Summer camp sign-up vent

[Anonymous]

We've found that switching camps every week was too much for us (the parents) to handle as far as different drop off and pick up times/locations, gear to take, lunch/snack arrangements, etc. We now try to do multiple-week camps (or multiple weeks of the same camp), preferably ones with a lunch option. Our kids also like the continuity of getting to know the staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I have been doing school drop off/pick up for all kids for years. I do not justify my husband's nagging of helping out for only a few weeks of summer camp transportation a year. He thinks it is unnecessary and avoidable, and I try my best and spend a lot of time on planning to avoid that from happening. He works from home, but he will not supervise kids. And, that's why all kids are in after-school childcare. I have not found a camp that my kids would want to attend for full summer for many years. One find Bar-T mountainside camp boring because they do the the same things repetitively every week.

To one PP above, it is not only about camp price. I think my kids are used to Bar-T aftercare which they go to, so they are looking for to explore different schedules and other activities that summer camps could offer. They are just more easier to get bored and want to keep occupied. Our neighborhood loves camp whitman so much, and one kid do not like it at all after trying for a week. I try my best to accomondate their interests. It is not fun to driving around, and I work at night to make up the hours.

The Bar-T camps at Ranch and Mountainside are great and run all summer.

[Anonymous]

The problem is the camps they (and I) like best don't run for the whole summer, are too expensive, or are in two-week sessions that don't align with our family obligations or school calendar. The cheaper camps aren't as good an experience so the kids don't want to do a whole summer and it feels like not a good use of time. So that's how we end up with many different camps. I wish it were different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've found that switching camps every week was too much for us (the parents) to handle as far as different drop off and pick up times/locations, gear to take, lunch/snack arrangements, etc. We now try to do multiple-week camps (or multiple weeks of the same camp), preferably ones with a lunch option. Our kids also like the continuity of getting to know the staff.

Yep. A lot of kids get nervous switching camps every week and meeting all new people. Hilarious op is acting like making her kids do this is some sort of flex.

[Anonymous]

Jack of all trades master of none

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I have been doing school drop off/pick up for all kids for years. I do not justify my husband's nagging of helping out for only a few weeks of summer camp transportation a year. He thinks it is unnecessary and avoidable, and I try my best and spend a lot of time on planning to avoid that from happening. He works from home, but he will not supervise kids. And, that's why all kids are in after-school childcare. I have not found a camp that my kids would want to attend for full summer for many years. One find Bar-T mountainside camp boring because they do the the same things repetitively every week.

To one PP above, it is not only about camp price. I think my kids are used to Bar-T aftercare which they go to, so they are looking for to explore different schedules and other activities that summer camps could offer. They are just more easier to get bored and want to keep occupied. Our neighborhood loves camp whitman so much, and one kid do not like it at all after trying for a week. I try my best to accomondate their interests. It is not fun to driving around, and I work at night to make up the hours.

He sounds like a nebisch

[Anonymous]

OP I think it's odd you are making this a more divisive issue than it needs to be. I think it's very kid dependent. My kid likes certain kinds of camps and is in lower ES so we are still figuring out the right fit. We try to coordinate with friends and match his interests plus what logistics work for us. I am Asian American haven't see a divide on this. If we found a summer long camp he loved and that worked for us I would love that.

I think you have a DH issue if you feel like he complains about "helping out" with transportation for a few weeks and you do all the rest.

[Anonymous]

Wow a lot of (white) ppl on this thread are really defensive. I don’t think op is saying that anyone is bad for picking one approach or the other. Op just sounds like she’s just trying to understand the pros and cons of staying at the same camp vs switching around. Op, I’d say do what you can handle and the next priority is doing what your kids like.

[Anonymous]

My kid really enjoyed different camps when she was younger.
I think you have a husband problem not a camp problem.

[Anonymous]

It's very kid dependent. One of mine doesn't like new settings so we couldn't do a different camp every week anyway.
We also do a lot of activities during the school year after school. So summer is a decompress time for my kids and they hang out together, read, go to the pool and do swim team for their social outlet and have just summer swim friends. I hire a summer sitter. The sitter allows them to not have to go anywhere in the am. And we take a 2 week vacation. Next year we may do a sleepaway camp for a few weeks as the youngest will be confident enough to go away.
I also admit that I need my summer to be easier and not have too many drop offs and pickups. Swim team is enough complexity for us (my kids aren't good but they love it).

[Anonymous]

Pp again. It's also whether or not kids want different activities over a the comfort of the same kids and counselors. Some really want that long connection and enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

My kids complain and don't want to attend if I pick bad or boring camps, so I put in effort so they are excited to go to camp all summer. It's far easier on me.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Caucasian parent in a pretty wealthy public school and we did lots of different camps. My daughter likes to do lots of different activities. So she did a combo of sports camps and stem camps and music camps and art camps. I didn't want her going away for weeks at a time, I didn't want to spend a zillion dollars and she would have been bored going to the same place for 8 weeks in a row.

It's cool if your kids want to do the same camp all summer. But they wouldn't have worked for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to ES aftercare like Bar-T, so I try to explore different types of camps in summer week by week at different locations. They also explore different EC during school years. Many families in my neighborhood ( mostly white) send their kids to the same summer camps every years for many weeks or they spend some weeks at beach. And, they say it is convenient, stay with the school friends signing up same camps every summer etc. When I talk to other families in other school district (mostly asians) like in W neighborhood, they are like me sending their kids to different locations week by week. Is it culture thing that Asian families normally like to dig into exploring different types of summer camps compared to other races?

My DH (born here) has the same mentality and nag at me that why I go through the troubles spending a lot money to plan on different types of summer camps at each week, and it is a pain to work out on drop off/pick up on multiple kids. He says that his summer at childhood was just staying at home watching tv, playing in neighborhood and go to cheap county camps at most. I work full time, so I need his help for a few weeks to do split the responsibilities for multiple kids drop off/pick up because our kids do not attend same camps each week. Our kids enjoy doing different things at each week. Is he right or he is right that I am planning too much?

Imo op, he's right, not that summer camp isn't fun if thats what your kid really wants, and summer is long so probably time for both, but if you have this type if neighborhood, you should try to make that free, unstructured summer happen fir your kids. Having a neighborhood like this with lots of kids is invaluable and quite underrated.

[Anonymous]

Neither is right but you and DH need to talk and compromise.
We did different camps too until kids could be home without me- now we only do camps if they really really want to. I don’t need childcare anymore. It will get easier.