How do you deal with summer camp hours and work?

[Anonymous]

1. We have a google sheet with camp sign ups shared with friends, so we can easily carpool
2. We hire college kids to “babysit” which is basically drive them home and feed them.

[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!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I typically work from home so I can go grab kids around 4pm from camp then come home and continue working. But I have some in person meetings, my husband is traveling for work, and there are no after hours for kids camps. So pick up is at 4pm. At least during school we could use after care until 6pm. Do you hire someone to pick up your kids? They can't get home themselves (camp is too far away).

We hired a driver.

[Anonymous]

You hire someone for pickup and household things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids 8 and 10 are going to a camp that runs 9 am to 5 pm, which I got my registering them fat 6 am in January. No before or aftercare. I feel lucky I was able to get both kids into the same camp. I am not sure where all these unicorn camps with before care and aftercare are. Here, those ones are held at the schools and lacks anything interesting.

Here’s my plan: if I have a meeting and I can’t leave at 4:30 to pick them up, I will pick them up at lunchtime or at 3 pm. If I have an all day meeting, then they will stay home with a sitter and skip camp.

My kid loves the camp at the school. But I guess did it make you feel good to crap on the affordable summer child care? Either way, I have care til 6

My kids go to aftercare at their school for the full school year. I try my best not to sign up summer camps using public school facilities because it probably is not that exciting to them, similar structures like their aftercare.

Ok? Mine doesn’t. My kid goes to a fun spots based aftercare all year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You pick camps that work with your work schedule and/or you pay for extra care as needed.

I don’t get why summer after summer people are so confused about this. Probably because COVID and related policies spoiled people. You pay for care like the rest of us.

This. I try to plan things as much in advance and either send everyone to camp at the same place or if that's not possible, in the same general area with staggered start and stop times. That said, many camps are not made for working parents so you either try to find camps that are very much tailored to the 9-5 or you work your and/or your spouse's schedule around that by taking time off or coming in late/leaving early or by hiring a babysitter or part-time nanny for the summer or various portions of the summer or by asking a grandparent to come help or some combination of all of that. Carpool is an option, but I try not to rely too heavily on carpool because I have three kids and there are always logistical issues. I'm having to drive another kid if it works and would ask another parent for help if needed, but I'm not planning weeks around someone driving or picking up one of my children.