Does your AP make plans for kids in the summer?

[Anonymous]

OP where do you live that there is a lot to do within walking distance?
I suspect you do not live in DC, Arlington or Bethesda; otherwise there is so much to do by walking/metro this would not be a topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a host parent, I think it is ridiculous to leave a non driving AP home for 12 weeks with your kids and expect her to plan out a ‘summer of fun’.

If you’re too cheap to pay for camp, then at minimum make a calendar for her that outlines at least one major activity that they should do each day of the week when they are home:

Monday - Pool
Tuesday - Zoo
Wednesday - ...

I take this approach even when my kids are home during the day for just a random teacher in-service day.

Come on parents, we really need to be realistic about the services that we are getting, and why AP’s are here. Yes, they are here to help their host families with their kids, but their ultimate goal is to xyz (experience America, strengthen their English ability, etc,).

As a mom, I think that it is a terrible idea to leave an AP home with multiple young kids all 12 weeks of summer (bad for both the kids and the AP). Heck, I wouldn’t even sign myself up to do that with my kids (give me 6-8 solid weeks with my kids and we’d have a great time, but I would be WIPED out).

Net net, I feel like you have some nerve making it sound like the AP is lacking in skill/ability, because she can’t plan for the 60!! Days that she is staying home with your kids over the summer.

Nanny here (11.36). I did it last summer with rising k, 2, and 4. No pool or other memberships and a shoestring budget. But the difference is that, as long as I factored the gas into the budget, I could drive them wherever I wanted, and I set the day’s schedule, including extending my start and end times. So, one day we left the house at 6 am, to beat the heat, but the next week, one day we didn’t leave until 11 and were gone til after 7. We did play dates at parks at least twice per week with all three kids’ friends, and I spent every park play date wrangling the schedule to figure out the next 1-3 days. We did summer review books at the park, in the car, and at home. We did trips to Udvar-Hazy, the Smithsonian circle, the zoo. We went all over MD, DC and VA to find the best parks and spray pads, and the kids loved Chessie best. Heck, we made trips on metro, the free Bethesda bus and the dollar circulator into outings, just by riding and riding until the kids wanted to get off and hike. Combine all of that with library (all three had summer reading done by the end of the second week), nature center, National and State Parks, and we had a blast.

But I’m a nanny. This is my career. I have the experience to know what is available and what ages are most interested in what. I understood that a preschooler may be interested in the same park 5 days per week, but an elementary aged kid wants different stimuli and physical challenges. I knew how to figure out which facilities were available where (especially water and toilet/port-a-pot), and that I shouldn’t plan to lunch on the ground in an area prone to flooding, insects, etc. I knew enough to plan for a minimum of one hour physical play even on field trip days, so that kids could get to sleep at a reasonable time. And I kept plans flexible enough to deal with illness, injury, weather and other people cancelling play dates.

I’ve known several APs. The ones I’ve known handle split shifts all school year, then it continues over the summer and all is well. Or the HP think AP magically becomes a nanny when kids are out of school. These are young adults with very little experience, and nothing has prepared any of them for planning an entire summer! If you want someone to do that, be upfront while hiring a nanny. Otherwise, give a (manageable!) list of 5 things per week, and allow AP and kids to pick a few. More than 5 is more likely to overwhelm.