About Summer Camps

Day Camps

Here is what we look for:

• Reasonably priced
• Convenient location (ie, close to home)
• Kids are enthusiastic about it
• Bonus if it's an outdoorsy camp with lots of time out in nature

In theory, day camps are a fantastic option because kids are busy and parents can work. In the evening and on the weekends, parents + kids can spend quality time together and do fun stuff.

In reality, many day camps are not covering full work day (ours seem to all be 9 to 3). Parents have to do drop off/pick up, which eats into the work time. After kids get home, they may (depending on a kid) cause  interruptions and require attention, which again takes away from work time. This is less so with older kids, which is why we haven't been doing "extended day" (not all camps offer that option). 

Overall, the camps are working out well this summer. But there are some things I would like to improve on.

Honestly, by the time we get to that theoretical "evening quality family time", I am in no mood for games or conversations... Sometimes I have work to finish up (because interruptions, see above). Sometimes, I am just plain tired. I feel annoyed with myself for not using our time together better. Part of my general sense of discontent is the stressful work situation I mentioned before. Part of it is lack of planning. 

Sleepaway Camps.

We haven't sent our kids to overnight camps. They say they want to go but... a few reasons why we haven't done it:

• Expense
• Pain-in-the-butt prep (labeling everything? stuff that the kids might not own and we would have to buy?) - it just looks like an overwhelming amount of prep work has to be done before the actual camp. Plus getting them to the camp if it's far away.
• There are only a few years left before the kids are grown up and will be away on their own... I kind of want to spend time with them while I can.
• Most of their friends are not doing sleepaway camps so there is less pressure all around to do that.
• My husband and I were not big on sleepaway camps when we were kids (he has never done it; I went to a sleepaway camp once when I was 15 - I loved it).

Considering that I've spent too much time during the last couple of weeks feeling stressed, grumpy, and craving an escape into books... maybe sleepaway camps would be a good option in the near future.... Like, for a week. I think it will be good for them and I think they will like it (especially if they can do stuff they are interested in). And they can do their own packing/labeling and whatnot! It would certainly give husband and I a break while providing some awesome experiences for the kids.. 

July Updates: Stress, Kids, Homework

Work-related stuff is still insane, both in terms of the work load and being thrown into new projects that I am completely unprepared for or have a good understanding of. Yet, I am supposed to be responsible for these projects. I feel a little bit calmer (for now) - one thing was sent to the client yesterday and I feel like I am beginning to gain perspective and have a better idea about what questions to ask. (Hopefully the client doesn't totally hate the slide decks we sent her... Ugh, that is entirely possible - no one on the team was entirely sure about what she was looking for...).

On the home front, one of my kids had a sleepover at my parents house. It's amazing how much things shift when only 2 kids are home! Yesterday evening felt so much easier to manage. Husband and I went for a late evening walk - it was warm and humid but not outright terrible. The girls played Hogwarts Legacy for a bit and then got themselves to bed at a reasonable time while we were out.

One of my highschoolers is already done with her math work, and about half way through the required book. The other one - not so much... I am trying to work out how much nagging/reminding is needed from me so that he doesn't leave it all until the last week before school. I want him to get back into the habit of studying every day - like spending maybe about an hour on school-related stuff. I am getting a lot of pushback on that... It's not like he does nothing all day - he has running in the mornings, works ~3 days a week, practices violin... But there is also a lot of wasted time.

What's your work/life balance looking like these days?

Birthday Painting

H is 14!

She painted her bedroom last week. All by herself. 

She taped everything over 2 days, and then  spent another 2 days painting. Her bedroom is not small... I am impressed but not surprised.

My husband and I, it takes us forever to complete projects like that. I think when we were painting our bedroom, it was probably weeks? Maybe more?

Of course, we also have to work, cook, clean, and take care of kids.

Still... H can be very efficient and hard-working (when it is something that she wants to do). She wanted to have her room all nice and ready for her 14th birthday.

We helped her swap beds - instead of a twin size bed that used to be her father's when he was a kid (it's part of a bunk set that also works as individual beds), she now has a full-size bed that used to be her grandmother's when she was a teenager.

She is still trying to figure out how to position everything in her room and what decorations are needed to achieve the "Boho" style she wants. 

Struggling

Work has been hard and overwhelming. There is just not enough time during the day to get everything done. I feel stressed and frustrated.

I wish I could relax and enjoy the summer. I wish I could go to the pool with the kids without constantly thinking about the manuscript I am writing, and the scientific platform I am responsible for, and publication planning that I've been just told I'll be the lead on. There is a constant hum of demands - from work, from children, from community.

I wish I could have leisurely evenings, playing games with my family and reading books. Instead, I am constantly stressed and unpleasant to be around.

I can't relax because there is just so much work that needs to get done. I can't work in the evenings, my brain is just not functional. Plus, people want food, laundry needs to be done, kids have activities, etc, etc. I haven't been able to work much in the early mornings because of helping kids get ready for camp, driving kids to camp, and just random household-related tasks that seem to come up every morning. And it feels like there are simply not enough uninterrupted hours during the day. 

I was unable to sleep last night - just thinking, thinking, thinking about all the things that I am responsible for, all the tasks I need to be on top of. I was just lying awake and feeling like everything was spinning out of control. 

There are no solutions, except for sucking it up. There are so many things that are important to me that I am just not doing because of the work situation, and that makes me feel bad, and then I feel more stressed, and then I am even less productive, which leads to even more stress. I haven't been exercising. I haven't been taking care of the garden. I keep forgetting to wash out and refill the hummingbird feeders. I haven't been spending quality time with kids -  because of work overwhelm and because I've been craving solitude (that's what happens when I am stressed). I've been so so impatient with my family.

This is not sustainable. 

July Weekend Recap

It's been hot, humid, and rather unpleasant in our area. My husband and I try to get out daily at least for a bit - like an evening walk, or to the pool with kids. Our garden has been so sad and neglected (also, evil things ate all lettuce, beans, peas, and even cucumber plants.  I think was the neighbor's groundhog. We are setting traps again, but nothing so far. I am considering getting a wolfhound... or a really big and mean cat...)  I spent maybe 20 minutes weeding the garden last Friday? It was just too hot to keep going.

Saturday: 

    Brandywine River! This was on my "Fun Summer Things" list - I am so glad we did it. It was all very pleasant and (mostly) peaceful. We had an ocean kayak, an inflatable 2-person kayak, and an inner tube float (attached to the ocean kayak). We paddled some of the time and just floated down the river at other times. Kids swam part of the way. The river was on the shallow side, so from time to time we had to navigate around rocks, getting out of the kayaks to avoid damaging them in the shallows.

    We got home super late after spending ~4 hours on the river... Kids were hungry and grumpy. I kind of want a real river kayak... 

    Note to self: look into white water rafting in the area.

Sunday: 

• Farmer Market (turnips, peaches, plums, tomatoes, kale)
• Pool with C
• Husband and H went to Costco
• E worked at the pool
• Thunderstorm!
• Cooking, laundry, etc
• H's friend came over (they initially were planning to go to the pool, but couldn't do it because of thunderstorms in the area).

Do you have a preference: kayak versus canoe versus row boat?

Summer Time in Full Swing: Camps, Pool, and More

This week in review:

Camps:

E+H are doing Intensive Farming camp at the Colonial Homestead. 

• Hours: 9-3
• Less than 10 min drive from home (the homestead is located at the nearby state park)
• They have been picking berries, learning about bee keeping, helping to take care of farm animals, cooking on a large fireplace/hearth, helping harvest wheat and flax. 
• Mainly outside - no air conditioning... they seem to be OK even though it's been very hot (90's) and humid.
• E and H both really, really like this camp!

C is in school district camps this week: Baking and Sports Extravaganza.

• Hours: 9-12 for the morning camp (Baking) and 12-3 for the afternoon camp (Sports)
• ~ 5 min drive from home
• C has been bringing baked goodies home (spinach muffins, soda cake, pizza) 
• She's been talking about all the different sports games they play in the afternoons (some of them, like soccer and dodge ball, make sense while others are a complete mystery... Star Wars? Castle Ball? Endless Tag?) 
• I get a sense that she mostly likes it but maybe not quite out-of-this world loves it.

Pool:

Kids can bike to our local pool pretty much any time they want to. They've gone Saturday (husband and I joined them), Sunday, Tuesday (husband and I joined them), and Wednesday so far. 

Work:

• Intense and very busy. I work from home and husband has a hybrid office/home schedule.

Other:

• This week, all 3 kids have their individual music lessons (piano, violin, cello)
• E can't go to cross country practices because of camp
• E has a couple of days working at the local pool (he is a lifeguard). It is so nice that he can bike to work!
• The 2 different camps our kids are attending have drop off and pick up at the same time... of course, the camps are in complete opposite directions, but it hasn't been too bad. My husband works from home twice a week, which makes drop off and pick up much easier. On days when he goes into the office, I drop off all the kids (2 different locations), which takes about half an hour. My parents pick up C in the afternoon, and I pick up E+H.

• Kids have been making their own lunches! I love it.

Next week preview: only C has camp; E will have cross country training; H will hopefully find a project she can work on (but will probably be spending a major chunk of time watching Reign...) Note to self - stop by the library and get a pile of books that kids can read and come up with tasks/chores for big kids.

How do your kids entertain themselves when they are home? Do you have chores for them?

Back in the USA

Good news: we had 2 weeks of pretty adventurous hiking near Banff and then in Glacier and there were almost no injuries. There were some sore muscles, an insect bite that caused an uncomfortable swelling, an accidental slip-and-fall into a stream - but other than that, we were all safe and sound. 

One of us (I will not name names....) hated hiking, and made it known to everyone, and was sitting out some of the hikes at the airbnb (vegging out on youtube shorts and TV shows, but ah well)... The rest of us enjoyed hiking, marvelous views, and animal encounters.

The bighorn sheep (males) got pretty close and personal - we did our best to stay out of their way and give them plenty of space.

Photo by H.

I loved Jasper and want to go back there...

Montana (we were near Kalispell) was interesting. We went to see a rodeo (a first for all of us). We meant to stop by one of those drive-by coffee shacks that were pretty much everywhere, but somehow we never got around to it. Big Fork was pretty cool - very artsy, with a nice touristy vibe that was not overwhelming or obnoxious. Kalispell had a more gritty feel.

There was still a lot of snow in the mountains and some of the trails we went on were partially closed.

I did not do any work during those 2 weeks other than keep an eye on email. 

I did check the news. What can I say. Civilization is an illusion. Stability is always temporary and chaos is but a step away. We may be at an edge of a cliff, so to speak, but I find it strangely comforting to think that that is just how it always is.... We do what we can and "Que Sera, Sera*."

*Husband and I watched "The Man Who Knew Too Much" a few weeks ago. I am going to try to convince my kids to watch it... and I put "Dial M for Murder" on hold at our library. I am definitely in the mood for some more Hitchcock.