It's Summer: Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?

This past Sunday, Lowell Elementary held its annual Summer Camp Fair on its campus for parents to peruse the many choices of how to keep their offspring occupied in the off-season (off from school, that is).  There is a camp for every age and every interest, but does this make for happy campers?  Do you subscribe to the school of thought where kids need to stay busy most every waking hour or do you believe that it’s summer and the livin’ is easy? 

What Do You Plan to Do With Your Kids This Summer? 

Elizabeth Borsting:

 I’m so glad I grew up when I did.  Summers for me meant little or no structure.  There were endless hours spent with my friends, picnic lunches in the woods with our Barbie dolls, warm evenings playing outside, staying up late on weekdays and sleeping in even later in the morning. 

When I was younger I usually did a week or two of day camp, and as I got older (11 years and up), I went to overnight camp for two weeks.  But these were my choices and, had I not been so enamored with Camp Sherman, my parents would not have made me go back year after year. 

So, I kind of subscribe to this theory with my own kids.  They typically will do a couple of camps (their choice) and my son spends a week at Boy Scout Camp, too.  Again, this is his choice. 

For the first time as parents my husband and I are making our 13-year-old (he would say brutally forcing) partake in something that isn’t his choice – Junior Lifeguards. After a couple of summers of hearing, “I’m bored” and “all my friends are busy” we decided to be proactive and nip any potential boredom in the bud.  But, come on, three hours spent hanging on the beach isn’t exactly what I would call torture. 

My 8-year-old daughter will go to a week of Girl Scout Camp at Marine Landing, maybe play some tennis (maybe not), and she might continue with art lessons (or put them on hiatus until school starts).  It’s really up to her. 

I enjoy having my kids home in the summer, and we’ll do some of our “warm weather” traditions:  a designated day at the bay, Thursday nights at the summer concerts in the park, weekly lunches along Second Street, a getaway to Santa Barbara, and a last hoorah before school starts at El Capitan in Hollywood. 

However, if my two kids bicker, as they’re prone to do, the question that will need answering is this: It’s summer – do you know where your mom is!?

Patricia Tsoiasue:

You’re getting the working mom’s perspective here.

The Summer Camp Fair is near and dear to me, as I planted the seed and watered it for three years.  I had a personal need to find activities for my son during school breaks. In his kinder-year, I was not at all ready – I did no planning at all. It was then that I realized that prepared parents start their planning as early as April.

I was determined to be prepared the next year... I also knew that if I was caught by surprise, others were too. First-time parents don't always know what they're supposed to be doing.

I thought that by creating an opportunity for parents to directly interact with providers, they would have more information about more camps and their kids could see the activities first-hand. I was thrilled that the Lowell PTA was so receptive of this idea, brought to them by someone totally new to the school!

My son loves going to the fair. There are music instructors giving lessons, on-site art activities and instruction, tennis pros showing how to serve. One year, a diving group brought their trampoline and team with them! Another year, Lowell Pack 007 brought a pinewood derby track. It was GREAT!

After the fair, we discuss the options we saw and write in selections on a blank calendar page.  I give him some basic guidelines, but he has a lot of opportunity for input. He has to be in camp most, if not all of the summer, so I want him to have fun.  His interests are magic, chess and game development. I prefer if he does at least a week or two of water sports. 

If I found a clown or Elvis camp, I’d totally want him to do it!  He mostly needs all day camps, but for one or two of the weeks, I let him do half-day camps and figure out what to do the rest of the day while I’m at work.  I didn’t always give the time, but now, if I have to leave work early every day that week, so be it. 

His college-aged cousin now has both her drivers’ license AND a car, so last summer she watched him for a couple of weeks so that he could have some home-time. It’s hard to do all of this organizing, but I really want to avoid him from feeling at a disadvantage because of my work schedule.  I let his close friends know where we'll be, just in case we can hook up during one or two of the weeks.

It’s taken me a while to realize the opportunity that summer brings to the child of a working parent.  Time and a budget to do all the things that interest you!  How cool is that!  (I hope he thinks it’s cool too!)

Nicole Gracie:

Now that my daughter is 16, I wish I could look back on her summers and say she kicked back and did whatever she wanted. That would certainly be my answer if you asked me my opinion on what kids should do in the summer.

Unfortunately, or maybe not, it seems like her summers were jammed packed. The last couple have been taken over by high school sports, before that it was junior lifeguards and soccer tournaments, before that she was busy taking advantage of all the great opportunities in and around our neighborhood: the boat shop, surf camp, 49er camp, sailing camp, and many things I can't even remember.

We always left time for the beach, and she never did anything academic, but it did feel like she was always preparing for something.

It's hard to know if I would change it because she had many wonderful opportunities and all of the activities provide a forum for bonding with friends. I guess I just wish life wasn't so hectic!

Susie Ridgeway:

Every summer, my children have been in full time summer camps -- whether it is Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 49er Camp, Junior Life Guard, or Long Beach Parks and Rec.  You name the camp, we have tried them all.  

They start camp when school ends and end camp when school starts (give or take a week or two off for a family vacay).  I drop them off early in the morning and pick them up late in the afternoon.  We make sure their back packs are packed with towels and a swim suit and sunscreen applied. 

It is something my kids do not look forward to.  In fact, they have already started complaining about which camps they will have to go to this summer.  What they really want to do (and me too!) is stay home all summer and have absolutely no plans. 

Here is what a day would look like for them:  sleep in as late as possible, stay in jammies all day long, watch a little TV, play a little Wii, play some triple solitaire, a game of Monopoly, go to the Peninsula for a late afternoon swim, have some friends over but for the most part nothing is planned. No summer camps -- each day is wide open, and the best part, there is no set time for bedtime because no early morning camp. 

Ahhhh, sign me up!! Sounds like HEAVEN!!