[Phoebe]

Most of my friends with young children (4-6 yo) are scheduled in camps...so many that 4/5 weekday afternoons are taken up by these activities. I guess I just want to know that I'm not the only one who finds the backyard sandbox and a walk to the park to be enough. I hear comments like "the summer will get long if you don't put him in things". Isn't that the point? Isn't the summer supposed to be long, last forever...that's what I remember and hold dear, long, lazy, hot days.
I'm not suggesting that one afternoon a week is unreasonable. I'm just not understanding the enrollment in soccer, and karate, and tball, and boyscouts...all at the same time.
Am I the only one who is stuck in the past here???

amy

 

[Jessy1019]

We never schedule much for the summer. We spend some time on nice days at the pool, playing outside, going to the beach, amusement parks, fishing, and going to other fun places. I don't like having to follow a schedule or routine under ANY circumstances, so not having things scheduled in the summer is very nice!

 

[mamatowill]

I am not scheduling my DS's summer. Partly cause we don't know where we will be. If I was for sure going to be here I would schedule at least soccer but otherwise I agree with you. We will be hitting the park and swimming pools, hiking, etc.

 

[fruitfulmomma]

No, our life is already busy enough without scheduling all sorts of things. My only plans are to get back into hiking with the kids and working in the garden.

 

[cmoma]

Ds1 is just starting t ball this week and it goes through mid june after that hes home for the summer. We will be busy enough as we are moving sometime this summer and a new babe on the way soon. Plus with K starting in the fall I want him home with me for a just a wee bit longer

 

[milehighmonkeys]

We homeschool, so summer isn't much different for us other than the weather is nicer and we can go out more.

 

[harmonyhobbit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milehighmonkeys We homeschool, so summer isn't much different for us other than the weather is nicer and we can go out more.

: Except that the weather is crappy, so we stay inside more. We get more schoolwork done during the summer than any other time of the year.
I'm not a fan of scheduling children at all. My kids aren't enrolled in anything right now, and haven't been for a long time. We live in a rural area and don't have a car, so not a lot of options. In the summer there is a public pool, free arts and crafts classes and a game room at the park. We did those about twice a week last year. It was a nice break from the backyard and the house. We might do that again this year, if I'm up for it with a new baby. But that's it for us.

 

[jt'smum]

Nope not us. DD has swimming lessons right now and was taking gymnastics. That was enough for us. Now we only have swimming. I am not one to enroll her in tons of things. It makes life waaayyy to hectic.

 

[Drummer's Wife]

So far we haven't scheduled anything. I will be taking 2 online classes, so that's the only thing we have going on so far. Oh, and a vacation in July.

I am considering an art camp for my DD, and possibly something for my oldest DS-- but it would probably be only 1-2 weeks of summer.

eta: and by art camp, I'm not talking about the kind of camp where they stay overnight -- it's about 5 hrs a day, and you sign up for a week at a time.

 

[ChaoticMum]

Nope! We have one week booked with friends at the local campground and our site booked for the entire month - so we can come/go as we please. That is IT! No camps, no swimming lessons, no baseball, soccer! Just us and the summer!

 

[limabean]

I prefer a more low-key lifestyle too, and don't tend to schedule lots of activities, but I'm sure childcare is an issue for many parents -- spending days at the pool and the park isn't an option for lots of people. Or maybe their kids thrive off of being in groups and miss that in the summertime. No biggie, IMO.

 

[KiraMisu1999]

Agreed. We aren't planning any of that stuff. I like my kids and I want them around. They are only 3 and 1, and if they want to do that kind of stuff at some point, we may consider, but I would certainly never insist.

 

[cedoreilly]

We have a pretty unscheduled summer here too. We will be doing swim lessons and my DS2 will attend "summer school" 2 mornings a week for 2 hours (He is on an IEP which includes summer services. I was not overly happy about it last year because it scheduled up the summer some but he made so much progress in it last year so I don't have so much a problem this year). I so like waking up in the morning and just deciding then based on how everyone is what we are going to do for the day.

 

[Alyantavid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by limabean I prefer a more low-key lifestyle too, and don't tend to schedule lots of activities, but I'm sure childcare is an issue for many parents -- spending days at the pool and the park isn't an option for lots of people. Or maybe their kids thrive off of being in groups and miss that in the summertime. No biggie, IMO.

That. I would love to hang out at home with my kids all summer long and let them sleep in. I have a full time job however. That being said, we're only doing a few things for our 7 year old this summer, a couple camps, t-ball and golf, and its only one activity at a time. All at his request, if he didn't want to do them, we certainly wouldn't force it.

Quote:

I like my kids and I want them around.

Ouch. Whether or not someone signs their child up for summer camp has no relationship to whether they like their child or not.

 

[lisalulu]

I think we might do one class this summer. DS has asked to learn ballet so the local community center has a creative dance class for preschoolers we might put him in. But thats it. I really love slow relaxed summers where I don't have to drive in the hot car

I do worry about DS getting bored though. He's used to being in school 3 days a week for 3 hours a day. But hopefully we'll have some playdates and outdoor adventures of our own!

 

[Ceili]

The only kids that I know that are in camps full-time during the summer are the ones whose parents work full-time. We have things that are scheduled (swim lessons, theatre camp that I teach, and the end of t-ball season) but they don't take up a lot of time.

 

[AllisonR]

Just for a different POV: Summer vacation here is 2 weeks for daycare children, 5-6 weeks for school aged children. The rest of the year also has much vacation time - a full week in fall, full week in winter, week in spring, week at easter, 2 weeks at Christmas... So it is the same amount of "time-off", only it isn't lumped together so much.

DH and I work full time. And as a pp mentioned, yes, I also like my kids. We are not scheduling summer camp or soccer or whatever, but my DCs are only 2 and 4. I think a lot depends on the child's personality. Right now they want to be home with mom and dad. So we are home together. Or take vacations together. Or mini vacations like to the coast for 2 days or the zoo.... if they are literally at home for more than a few days they are bored and antsy, even if we go to the playground. later, if they decide they want to do gymnastics or soccer or art class or whatever, I hope I will be able to allow them to do some of these activities.

 

[JayGee]

We'll do swimming lessons, but that's about it. We are planning a big family vacation to Yellowstone in July, so that will break up the summer nicely. I've done the "overscheduled" summer before. By August, we were so worn out!

 

[snoopy5386]

right now we are signed up for 2 week long mom and me daycamps - one is a nature camp and one is a gymnastics camp. We also are taking a couple of classes that will run into early/mid june, we are going to go on 2 minivacations as well. DD and I will spend 2 maybe 3 weeks back home visiting family. We have a zoo membership and a science center membership, a local arts theatre that has tons of summer programming and our local library really steps up the summer programming as well. That combined with the local pool/lake and playdates with our moms group will keep us plenty busy.

 

[earthmama369]

Summer is when we get really social, so I tend not to sign up for a lot of scheduled activities because I like the freedom of being able to pull a party together at the last minute. DD has been asking me if she can go to an overnight camp but she's only 4 and I don't think any of us are quite ready for that!