I have 2 little ones (7) & (4) and my wife is currently stay at home. Next year when my youngest goes to all day school (right now it’s half) my wife wants to go back to work. My question is, what will the kids do in the summer? Will day-cares just do the summer months or is there some other options? In-laws are a no go as we live hours away from any immediate family.
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Friends of mine split a babysitter (and the costs) with a few friends for this summer. The babysitter has experience as summer camp counselor (hope that’s the right english title) and I think it’s 5 or 6 kids total she takes care of all day with activities etc. They put a tent with tables and hammocks and stuffs in one of the backyards as their ‘homebase’ during the day.
Not sure the exact hours but pretty sure it’s most of the day. Idk how much they pay her but they’re not rich and they split the costs between all the families so seems doable.
They go to day camp. Ours is hosted by the city, but I know our daycare did summer camp as well, though I think they capped it at age 8?
Over night camps for weeks at a time. Builds independence
My family had a live in nanny
Hopefully your kids learn to socialize and then enjoy their summers playing with friends
Elementary school age, my sister and I went to daycare at the church. Middle school we were put in day/overnight camps or did family trips. High school we did summer jobs, some camps, or hung with friends.
Divorced, but that generally amounts to the same thing. My kid spends a ton of time with the grandparents going everywhere. So far this summer, he’s been camping at Daytona beach, at an ATV park, cabin in North Carolina, two theme parks, stayed in a condo at Boca Raton, currently in Miami, and when he comes back he’ll have another trip to Belle Springs, a trip to Georgia, and possibly one more theme park after that. My parents live in Miami, but half those trips so far have been with them. As for the day care option, some will take in for summers only, but the better option would be for a day camp if it’s offered in your area.
our day care does summer months and after school hours. our youngest goes full time but my 5 year old only goes days I work and that’s what we pay for. if i do take OT or something then my MIL owns her own business and will just take her for the day.
sick days for the kids is the hard part for many but my wife’s work gives her 2 sick days a month that she can also use hourly or for the kids
Day camps.
I’ve been sending my son to different day camps during the summer for years. YMCA nd the JCC are good choices. There’s also a really cool pro-environment day camp we sent him to last summer.
The tip for doing day camps is to sign up early. These things fill up fast. And while a lot of them have a system set up where the kids can hang out after the camp ends to accommodate parents commuting not all of them do this so you need to make sure whether or not this is something you need.