summer has begun!
i love summer for SO many reasons,
the longer days, warmer weather, beach days and sand between my toes
it's worth that mess in my car, my hair, and my house.
ahhhhh, i just LOVE it!
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here's the thing.
i love almost everything about summertime,
except the kids being out of school so long.
they don't need 2 1/2 months off school.
{did you know it's a tradition left over from america's farming days?}
2 or even 3 week breaks during the year would be great ...camps and family
vacations could happen, and then our kids could be back in school learning.
until year round school becomes the norm,
the challenge for parents everywhere {even those that stay home}
is how to keep our kids engaged all summer,
or rather 'enriched' is the term christopher used that i prefer.
at 16, most kids are doing internships and/or working. that's easy.
what to do with grade school and middle aged school kids isn't so easy.
i could plant them in front of the tv or computer to entertain them all day,
but what parent wants that for their kids for 2+ months?!
the challenge is how to give our kids an enriching summer.
an attentive, book loving and adventurous sitter would be enough
for scoutie, but finn needs more.
i dream of putting him in ucsd's robotics and science camps,
he'd be in heaven and learn so much. unfortunately, they are crazy expensive...
more for families who can afford to send their children to private schools.
unfortunately, we can't offer these camps to finn.
so what's left? the traditional camps, like the more affordable ymca camps,
{which still aren't cheap}. this is where my two peanuts were last week,
and where they are all of this week.
they come home every evening with stories about their day and activities.
scoutie's is the same - he tells me he had fun, but the days are too long.
physical activity is great, but from 8:30am to 4:30pm is a bit much for an almost 6 yr old.
he's ready to crawl into bed before 8pm every night.
finn complains there is no time to just read or to focus on any one activity.
they corrall the kids from one activity to another all day long every hour.
from his description i have to think the camps are set up for kids with
attention deficit disorder {aka as add}.
*sigh*.
though the ymca entertains and engages kids,
their camps don't seem to enrich kids.
that's not an inherently a bad thing,
but for an entire summer, it can be.
our kids have so much potential.
{they are ripe for learning}
SO
as the boys finish their 2nd week of y camps,
i am on the lookout for more enriching camps they can attend.
c and i also found a summer sitter who we are hoping
will keep the boys both engaged and enriched...to some degree.
we sat down with her last night and went over expectations, etc.
her name is amber and she's a pnlu student {starting sophmore year},
and starts with us on monday. the boys are excited.
happy news: denise, a lovely lady in my book group and mother of 2 sweet boys,
welcomed a daughter today. i hope to meet this little girl this weekend once mom goes
home. {i didn't mention her name because they are still undecided...tomorrow hopefully}
