A “no camp” summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never went to camp as a kid and none of my kids have either except for when their sports required it. We go to the pool, the movies, museums, trampoline park, parks when it’s not too hot, etc. They also still do their sports in the summer. Most kids in our neighborhood also don’t do camps so they play with them as well.

That’s so cool most people work

[Anonymous]

I’m a SAHM, but my kids never did camps (aside from one week of 3-hour VBS). They did/do swim team, we visit museums, go hiking, take day trips, library summer reading programs, pool, meet up with friends, etc. They have fun summers & do not get bored. I would assume a nanny can do the same stuff with them that a SAHP would do.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you all for the suggestions, and keep ‘em coming! I will give in and plan an unstructured summer with pool, outings, some classes, maybe a week or two of half-day camp just for a change of pace.

[Anonymous]

You have a nanny, why is this even a question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never went to camp as a kid and none of my kids have either except for when their sports required it. We go to the pool, the movies, museums, trampoline park, parks when it’s not too hot, etc. They also still do their sports in the summer. Most kids in our neighborhood also don’t do camps so they play with them as well.

That’s so cool most people work

The point of the post was that kids that don’t go to camp are not usually just sitting at home and they’ll be fine not going to camp. The OP’s child doesn’t want to go to camp and they have a nanny. OP asked for ideas.

[Anonymous]

Lol. Good luck!
That kid will be bored to death in a week.
Unless your nanny LOVES activities and traveling around to different parks, museums, zoos, aquariums, etc all day.

[Anonymous]

We never have done camps! My kids are 6 and 10. We plan one thing a day (nature center, park, playdate, movie, etc) and then do pool almost every afternoon. Kids have their screen-free downtime in the morning 8-10 where they entertain themselves while nanny arrives, packs the bag, gets settled. Each day looks a little different but generally the schedule is:
8-10 play (often outside in our yard since it isn't hot yet)
10-2: some kind of outing, usually bringing lunch with them
2-3:30: home to change, tv time, rest
3:30: pool
5:00: nanny leaves from pool and one of us meet her there. we usually stay another hour with the kids or we eat dinner there and stay until 7.

We love our summers!

[Anonymous]

If your kids have an interest in swim team, that's where my low camp (we might do 1 week of camp and 1 week of VBS, both half day) kids have always gotten their other kid interactions from. At our pool swim team is 8-9 for elementary aged kids, plus our kids do most Monday and Saturday meets.

The rest of the day they chill or do the other kinds of activities PPs have already mentioned.

The catch for you would be figuring out how much parent volunteering summer swim team requires. At our pool it's substantial.

[Anonymous]

You should sign up for swim team and pre-team for your youngest.

This creates automatic structure to their day— there’s a practice every weekday, lots of social opportunities and exercise.

After my kids were done with swim and dive practice in the morning, I didn’t care if they wanted to read or watch tv for a couple hours. Then they would go out again in the afternoon. It’s great!

[Anonymous]

Ha! Our 7 year old also requested a no camp summer. Some kids do not like camp and I kind of don't blame them.

We're doing swimming, ballet, and hiring a sitter (no nanny as no other kids). DH and I can swing one day off a week between the two of us so we are only hiring a sitter for 4 days a week and then on Friday she'll hang out with one of us plus we have some long weekends planned. We're bookending the summer with visits to both sets of grandparents which will be working vacations for us.

I'm actually pretty excited. It's going to wind up costing about the same and DD is much happier, and she'll still get time with other kids at her primary extracurricular and plenty of time outside. We haven't nailed down the sitter yet but have a neighbor with a college-age daughter who is interested and are also checking with the teachers aide from DD's kindergarten year who sits for us sometimes and has a great relationship with DD. I would prefer having the same person all summer but if it was split between those two I think we'd be okay because we have good ongoing relationships with both and I don't think either would flake on us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have a nanny, why is this even a question?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lol. Good luck!
That kid will be bored to death in a week.
Unless your nanny LOVES activities and traveling around to different parks, museums, zoos, aquariums, etc all day.

I mean those are normal things to expect a nanny to do. But in the summer you can also plan on 2 or more days at the pool and this requires very little planning, entertains kids and tires them out. If you can combine it with swim team or even just group lessons it's extra easy because then there are built-in friends at the pool when you go.

Also for a 7 year old you can load up on classes and lessons. Like a typical summer schedule for our elementary kid would be 2 days a week of swimming, one day of ballet, one day of tennis, one day of music lessons. This ensures one activity a day that no one has to plan and nanny just has to get her there and back.

Also some kids just don't like camp and will be happier spending more time reading or drawing or building legos. I think camp is great for kids with very social, easy-going personalities. It's really hard for kids who are shy, prone to anxiety, or just want/need less stimulation. There are lots of both kinds of kids in the world so it makes sense that some kids are just not camp kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never went to camp as a kid and none of my kids have either except for when their sports required it. We go to the pool, the movies, museums, trampoline park, parks when it’s not too hot, etc. They also still do their sports in the summer. Most kids in our neighborhood also don’t do camps so they play with them as well.

That’s so cool most people work

You can hire sitters/nannies. We've done summer nanny shares with neighbor families and it costs less than camp and the kids like it more because it's fewer kids and it's more flexible and they don't have to deal with bored teenage counselors who are sometimes really not great. We use the extra money we would have spent on camps to enroll kids in extra activities -- this is how one kid took up tap dancing and how another got into tennis. We've found it can be especially easy to get into classes in the summer since most people default to full day camps, and that class sizes tend to be smaller and so there is often more individualized attention.

I don't know why camp became the default for summer childcare.

[Anonymous]

movies (see if any of the local theaters are doing kids movies - usually mid week/morning at a discount), playground tour, mini golf, bowling, library programs and library summer reading program. Museums! Stock up on some arts and crafts that are fun but not too messy or frustrating. set aside time for summer reading/math if you have that or pick up a workbook or two, roller skating/ice skating, swim lessons or swim team. go hiking (especially if you know a shady trail).

[Anonymous]

My older DD - now 12 - thought she wanted a few camp free weeks around that age. It became clear quickly it wouldn’t work and luckily there was a local camp I could put her in. But we work fulltime without a nanny… now that she’s 12 she loves having down time to play soccer, hang with friends, sleep etc. The 7 year old (8 by summer) really has to do camps with some travel and days off here and there. She can have a few days of reading and playing but she doesn’t have a “bestie” like my older DD so she gets more bored.