Summers for Middle Schoolers

[Anonymous]

What do dual working families do for their middle school aged children in the summers?
My step-son is 13. Both my husband and I, and his mom work. After overnight camp and vacations, he still has four whole weeks of time to fill. No one, even him, thinks its a good idea for him to just hang out at the house all day. - Maybe for one or two days, but he'd go nuts after that. We can arrange a few days hanging out with friends, and take a few days off work, but not for weeks. We tried jr counselor positions last year, and he didn't really enjoy it and has no interest in repeating. Besides, he can't do that all summer.

There are still some rare camp options that go up to 14. But things are really starting to run dry, and it looks really bleak for next year when he's 15. I remember long summer days at home, but my mom didn't work, so I wasn't by myself, stuck in the house, for 8 hours a day. After I turned 16, I worked all summer, but that's still a few years away.


(I feel like this question needs the obligatory, of course his parents have the final say. However, none of the above is in dispute between his mom and dad at all)

[Anonymous]

We did a mix of day camps and sleep away camps. There are camps out there for middle schoolers. PLus, many middle schoolers can be CITs at the camps they went to in ES.

[Anonymous]

That is a tough age. Could he volunteer part time at the Humane Society, a nursing home, a hospital, a day care center? Or start his own business with a friend or two, lawn work, dog walking, odd jobs? Transportation might be a challenge, though.

[Anonymous]

That is a tough age. Could he volunteer part time at the Humane Society, a nursing home, a hospital, a day care center? Or start his own business with a friend or two, lawn work, dog walking, odd jobs? Transportation might be a challenge, though.

[Anonymous]

What would he like to do for those 4 weeks in his perfect world? Maybe start there and see if you can find some supervised activities that meet those wishes.

[Anonymous]

That might be a time to hire a "babysitter" -- though call it something else. Like, maybe, a chaperone? Could be a very responsible college student with a car who can arrange trips with friends, to the water park, whatever.

At that age, I did combos of academic-oriented camps and hanging out at the pool all day.

[Anonymous]

I thought that was the point of summer -- to stay at home all day and get so bored that you couldn't wait to go back to school. My parents couldn't afford camp, so this was all summer for us.

[Anonymous]

When I was 13, my parents left me home. I had chores that had to be finished by the time my mom got home, which was 3:30. I also participated in this literacy thing at school where we had to clock in so many hours of reading.

So between the reading and the chores, I was busy enough.

Is it possible that you could give him some basic household chores? Also, maybe if you got a few books and perhaps tied some incentives to reading them, that would give him enough to do.

[Anonymous]

"tie some incentives" sorry.

[Anonymous]

What weeks is he going? DS is at summer camps all summer right up to school starting. (Sleep away)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is a tough age. Could he volunteer part time at the Humane Society, a nursing home, a hospital, a day care center? Or start his own business with a friend or two, lawn work, dog walking, odd jobs? Transportation might be a challenge, though.

IME, most nonprofits require someone to be 16 or older to volunteer unless an adult associated with the under 16 year old is also present.

[Anonymous]

Kids don't need to be constantly entertained. Sounds like he's got lots of stuff going on the rest of the summer; four weeks of staying home and watching TV or hanging out with kids in the neighborhood won't kill him. He's old enough to be left alone during the day for a few short weeks. This is 20 days total of him staying home during the day- trust me, he will live!

[Anonymous]

OP here. I agree with the not being constantly entertained. However, we are in the serious burbs. No public transportation. Nothing to walk to other than a playground. No other kids in the neighborhood. Like I said, I could see one or two days, but 20 is really a lot!

[Anonymous]

I agree with getting a college student part-time to hangout with him and take him to local venues and events. It's also fine to stay home and veg out on electronics, do chores, read, volunteer, etc. I think with a mix of the above, he would be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I agree with the not being constantly entertained. However, we are in the serious burbs. No public transportation. Nothing to walk to other than a playground. No other kids in the neighborhood. Like I said, I could see one or two days, but 20 is really a lot!

Again, when I was 13, I was left home *all* summer, and I was absolutely not allowed to leave the house or have friends over while home alone. I was fine. I had chores and reading. That was pre-internet! And we were in the 'burbs (nothing to walk to other than a playground).

As long as you have electricity and an internet connection, he'll probably spend some time messaging his friends. I would require chores to make sure he doesn't spend all of his time doing that.

But really, I don't think it's that long for a 13 year old to be home alone.