Summer Trade offs

My kids and I made a very purposeful decision before summer to NOT do any summer camps. With them traveling 4 weeks out of the summer, it seemed difficult to try to fit in any camps they wanted to do around that. The main camps they wanted to do were at Georgia Tech (robotics camp) which fell when they were out of town. Other camps were pretty much similarly situated. There were a few they could have squeezed in (my son could have gone to Skymont with his troop), but after looking at their schedule and the other things they wanted to do, camp seemed like making their schedules TOO busy. We realize that for many families, it's how they do summer. Especially with parents working, they kids need something to do as well. Fortunately for my family, I don't have to work.

So instead, we spend one day a week on something 'big' (like going to Kennesaw), one day doing something small (like bowling or going to the library) and the rest is up in the air to do what we want. Usually, they spend 1 day playing video games and one day swimming. This all means that I have my kids home (to myself) majority of the day every day. It also means that they start getting on each other's nerves after a while. Of course, that's when I usually try to do the field trip. It gets them out and interested in something else, so that when they get home the next day, they're more willing to be together.

It's all a trade off. I get more time with my kids, but I have to redirect them every so often to keep them from strangling each other. They may get bored more quickly, but all they have to do is suggest an activity and we have the time to go do it. The end result is that it's all good.