What do those of you working do with young kids over the Summer?

[murphy1]

I have a job interview next week (yay!! And only part time) and was wondering how you all that work handle childcare during those couple of months with your kids? I might just go to weekends for that time if worse comes to worse.

[SBETigg]

I work at home, which is great, but it seems my whole town full of kids (besides mine) go to summer camp. The big summer discussion is always "what camp are you going to" or "where are you sending your kids?" and it seems like there's a whole social pecking order built up around the camps. Unreal. It came to the point where I was bracing myself for the inevitable shock and horror "Your kids don't go to camp?!" My poor kids, stuck at home with me all summer long. No camp. *sniff, sniff.*

Anyway... you could always look into summer camps. :blush:

[murphy1]

That's funny Sherri! That's how preschool is in the South! I have heard that about camps up that way, for some reason, camp isn't as big a thing here, it always looks like a fun thing. I will have to look into that.

[kakn7294]

I'm lucky enough that my mom can watch mine. Since I work nights and am home during the day (albeit sleeping) and they are older now, they just stay home and wake me if they need something - some days that's a lot of waking up, other times, they leave me alone all day.

Good luck with the interview Shari!

[Mickey'sGirl]

Does your regular daycare have summer programs? Our children stay in their regular daycare during the summer.

[Ms. Mode]

I always had a private babysitter. My child played with her children...they had a great time!

[murphy1]

I'm lucky enough that my mom can watch mine. Since I work nights and am home during the day (albeit sleeping) and they are older now, they just stay home and wake me if they need something - some days that's a lot of waking up, other times, they leave me alone all day.

Good luck with the interview Shari!

Kathy, this is how I grew up, my mom worked during the day and my dad worked for the Post Office and was home when we were and he slept, so we did homework, chores, etc.

Jen, they aren't in anything other than their school, my plan while they go is to work around their hours.

[Disneymom4ever]

I just wanted to say good luck with the interview! I'm still a stay at home mom, so I can't give any good advice on daycare, though. I actually had an interview a few weeks ago, but turned it down because of the hours. It is such a struggle with kids and work, isn't it? Perhaps if it's just a few hours a day, a local babysitter could help?

[MarkC]

My kids are now 20 and 17 so we are long out of sitter range. When they were really young, we hired a neighbor kid who was 16-18 for their summer job. It was much cheaper than full time daycare and the kids got to sleep in and stay at home. Since the sitter was old enough he/she could drive them to baseball practice, swimming, etc. It was a great job for them and great for the kids as well. We did know the families well and one lived next door, so that was a huge advantage for us.

As the kids got older, we let them stay home by themselves in the morning since they just slept in anyway. My wife and I would take turns taking the afternoons off for the week, her taking the first week, me the second and so forth. We both had been with our companies a long time and had plenty of vacation built up. But then we were home by noon and could get them lunch and be around for them, etc. Both those examples worked out really well for us since neither one of us had parents in town to help.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We do the camp thing as well.

During the school year, DH works the early shift, so he's home when DD gets home from school, and I work a later shift so I can see her off in the morning.

But, during the summer, other than the weeks where we get vacation, it is summer camp.

When she was little, she just stayed at the daycare all summer, but now we use it as an opportunity to explore things she is interested in. At least up here, most museums, historical sites, etc all offer camps so she get a really diverse experience, and not just traditional "camp" time.

[c&d]

I'm lucky in that where I work, Boston University has a summer day camp for kids. I get to drop off DS in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon, it's nice having a commute buddy during the summer. This year is his first year going to sleep away camp. He's going for a full month.

Our local Y also has day camp but I hated the rushing back home to make sure I got him by 6:00pm. Sometimes that Friday traffic was unbelievable.

[princessgirls]

Best of luck with the interview! I hope it all goes great!

Ahhh...the work in the summer issue. Yes, I would love to take the summer off totally, but that's not realistic. I have a job that has evolved with my motherhood. I only worked 12 hours a week when my kids were small...how great is that?
Now it's 30, but still not full-time and I'm home with them afterschool 4 days a week.
Anyway, I try to split the difference with them in the summer. I have a teenager come over two days, and they can sleep in and hang home, 2 days we do a sitter who has a lot of their friends from school as well. She takes them swimming, and my girls have been going to her since they were little tots. I am off Fridays, so it works. I kind of cut back to 25 hours a week in the summer too, so we can do activities in the afternoon when I get home.
Good luck with the job!
Julie:mickey:

[offwego]

We did use daycare (some camps not often) but the difference in price between after school care and that was uh interesting (as when he was not in school we had a very affordable full time option but the one he was in Grade 1 cost more each month then my mortgage payments in summer)

I dont remember the perfect solution ever but it worked well enough. (we also had shift work issues, commute issues etc) I must say being at the gee don't have to do that stage makes up for many of the teenage angst issues we may have!

[Patricia]

Check your local child care options. I have a daycare home providing out of school care and often I don't have a full house in the summer as some of my clients are teachers. So, I offer my spots to other children needing only summer care. Daycare centers and homes are cheaper than the camps. Find out who issues the licenses in your State to get numbers and start calling now.

[d_m_n_n]

You might try your YMCA/YWCA. Our local YMCA offers an excellent day camp program in the summer...very structured with activities the kids enjoy doing (movies, swimming, etc.). The kids have so much fun, sometimes I think my kids want me to go back to work so they can participate! :blush:

[meldan98]

You may also want to check with your local park and rec. Our town has a daycamp program during the summer. They go swimming, go the the park, bowling, skating, arts and crafts and all kinds of activities. My dh works from home, but we will be sending our oldest to daycamp this year, because he will drive him nuts if she's around 24/7.

[Georgesgirl1]

Check with your local YMCA and county rec centers. Daycares will often take kids for just the summer, although the cost would probably eat up all of your paycheck. You could also look into Vacation Bible Schools at local churches. There is pretty much a free VBS every week around where we live!

Good luck on the interview!

[PirateLover]

Most local Recreation centers will run some sort of day camp. I went to two rec center day camps with my cousins and one museum camp by myself as a kid. The rec camps were fun because we got to go swimming every day, run around and play on the playground all day, and have some structured activities like art and crafts, reading time, and I also had a lot of opportunities to go on field trips. My camp ran from 8-5. You could leave at 1 (which we did. My grandpop would pick us up usually. He used to watch us every day when we were little but when we were old enough for camp our parents gave him the break). The museum camp was interesting, but I was shy and didn't enjoy it as much not knowing anyone. You may want to ask the parents of your kids' friends what they plan to do.

[vizsla]

We are lucky that the school DD attends offers a day camp over the summer months for working parents. They have a wide variety of activities for all the age groups to keep them busy along with summer sports teams and music programs. And then she also goes to a few gymnastic camps over the summer vacation.

[garymacd]

I'm lucky in that where I work, Boston University has a summer day camp for kids.

Summer day camps are great for the kids. Our girls loved them and eventually became Junior LIT's at the camps.

See if your local Y or even your town/city offer them through their recreation departments. We have a local museum that dates back to the War of 1812 which offers summer day camps. Our youngest started going there many years ago.

She's still there! (No! We didn't forget to pick her up!)

She now volunteers at the museum, assists with battle re-creations and special events in the park. This was a great way for her to meet her Volunteer Hours requirement to graduate from High School.

[ozmom]

Besides the YMCA and local park and rec you may want to check out the Boys/Girls Club.

[DisneyDog]

My DS7 goes to the YMCA for summer camp. They work with the school district and provide before and after school care during the school year IN the school, and then we pay for them to provide daycare for days that school is closed (I think schools are actually closed more than they are opened here) and then he does summer camp, which they time to start immediately after school ends and goes right up until school starts in the fall. So, they charge me the same rate all year long. That is wonderful, because I have looked into regular summer day camps, and they are charging per week what I am paying per month at the Y. Yikes. They take them swimming every day, take them on weekly field trips, and play games and sports. It's wonderful, and because they work with the school district, he knows most of the kids there already.

Previously, when he was in a regular daycare facility, he did summer camp at the day care.

[caryrae]

Our kids are easy to watch, a lot of times we just leave them home alone sometimes for more then a day but then again they use a litterbox and eat food and water from bowls. :cat::cat: