Summer Planning
Summer camp? Nanny? Grandpa Camp? Quit your job and hang by the pool?
Opening this one up to subscribers… do you have colour-coded camp spreadsheets? Generous grandparents? A Disney+ subscription and snacks?
This is our first year needing to cover the summer holidays (I miss nursery…) and it seems stressful (see the Atlantic for the summer camp feeding frenzy).
I keep reminding myself - our summers are shorter, you only have 1 kid. I have a slightly zany plan to use HomeExchange to rent a house in Lisbon, where there’s a day camp with a swim intensive. T will swim and meet new pals, I’ll live my European summer dreams - floaty dresses, floppy hat… while I hunch over my computer and try to write my book. That will cover the first two weeks, then A will join us for a week at my parents nearby (sadly with no English-speaking local camps), then home for a few weeks of camp. Seaside? French? Something sporty? Schedules haven’t been published yet and I’m slightly nervous that there’s an early August gap in camp availability. My parents will come the week before school starts and do grandparent camp. It’s a mellow time of year for me workwise - but I really need to spend my time writing.
Camp options are pretty limited locally - just 1 in our town and it’s in the school cafeteria. We can head into the city, but then I’d have to work at libraries during the day, and ugh, festival season… so crowded, busy, noisy…
Over to you:
How long are your summer holidays?
What is your strategy for filling the time?
What’s your biggest obstacle?
-Coree
Your plans are so lovely, please keep us posted on how your summer/home exchange would lay out :) I am working on a grant for the NIH with the deadline on June 6th, so May is very busy. It is also (luckily) a last month of school, so the kids are entertained! Our school break is about 10 weeks, so i do a full-time camp at the local fitness club for my two boys. I keep playing lottery to get into the school camp every year, but can't get it. The spots there are guaranteed only if you pay $3,000 per kid for aftercare during the school year, which we don't. So hence comes the fitness club camp. The boys love it, and last summer the take-away message that they learned was that you need to eat healthy and exercise in order to be a big kid (both of my boys wants to get BIG :)) ! So yay, the money well spent!
For fun, we usually get a membership in the outdoor pool for summer $600 per family for three months of fun (not included in the regular fitness club membership) and use it on the weekends and Wednesday nights :). The things i am most looking forward are the farmers markets and bike rides, and being on a water with my kayak group :)
O dear, I feel so lucky reading this. I plan to work some less hours during the six week school holidays, we’re on a family vacation for two of them. The other four there is our au pair, we do low key activities (hiking, biking, museums) and the kids have summer school for one they per week. No cancellations so far, and never before so high hopes! Generally we also sleep in a little Bit and stay out longer at night, and my boys will bike around the neighbourhood and have play dates as well. Lots of icecream and a backyard pool complete the Summer vibe!