School is almost over. Sadly, as a working parent, your routine doesn’t change just because summer arrives. Instead we have to find alternate care for our kiddos who go to school (and likely after school care of some sort) so we can continue to work and support our families.
I went out into the digital world and starting asking other working parents what kids of care they rustle up for their kids. While I didn’t get nearly the feedback I wanted, a few parents did share their summer routines with me.
I had a few moms chime in on Twitter with some summer routines that work for them.
Sarah – Digital Motherhood:
Summer camps aren’t really a thing here, it’s usually childminders or day clubs. My daughter might be doing a gymnastics club though. I think most people would probably just call it Holiday Club! (Sarah lives in the UK so I had to ask her what day clubs were!)
Shayna – Mommy Outside The Box:
We camp every chance we get in the summer so don’t sign the kiddo up for much. I do work but tend to do a bit less blog work to fit everything in the summer!
Brett – This Mama Loves:
I work from home. My kids will be doing a few day camps, summer team workouts for gymnastics, art and ninja warrior camp. That and getting bored!
Jen – Inspiration & Bliss
I am trying to work on unschooling my 2.5 year old daughter this summer. In addition to blogging and life coaching, I am a Montessori teacher so technically I have the summer off. I take my daughter all around the city and whatever she is interested in is what we learn more about. For example we went to the park and she fell in love with the ducks, so we then went to the library and took out 2 books on ducks. It has been a fun experiment so far.
My girls are enrolled in day camps for 6 weeks this summer. We had to choose camps that offered late pick-up as most camps here end by 4pm, but I work until either 5 or 6 so that wouldn’t really work. Patrick has more flexibility in his schedule, but he realistically cannot get the girls every day by 4pm either. A few of the camps offer late pick-up included, but most you have to pay extra for.
We are lucky that our families are very supportive. My parents offer to take the girls for a week every summer. Sometimes the kids put up resistance to it, but once the time arrives the kids are happy to go. This option is a “ship the kids off” kind which gives me a few nights without rushed suppers and bedtimes. I like it, the kids like it, and my parents like it (though my dad will grump about it a bit) so this is great for everyone! Thanks Mom and Dad for doing this for us every summer!
Every summer we also take a week’s vacation. We try to spend a week at a friend’s cottage – it’s still up in the air this year, but if we don’t do that we’ll find some other fun things to do as a family. We also fill our weekends with events around town, or short road trips. Now that the kids are older it’s easier to make early morning decisions and just go!
I’d love to hear what you do with your kids – care wise – during the summer months. And what you do for fun and “vacation”! Share your summer routines with me in the comments so I can offer more options to the girls next summer. I’d love to send them to sleep-away camps, but neither of them thought they were ready this year. If you have a post about your kids going to overnight camps I’d love to read them and share them with my daughters.
~Jess
Leave a Reply