childcare or camp?

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:20 pm

okay for parents imput is appreciated. okay when summer comes and the older kids over 4 need to be taken care of during the day, so you can work, what do you use? regular daycare? summer school (which is an option here) or sign them up for day camps?

if I do take the academy job this summer i'll need the 6 year old in something.

Hell's Bells · Post by **Hell's Bells** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:11 pm

briannell wrote:okay for parents imput is appreciated. okay when summer comes and the older kids over 4 need to be taken care of during the day, so you can work, what do you use? regular daycare? summer school (which is an option here) or sign them up for day camps?

if I do take the academy job this summer i'll need the 6 year old in something.

camp

bobcatgrad2005 · Post by **bobcatgrad2005** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:58 am

As a former overnight camp couselor, I would reccomend a camp. Especially a day camp for a 6 year old. Just make sure they have a wide range of activities; swimming, hiking, arts and crafts, sports, reading, etc.

Post by **kmax** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:40 am

Rebecca-

Interesting question and any of the options will probably be just fine. Last year my wife went back to work in June and we faced essentially the same questions as the daycare we planned to use for our youngest couldn't take her until August. For her (she was 1 year) we actually had a pretty neat solution. We found two high school girls (whom we trusted very much!) and they watched her in our house for the summer. The girls were young enough that they couldn't get a regular summer job, but old enough to be very responsible and it worked out great. It was a great transition for our 1 year old to not having Mom home as she at least got to stay in her house and have her toys and such. Then when it came time to go to daycare in the fall, that too was a very easy transition. After reading your story of the neighbors you have met on the other thread however, perhaps this may not be the best option for you!

For our five year old we actually found a private preschool/kindergarten (they took elementary age kids in the summer also) program for her and she loved it. They didn't do alot of "school" type stuff but there was a little just to keep them in it a bit, but they did alot of hands on type learning that was essentially just fun for the kids. Field trips to someplace every week among alot of other great activities. She absolutely loved it and is looking forward to it again this summer. Perhaps there is a similar type of center/program there.

I see that the first couple responses mentioned camps and day camps. I think these are great options for kids and they usually love them. The only thing I would mention is not to overdo it with camps. Not sure how much you will be working, but if it will essentially be everyday, that much time in camps will be too much for most 6 year olds. The great thing about camps is that they are always doing something, however I have found that kids that age still need some "down" time here and there and a complete summer full of camps with no time to just have fun being a kid or "doing nothing" is likely going to be too much for most. Just my personal feelings though, I am sure every kid is different.

Well, that should be enough rambling, hope something there helps a bit!

bobcatgrad2005 · Post by **bobcatgrad2005** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:19 am

Good call on the "down time" KMax, now if only I could schedule myself some...

Post by **kmax** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:39 am

bobcatgrad2005 wrote:Good call on the "down time" KMax, now if only I could schedule myself some...

Amen to that! Mine is scheduled for the end of June on a nice white beach with a beer in my hand!

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 11:26 am

I thank you for the responses as I am essentially a "single" parent due to husbands Army demands and deployments. I would like very much to take a position open to me, although not in financial need to work, so really just selfishly want to participate in the equine therapy program as counselor/trainer for these kids. on the flip side, I really have a hard time with the do i take a position because I want to, or do I continue to stay home with the kids because they need me, and we're fortunate not to require added income. What a crux! most mothers work because of the financial need, so although we are comfy, I still feel the desire to do something outside the home that can use some of the knowledge I spent the 4 years in college obtaining. Thanks for the camp advice, I was starting to feel like an oger for not giving into the overnight camp. I think day camp M,W,F is enough to give him the experience of camp without drilling him into the ground. although little boys are little boys and want to leave the nest the second you turn your head away and look the other direction.

Kmax- how was the guilt issue? it's huge here, but at 3 and almost 7 I think the interaction with other kids, and positive adults would be good for both the kids. I would like to find at least someplace that will take both, but not in the same classroom.

as for the neighborhood - yeah don't think I want my kids anywhere near the neighbors, and I haven't had the opportunity to meet families outside of the development just yet. as for the cowboy I met - he graduated UM, so i wasn't sure if his bluntness was a pull my leg thing, or at 37 he's just a perv who doesn't care about someone's hubby kicking his butt for that behavior.

anyone want to swap neighbors let me know!

anacondagriz · Post by **anacondagriz** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:19 pm

Can't the kid just sit in the car with a PSP all day?

Post by **kmax** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:28 pm

Your situation actually sounds very much like ours last year when my wife decided to go back to work, excepting the pseudo-single parent thing which I sure complicates this some as well. We too were lucky enough not to financially need her to work, but she felt the want to do something outside the home and "earn her keep" as she kept putting it.

There were definately some guilt issues and alot of questioning by her about whether she was doing the right thing by leaving her babies. While every individual is different and I can't say it would apply to you, what I kept reminding her was that she had a responsibility to herself as well. Our first instinct as parents is to sacrifice everything to ensure our kids are taken care of, but sometimes the needs of the parents need to be looked at as well, in this case a need to do something besides just being a Mom. As you mentioned at 3 and 6 your kids are probably just as ready to start having some outside experience as you are. After really looking at it, that is what we found, that our guilt about leaving them wasn't so much founded in that they would be worse off for not being home with Mom all the time, but more in the somewhat selfish feeling of it being tough to let go and let them be on their own a bit.

In the end it actually did work out for the best. My wife is happier now working outside the home and both girls just love going and playing with their friends at daycare/school. It has been amazing to watch how much my girls have grown personally by having other adult and peer influences that they just wouldn't have gotten at home. We also found that it made the family time that we had together that much more enjoyable, everyone looked forward to it and there was alot less of the "burnt out on each other" feeling between Mom and the kids.

Now my disclaimer on this. This is just me and my families personal experience. I am not advocating that this is the only way or that there is anything at all wrong with having a stay at home parent. I know that other people and families are very different and different things work out best for different people. Hopefully this helps you out a bit as it really does seem that you are dealing with a similar situation to what we went through, but I don't expect that everything is the same or will be the same.

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 1:36 pm

Kmax- I have been home since 1/99, so I'm getting that urge to go out and yes like your wife "earn my keep". Not having to stress out so much about how much I have to contribute financially to keep the family afloat, allows me the luxury of opting for a position that gives great personal satisfaction, however, I am not going to be banking truck loads of money teaching at risk kids, and kids that are recovering from illness how to ride, communicate, and have general horsemenship skills. It's more the inner feeling of knowing that I was able to use my love of equines, and knowledge of them to help children overcome trauma in their lives. you know the "warm fuzzies".

I see this as a great step into parlaying a career as a animal centered child therapist. I have gone back to University for a Master's in Social Work, and really believe that using animals for therapeutic aides works wonders at healing children. wanted to move home to Bozeman and do this as hubby has such an extended deployment 6/06-9/07, but we just weren't able to make that work out for us. So staying put and instead of trying to get on with Eagle Mount or Special Olympics of Montana, going to work with a local program.

I just worry about my own kids feeling they are getting the short end of the stick. I hope they are just sick of being around me and will enjoy the other adults and children they meet.

Good to hear that the transition went smoothely, as i get anxious about giving the kids up. I think it's good for adults to be able to interact with other adults as well. I prefer to do that with individuals that have similar interests, and of course have what I view to be good morals, and not pervs.

So are you mods going to open a family forum?

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:09 am

Briannell, I don't know what your final decision may have been, but it's my personal experience that camps wound up being little more than a babysitting routine for my older kids while I was consumed with my own career,e.g., graduate degrees and the Army Reserves. Even though I'm only in my mid-fifties now, it seems like the years I lost being away from the ex and my older kids certainly contributed to the age-old thing I heard coming back from one of my "summer camps" of "we've grown apart...

Moving back to Montana a few years ago to help my mother take care of my father, I've turned around and noticed the same cycle I went through with my grown kids is repeating itself as it's really, really hard to maintain a "normal" family and have both spouses chasing their careers and having to live many miles apart with fewer and fewer weekend visits as a school year progresses. We live in a pretty decent Flathead neighborhood where there's huge numbers of kids between three through high school and the old stuff we used to do like ride bikes, play baseball, work on cars, go feed horses, go shooting with the parents and just hang out almost makes it look like gangs when ya'll see 8-10 first through sixth grade girls/boys running through the yards being kids

I am sending my rising second grader to a couple of football camps, Vacation Bible School and there'll be daily trips to the pool here in Columbia Falls, but I'll let the other half decide what to do with my rising fourth grade girl. Plus, we'll be watching a younger couple's kids during the day while they work as we're both still in education and have the best part of the year to be in the Flathead free. Their kids will go to the same camps as the male of their house is still young enough to play for the Columbia Falls Gladiators

Anyway, good luck if ya'll decide to really make a go for it with the camp thing and here's a link as to what kind of stuff my grown kids did all summer when I lived in Georgia.
http://www.statesboroherald.com/showsto ... ordID=6619

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:50 am

We are using the all of the above column this year.

Last year we had a "Manny" a 19 year old college student working on his commercial pilot liecence. With our two kids and one nephew it really made sence to hire someone to entertain the kids at our house. He was a kick took the kids flying, water fights, limited TV/Video game time and had reading time even took the kids flying. Problem is we could not arrange for that this year, so we are ussing varity this year. Some camps, a little day care, some with there nephew at grama's and some play dates. This works for the 10 year old real well he likes varity.

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 2:39 pm

well, come mid July will be spending more time with ponies, i wont be working. I don't know if i'll ever use my MSU education

Dad had obscenely long deployment orders, so it's best I stay home fulltime. i'll be doing my classes online, so something for me. Unless I get knocked up again once he gets home the "baby" will be getting ready for kindergarten so i'll FINALLY get that elusive paycheck

Don't get me wrong I LOVE BEING MOMMY!!!!! But I want to know how it feels to earn a check.

whitetrashgriz · Post by **whitetrashgriz** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 3:15 pm

anacondagriz wrote:Can't the kid just sit in the car with a PSP all day?

$\:D/$ $\:D/$

childcare or camp?

childcare or camp?

Re: childcare or camp?