A “no camp” summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what we are doing and looking for a summer sitter to implement. Granted my kids are a year older than yours and are on swim team. So they will get social time there from 9-12. And then meet up with friends who are also not at camp and do crafts and nature center trips etc. we will do 2-3 weeks of other sport camp interspersed and then a long August vacation.

This is what we do each summer, kids are longer. I personally prefer it to what tone felt like a long summer camp slog. I don’t understand the obsession with camps. Kids can have summer without camps. We do a few interspersed like you said usually but not much.

[Anonymous]

Some people don’t want to be bothered with hiring as b employee and everything that goes with it- taxes, workman’s compensation, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How would you structure this? Kids are 7 and 4. Working parents with FT nanny. The no-camp was requested by 7yo.

Talk to 7 yo friend's parents. 7 y/o will want to hang with friends and if they are all at camp they will be bored. I would ask around and see what camps people are interested in/ try a couple with friends at the camp. Contact the camp and ask for your kid to be with X friends. Some kids might do half day or other activities. I would sign 7 y/o for at least 1-2 things other friends are doing so they can keep those connections if other kids will be at all day camp in the summer.

My kid didn't like camp either, but we tried a bunch and now he has 2 he loves. He goes most weeks then we take 2 weeks off to see both sides of the family and I take an additional week so can just hang with him and do what he wants. We try and space it out.

My SIL doesn't do camps for her 3 kids, but signs them up fo various activites- summer swim team, chess, art, etc and has her parents and in-laws watch the kids and drive them around. It gets to be a lot for the grandparents as I hear since they have to drop/pick up 3 kids at various activities every 1-2 hours most days, but then they have the afternoon off and do what they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people don’t want to be bothered with hiring as b employee and everything that goes with it- taxes, workman’s compensation, etc.

If you go through a service you don't have to do much. We had a workman's comp policy added to our homeowner's policy -- it was super cheap since we were only hiring someone for two months. All the taxes and insurance were handled by the service we hired the nanny through. It was honestly no more onerous than all the paperwork you wind up filling out for camp, especially if you do several different camps over the course of a summer.