My brother lives in another country with year round schools - its corners solve this problem, it just spreads it out over the year. They have the same amount of time off, just three weeks here, four weeks around Christmas, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - one of the camps is a fully outdoor sports camp. I am worried about my 8 year old being in the sun for more than 8 hours. So I didn't think a camp with after hours in the sun so she would be there for 10 hours would be the best idea.

Then you shouldn't have booked that camp. Summer camp is childcare for working parents. You have to book camps that have the coverage you need.

[Anonymous]

What's done is done, OP. Good news is that in the summer there are usually plenty of teens/college students around looking for babysitting gigs. Get on your neighborhood FB group or other similar sites and post that you looking for someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's done is done, OP. Good news is that in the summer there are usually plenty of teens/college students around looking for babysitting gigs. Get on your neighborhood FB group or other similar sites and post that you looking for someone.

So here's the problem with that. In this day and age of Uber, Lyft, Door Dash and the like, insurance companies are scrutinizing claims that occur in transportation sorts of employment. If all goes well and there is no accident, great. But if there's an accident while your teen is transporting another kid, you are at risk of an insurance denial and it puts your family open to uninsured liability of OP's kid gets hurt in an accident or you sustain property damage in the event the accident is your kid's fault.

I get that most people don't think about this, but I am a lawyer and this is my field of practice. Years ago, this wouldn't have been an issue but today it is. Much as I want to help my neighbors when they need it, I would not allow my teens and college aged kids take on these tasks. And, we got a lot of asks this summer, so OP, you are not alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's done is done, OP. Good news is that in the summer there are usually plenty of teens/college students around looking for babysitting gigs. Get on your neighborhood FB group or other similar sites and post that you looking for someone.

So here's the problem with that. In this day and age of Uber, Lyft, Door Dash and the like, insurance companies are scrutinizing claims that occur in transportation sorts of employment. If all goes well and there is no accident, great. But if there's an accident while your teen is transporting another kid, you are at risk of an insurance denial and it puts your family open to uninsured liability of OP's kid gets hurt in an accident or you sustain property damage in the event the accident is your kid's fault.

I get that most people don't think about this, but I am a lawyer and this is my field of practice. Years ago, this wouldn't have been an issue but today it is. Much as I want to help my neighbors when they need it, I would not allow my teens and college aged kids take on these tasks. And, we got a lot of asks this summer, so OP, you are not alone.

Don't worry, OP, this person is in the minority. I know tons of families with this kind of arrangement for the summer.

[Anonymous]

Another reason to do Valley Mill or Caleva - they take the kids home on a bus

[Anonymous]

OP- you chose poorly with that 4pm pickup time and your spouse on travel. Next time, plan camps with other families, ones that have aftercare, or are super close to home where you can block your calendar to do pick up. It’s not rocket science.