I mean this is what I plan to do with my 8.5 year old this summer- somewhat- except for the first 4-5 weeks its swim team practice for an hour. He'll also get 2 weeks of swim lessons and tennis lessons thatll be right after swim team.

Go home, take a break. Eat brunch. Pack snacks and head to the pool for 2-3 hours (12-3). Home by 3ish for mid-day reset for work. 2nd kid home by 5. Summer play or back at the pool from 5-8 on days he doesnt have practice.

I have him registered for 1 week of camp so far but Ill probably add 1-2 more 1/2 day camps locally. I think most kids balk at the all day camps and sometimes they are incredibly uncomfortable with heat.

I am hoping to find some low cost morning things to do and my husband is off every other Friday so they will do some adventures.

Cheap movies during the weekdays once weekly.
I plan to show him iconic 80s and 90s sports movies once a week.
He'll have a dedicated summer reading list to go through. Library weekly.
There's usually low cost skate or bowl weekday events.
As long as we arent spending $400+ per week on activities, we are saving money compared to camps.

You might want to do a couple of weeks like this, but the whole summer is too much for both of you. Do a combination of some camps (maybe find ones that friends are doing, or half-day camps) and some unstructured time, maybe some additional classes during the day if you can manage the logistics. Or a sitter for some days/weeks. Swim team?

Signed, Mom who took leave for a chunk of last summer for an idyllic "unstructured" time with my kids around your kid's age and it got old fast (for all of us).

Anonymous wrote:The kid should go to camp and have some peer interactions. Sounds like no siblings. Whatever his hangs up are about camp, he should work through them and it will be good for him to get over them. It's probably a lot of fear of the unknown, social anxiety, not knowing what to expect, I won't know anyone.

It doesn't have to be all day, every day for the whole summer but find some things he likes to do and have him pick some options. There are a lot of half day options and specialty camps.

Yes, he's am only child. He addressed the peer interactions in his presentation: karate, rock climbing team, and youth orchestra will all have friends with him and he will play with neighborhood buddies

Anonymous wrote:Sure you'll work at night.

Giving teleworking a bad name.

I run my own business, so yes I have to work at night or I go out of business

Sure you'll work at night.

Giving teleworking a bad name.

Anonymous wrote:This seems like a lot of time for a 10-year-old to be home alone with no activity or structure. I think 10 is a little too young for your kid to say I refuse camp or a babysitter. Can you send him overseas to visit family for a bit? Or have family come visit you?

Uh, this.

Why is this presented as a group discussion and he is the decision maker to a 10-year old? What?

Either pick some camps Johnny or there will be a babysitter. Your choice.

The kid should go to camp and have some peer interactions. Sounds like no siblings. Whatever his hangs up are about camp, he should work through them and it will be good for him to get over them. It's probably a lot of fear of the unknown, social anxiety, not knowing what to expect, I won't know anyone.

It doesn't have to be all day, every day for the whole summer but find some things he likes to do and have him pick some options. There are a lot of half day options and specialty camps.

You’re not that versatile

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This seems like a lot of time for a 10-year-old to be home alone with no activity or structure. I think 10 is a little too young for your kid to say I refuse camp or a babysitter. Can you send him overseas to visit family for a bit? Or have family come visit you?

I hear you about the home alone time. But I would be sooo stressed out to send him to Paris by himself to see my relatives. Also, hosting them is just too much for me to handle.

I should add, the stress isn;t because I think Paris is unsafe or bad but my relatives are too free range / negligent for my liking. Like, they would refuse to pick him up at Charles De Gaul and fully expect a 10 yo non-French speaking child to take the metro alone from the airport to their house!

Anonymous wrote:This seems like a lot of time for a 10-year-old to be home alone with no activity or structure. I think 10 is a little too young for your kid to say I refuse camp or a babysitter. Can you send him overseas to visit family for a bit? Or have family come visit you?

I hear you about the home alone time. But I would be sooo stressed out to send him to Paris by himself to see my relatives. Also, hosting them is just too much for me to handle.

That sounds great, if you can telework pretty much the whole summer. But has he had a lot of this unstructured time before, or would he get bored? Will there be kids in the neighborhood to play with?

This seems like a lot of time for a 10-year-old to be home alone with no activity or structure. I think 10 is a little too young for your kid to say I refuse camp or a babysitter. Can you send him overseas to visit family for a bit? Or have family come visit you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're both FT working parents, but our mature 10 yo kid is adamantly against summer camp. He will keep his year round karate, rock climbing and piano lessons. He's pretty much screen free except to talk to his cousins overseas, which we monitor. He talks to his friends through a Tin Can phone. He doesn't want a baby sitter either. We have a cat and a dog at home, so he won't be totally alone.

I was planning on doing some day trips, the pool, and just hang with DS if I can. I have a pretty flexible schedule in that I can loosely telework (just check emails and put out any fires) from morning till evening and just work at night. Is it ok to have an unstructured summer like this: I can get pulled away to work and DS is just hanging out or should I go against what he wants and do camps/childcare?

A tin can phone so wut?

It means he can call and talk to anyone that's approved, so all his friends and family. I guess so he'll be less lonely?

Anonymous wrote:We're both FT working parents, but our mature 10 yo kid is adamantly against summer camp. He will keep his year round karate, rock climbing and piano lessons. He's pretty much screen free except to talk to his cousins overseas, which we monitor. He talks to his friends through a Tin Can phone. He doesn't want a baby sitter either. We have a cat and a dog at home, so he won't be totally alone.

I was planning on doing some day trips, the pool, and just hang with DS if I can. I have a pretty flexible schedule in that I can loosely telework (just check emails and put out any fires) from morning till evening and just work at night. Is it ok to have an unstructured summer like this: I can get pulled away to work and DS is just hanging out or should I go against what he wants and do camps/childcare?

A tin can phone so wut?

We're both FT working parents, but our mature 10 yo kid is adamantly against summer camp. He will keep his year round karate, rock climbing and piano lessons. He's pretty much screen free except to talk to his cousins overseas, which we monitor. He talks to his friends through a Tin Can phone. He doesn't want a baby sitter either. We have a cat and a dog at home, so he won't be totally alone.

I was planning on doing some day trips, the pool, and just hang with DS if I can. I have a pretty flexible schedule in that I can loosely telework (just check emails and put out any fires) from morning till evening and just work at night. Is it ok to have an unstructured summer like this: I can get pulled away to work and DS is just hanging out or should I go against what he wants and do camps/childcare?