Summer childcare

[sdlaura]

I know there was some discussion of sleep-away camps, but I don't think we've discussed other summer plans. And it's starting to be camp sign-up time here.

What is everyone doing for childcare this summer? Camps, vacations, babysitters/grandparents?

[k3am]

Our plan so far is to send DD to summer camp one final time at daycare with her brother. Once pickup/dropoff is amazing. I'm a little worried about the idea though, since she'll likely be one of the oldest ones there. She tolerated it last year since a few friends who had just wrapped up kinder in their private program where still there for the summer, but I think they'll all be gone. So.. I'm not sure, but I have a fallback at least?

[hocus2]

The kids do camps (they go to different ones now, but used to go to the same basic sports/arts/swimming program). There are many camp options here and they start to really fill up by March. The most affordable ones fill really early.

We usually have 2-3 weeks where there is no camps. Sometimes we plan a vacation during some of those off weeks. We've already hired sitters and/or had family help out. There are a few camps that run the whole summer by my kids are not really fans.

[covergirl82]

The college-age daughter of one of our family friends (the friend who was the in-home DCP for our kids) who was the summer sitter last year will be doing it again this summer. We had her come M-W each week (to help reduce our child care cost), and that is the plan this year too. Last year I WFH on Thursdays and the e/o Friday that I was working, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to WFH more than one day a week this summer. I still need to talk with my manager about starting a 9/80 schedule. So hopefully DH can work a few days from home over the summer to fill in gaps, if needed. My parents usually come down on Fridays, but it hasn't been a regular thing in the summer the last two years, so we'll see if they are able to come down on Fridays this summer (or at least on the Fridays I work, if I'm able to do a 9/80 schedule or can't WFH on Fridays).

We will sign the kids up for a few sports camps, but those are usually only a couple hours a day for 3 or 4 days in one week. The sitter will take the kids to/from the camp unless the camp starts at 8:00 am, and then DH or will do drop-off. We also signed up for a membership at a local pool where some of the kids' friends also have memberships so that they aren't sitting home most of the day all summer. (We did this last summer, and it was some of the best money we spent.)

No overnight camps planned at this point. Our kids haven't expressed an interest in going to one, and we aren't going to force them.

[twinmomma]

We do camp at the Boys and Girls Club. It covers basically the whole summer, with great extended hours. And it's the most affordable option. Other camps near us are strictly day camps with very limited hours and cost a fortune. The club is great. They get to swim in the pool daily, do a field trip once a week, and they're used to it because they go after school every day too. It's easy.

We do have one week at the end of the summer that I have to find coverage for between camp and when school starts. It'll be a mess because the week prior to that, ExH and I will have that conference together again this year, so neither of us is going to want to them take a week off to stay home with the kids after being gone for a week. I will likely end up patching together some WFH time and vacation time.

[sdlaura]

I like seeing the range of options!

I'll be on maternity leave this summer, so originally I thought maybe I'd get creative and the two older kids could do some shorter day camps or different providers than normal. But then I realized it would make my life way easier to just do YMCA camps all summer like we normally do. They have dozens of options to choose from, so the kids went through the catalog and we decided on which ones they'd do each week. The hours and locations are really easy. My toddler will stay in his in-home daycare until he starts preschool mid-August, when the older kids go back to school.

Our summer is pretty short here - only 8 weeks. The older two kids will go back to Maryland with my parents for a week after school lets out, and then DH will fly there and spend another 5 days with them with his family, and then fly them back. So of that two weeks, they'll just do two 1-day camps at the Y. Then we'll also go on vacation to Oregon for a week in August. So we only need 5 weeks of camp this year out of their 8 weeks off. I was excited that it's cheaper than I budgeted. But I'll give my parents some money for the time when they have them, so they can pay for activities and meals out.

[mae0111]

The kids have 11 weeks off over the summer. So far, DD1 will be away at camp for 4 weeks, one week of day camp, and one week of camping with DH and DD2. I only have DD2 signed up for 2 weeks of camp so far - one week when DD1 is home, and one week with DD1. I need to find 1-2 more weeks for her.

I don’t need FT care, but work is ramping up so I definitely need to find some weeks when I can work. I have to figure this out soon...

[waverly]

I was going back and forth on bike camp for DS. It's not a life skill/ don't push him versus it seems like a really nice special needs camp with adaptive equipment/ technology and a whole other approach than the balance bike method which didn't work for him because his balance is terrible. I'm back to leaning towards it just because it's only offered every 2 years, so I can't put it off a year, it would be 2 years. And he seems up for it because I explained that there is better technology, and the ratio is 2 helpers per kid.

ETA- It sounds super cute, they have roller bikes not exactly sure what that means but they seem to adjust the size of the roller depending on balance, and they also take them out on tandem bikes.  And they can help us choose a more special needs type bike for DS rather than the standard argument of bike shop (Specialized type brands) versus sports store (Schwinn type brands) neither of which work for him. 

DS- Bike camp, one week, early June, 75 minutes per day then back to regular camp or to work with me. I will check with my boss first, but he is 9 and able to be in the public area without supervision.

DD- Girl Scout camp, one week, mid to late June- Mon-Thurs, 9-3, Friday off. I think I might alternate who picks them up early with my neighbor.

DD and DS- Mid July, one week sleep away camp. DH and I will rent a vacation house a couple of hours away for a couples trip.

The rest of the summer- Park District camp. There should only be 2 days where no camp is offered, and aftercare might cover that.

We might do some weekend trips in there and/ or go to my family's lake house.

[mrsGreeko]

We will spend a couple of weeks in Japan (fingers crossed this virus doesn’t disrupt that). The week we get back all the kids will be home with no camps planned, but my mom and SIL will likely spend some time with the kids.

Oldest has 2 weeks of overnight YMCA camp.

Middle has 2 weeks of day drama camp and 1 week of overnight YMCA camp.

Youngest has 4-6 weeks of day camp with a rec district camp, 1 week of outdoor adventure day camp (kayaking, mountain biking, rock climbing, etc), and 1 week of overnight YMCA camp.

When all of the kids are at camp DH and I are going to take a 4 night cruise out of Long Beach, CA to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary this summer.

There’s a week and a half between when the last rec camp week is and when school starts so youngest will be home with his sisters and also with my mom and SIL probably.

[186momx]

We have 12 weeks of summer break as we get out June 11th and don't go back until Sept 8th.

DD hates her aftercare camp but it gives us the most flexibility and it is the only camp my mom will pick her up from to help get her to gymnastics as practice usually starts at 3. I can have her do 1/2 or full and pick which days work for us. DD doesn't like it because the fun stuff doesn't start until afternoon when she is leaving and morning time is just free play and very loud.

We've done gymnastics camp at her gym in years past but they don't like it when team girls do camp so that is out. Around here most of the camps run 9-3 or 10-2 and then charge a fortune for before/after.

I think I'm going to do a mix of DD work with mom days, aftercare camp for 1/2 days, and a couple of the short specialty camps. She really liked rock climbing last year and that is 10 minutes from my office building but also one of those 10-2 camps so my day feels all messed up that week.

[sdlaura]

mrsGreeko, I'm worried for you about your Japan trip and cruise. Do you have travel insurance?

[mrsGreeko]

Feb 25, 2020 16:13:33 GMT -5 sdlaura said:

mrsGreeko, I'm worried for you about your Japan trip and cruise. Do you have travel insurance?

Sort of. Our credit card has some insurance associated with it. I’m not super concerned. We have only “bought” our plane tickets to Japan, but we did that with miles and if they end up cancelling flights I feel confident the airlines will reimburse the miles. I have places reserved to stay there, but haven’t paid for them and they are all fully refundable until like 2 days before we stay there.

Our tickets to CA are on Southwest (also with miles) so if we cancel it’s no big deal. We’ve only put down $150 on the cruise and don’t have to pay the rest until like May, but also if they cancel it I imagine they’d have to give us back any money. Shrug. Not a huge concern of mine. More concerned that they might close things in Japan we want to go to, but we would figure it out. I’m pretty chill about the whole thing honestly.

My bigger concern would be that a kid of mine would have a fever not related to COVID-19 on a travel day and they would do a thermal scan and we’d get stopped and have to jump through hoops. But that’s only because both times we flew to Costa Rica in the past 2 years and once when we flew to AZ a few years ago I’ve had kids that were sick either right before the travel day or on our travel day.

[librarychica]

We have booked two weeks of science camp, where they usually go for at least a month. But DD1 is going into the the third/fourth grade grouping and there are fewer that appeal to her. Lots more branded camps (Harry Potter, super heroes, Minecraft) and she’s not there yet. She’s signed up for lab experiment camp and maker space. DD2 (5) for ocean animals and dinosaurs.

So we are looking for alternatives. Possibly she’ll go to history camp across the street while DD2 stays in science (she’s 5 so not old enough for most camps) or they’ll both go to rec camp at the JCC of maybe we will get a summer babysitter and save ourselves the driving. TBD.

[sunbutter]

A mix of three different camps for DD (8), ymca jr science, horse camp and general camp. DS (12) has aged out a a lot. He will probably do a week of tennis camp at the YMCA, two weeks as a counselor in training at his old camp....maybe a tech camp at a local university.. and then probably stay home by himself some weeks...
Might hire a babysitter for the weeks that they both don’t have camp scheduled.
Both of them vetoed overnight.
We are all going to Scotland for one week, yay!

[lexus]

DD will go to Girl Scout overnight camp for one week (thank you cookie sales!) and one week of their day camp. She will also probably do some time with my mom, some with me, and some with her school’s after care program that runs a camp in the summer.

DS will stay enrolled in preschool full time to save his spot for the school year but probably won’t attend every day every week.

I’m a teacher so in the past we have just needed a day or two a week for me to work on curriculum, attend training, or take time for myself but this summer I think I’m going to apply for summer school for the extra cash, so they will need more care options.

[ilovelucyvv]

DD is going to a camp that is supposed to be more educational than the one she went to last year- 30 minutes of language arts, 30 minutes of math, Spanish and Mandarin, and other rotations throughout the day.

DS is spending his last summer at daycare/preschool before Kindergarten.

[madringal]

My girls are 12, 8, 4.5 - 3 days a week they will go to my inlaws, 2 days a week they will be home alone from 9-12 and then I WFH in the afternoons.

My oldest will go to a week long sleep away church camp and a few one night away swim camps and my nephew will watch the little girls for me those days.

[xctsclrx]

my kid is going the the Y. Except for one week when he will be at his grandmothers.

My DD is still in full time care so no concern there yet.

What are you guys doing for spring break? The school breaks are the hardest to figure out. I feel guilty sending them to daycare, but I don't have 5 weeks to kill at home with him. I am also annoyed at my school right now.

We are starting aug. 5th so the kids can have an entire week off in October and at Thanksgiving, plus 2.5 weeks off at Christmas and another week in March. Why can't we start in Mid to Late august and have a week off in October and then only the wed-fri at Thanksgiving or reverse it. 2 weeks off in 2 months is a lot of time off.

[186momx]

xctsclrx, I feel you on spring break or winter break. For me it is that DD's practice schedule at the gym changes but they never tell us when and what until right before. I asked 2 weeks ago so I could plan after another quick schedule change for a no school day. I really don't care what days or times she practices because we have a good gym family so getting a ride isn't ever a issue. My issues is I don't want to pay $45 a day for spring break camp if she can't end up going because practice is at 1pm and they are off on a field trip that day. Or schedule an auntie day and have to cancel because DD can't be an hour away. I know FWP.

[waverly]

For school breaks this is what we typically do:

October week or few days off- attend aftercare camp.
Thanksgiving week- attend aftercare camp 3 days, home Thursday/ Friday.
Christmas week- DH works from home, kids stay home.
New Years week- attend aftercare camp, somewhere around 2-4 days depending on how the holidays fall on the calendar. 
Spring Break week- vacation usually Florida, but now we are out of airline points, so it will be a road trip to TN.

[sdlaura]

xctsclrx we also do the Y for school break camps. The school district also runs a day camp during fall and spring break (ours are two weeks each). This spring break we’re doing one week of the school district camp and one week of YMCA skateboarding and scooter camp. My sister is bringing her two older kids out for the second week, so they’ll do two days of the YMCA camp with my kids (you can sign up for just one day at a time).

It’s expensive (this spring break will cost over $1,000) but we need to save our vacation days for when the toddler is off, since there aren’t other childcare options for him.

[twinmomma]

xctsclrx, We use Boys and Girls Club for school breaks too. They're open at least some of the days during Christmas break, all of February break, and all of April break. I think it helps that they cater to lower income and working families, so they get that parents have to be at work and don't have all this unlimited vacation time to take off at the drop of a hat for school breaks. We don't get a full week off at Thanksgiving, just Thursday/Friday, so I have those days off anyway. They're even open a lot of the Monday holidays that we may need coverage for.

[sandandsea]

Ds1 is doing a 6 week long camp this summer at our local high school. It’s run by his after school program and is the best deal and most convenient option. We will supplement it with a week long vacation and grandma is visiting for a couple of weeks at the end of the summer to fill the gap.

I’ve also found some pretty great camps through our city parks and rec for spring break and ski week. He did a zoo camp and will be doing a nature camp and they are more affordable too than other options.

I asked if he wanted to go to camp at his brothers school and got a hard pass but that would have been nice, but more expensive.

[mae0111]

I waited too long again... and DD2’s number one choice camp is full again... I did the same thing last year....

if I knew how to post a gif it would be if Rob Schneider in Waterboy saying “Oh no! We suck again!”