I’ve had such mixed luck with summer camp for my kids over the years.
Ruby did a variety of camps with a variety of enjoyment levels, and although she adored Camp Point Clear, she opted not to go this year due to lingering COVID concerns (last year, it was canceled outright, which was the hard but right decision).
Now, at 14, she is old enough that she spends her summers texting her friends, rolling her eyes, complaining about our lack of acceptable snacks, and demanding to be driven places.
But Georgia, a newly turned 9, is still young enough that I want something for her to do during the days that isn’t YouTube and video games.
For years, she attended – and loved – Southern Rep’s theatre camp, but she aged out.
Everything I’ve found since is either too expensive, too niche, too far away, or filled up back in February.
In March, I enrolled her in a generic summer camp, which started last week, and it’s fine … but when I enrolled her, my mom was alive and living just a few blocks from the camp, so I figured she could help with pick-ups.
Now that’s obviously off the table, which makes it much harder, logistically, and Georgia honestly would rather sleep in and stay home, so I canceled the second session.
That gives us about seven weeks of completely unstructured time for her, during which my husband and I both have to work (although he works from home).
In my fantasy world, she would spend summer vacation reading and playing outside, maybe teaching herself embroidery or a foreign language.
In my reality, she’s probably not even going to do her summer reading until I nag her half to death.
What do you do with your kids during the summer?
