Did you attend summer camps, growing up as a 1970s-early 2000s child? We really didn’t, save for a random week during the school year when we were bussed to Camp KEEP, California’s Environmental Education Program. The whole grade went. We slept in cabins with zero air conditioning, and were pitted against one another to see who could leave the smallest amount of crumbs on their plate. This was compiled onto a scale at the front of the mess hall and our collective waste product was calculated and placed on a board to be compared to the incoming fifth grade class the following week. The counselors would tell us fake stories about how a school from Bakersfield had exited just prior to us and the teacher’s last word regarding their total waste product as they hopped onto the bus was “Las Flores Elementary will never catch us.”
What a croc of a tactic, although, effective. Bethany’s cohort scored a “record” of zero ounces of waste product from the mess hall. She now realizes that was probably par for course.
Anyway, no. Neither of us went to dance camp or drawing camp or sleep away camp or horse riding camp or sailboat yacht riding camp. Perhaps owing to our location in the middle of the Mojave desert, it wasn’t like surf camp was a hop, skip, and a beach cruise away. Logistics alone were a nightmare, and in a town of roughly 27,000 people, we didn’t even have a YMCA. Summer activities consisted of the singular “Penny pool,” the only community pool available to beat the heat. It was also where every single end of school year party was held, with the exception of “John’s Pizza” outings.
Our mother worked nights and slept days, and so, we recall summer days as this: our father would leave for the mine and threaten our lives to be quiet so that our mother could sleep until at least 1 PM (longer if she worked the subsequent night.) We would wake up around 9-10 AM, fix ourselves a bowl of Lucky Charms, and settle in on the Western desert designed couch for sessions of “Saved By The Bell,” followed by “Family Matters,” and “Step by Step.” Perhaps we would venture outside for a leisurely bike ride, although that was somewhat soured during our stint in Idaho. (Our cousin was hit by a jeep when we tried to do that. She survived.) So we mostly cocooned ourselves in the A/C of our home. We did have a great climbing tree out back and a jacuzzi that was on the fritz more often than not. That was about it, though. Boating occurred on the weekends.
Comparative to our modern day spawn, our summers as children seemed incredibly relaxing (save for the biking incident) and free.
Fast forward to the year of 2021, when Bethany’s oldest son came of “summer camp age” and his season launch consisted of multiple summer camps spread across the city, all chosen based on their particular appeal. Summer camp sign ups were also a requirement for spawn supervision as both parents work outside the home.
“Wow, you get to tube on the lake here! This one teaches you French in under two hours! And over here, you handmake a pottery night stand!”
Unbeknownst to our first time parenting personalities, it turns out, this did not make for the best summer of our kid’s life. For one thing, he knew zero children at some of the camps, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We all face situations such as that in life, but it also came cloaked in his very first bullying experience by a child we will rename “Ben.”
For the negligible price of the most expensive camp in town, my child was exposed to the teasing and dirty behavior of a “much bigger kid” who liked to call names and dump buckets of water on the small children when they weren’t prepared for it. The kid would start the day off asking my son “What kind of a name is Sawyer? That’s a last name.” By the end of the day, “Ben” would teach our son various four-letter words and how to use them appropriately in a sentence.
Our son came home and lamented to us around the dinner table, asking why we chose a name like Sawyer. After a brief explanation, we advised him to ask “Ben” how it feels to have the most common name in America. We aren’t ones to antagonize others, but we will respond.
Anyway, we made it through that first summer, $2500 lighter, and psychologically heavier. We learned from there, that summers would require upping our game, enhanced coordination to ensure better experiences. More research. More talking to other parents about best choices. Not exactly more money, but it wouldn’t be cheap either.
Now, we begin planning our children’s summers in early March, as this typically ensures the good camps have openings and there is time to coordinate with cousins and friends. My sisters and I have a shared note this year, with details of where the kids are each week (many times at the same camps, albeit not always together based on ages or interests), and who is picking up whom.
Does it take extra work to plan this all out? Yes, it does. Another economically invisible addition to the mental load. But the kids seem to be having the time of their lives. They may come home and say it’s “been the best summer of my life” after the first two days.
After camp, they’ll watch SING 2 together far too many times, nurse a few sunburns, fight with their cousins over who won the World Cup at soccer camp, and (hopefully) have fond memories of summers under the Florida stars. These are things that couldn’t be done in the hustle and bustle of the school year. As for the parents, we will look on with excitement for them, as we watch them become enriched in ways we never knew, and pray we pay the summer camp bills off come winter.
First of all... this is reason number 50kajilioninfinity why I never had kids. LOL One less thing to worry about. I remember doing summer camps a couple of times. My sister and I would go together but be separated due to our ages. My mom put our hair in braids with beads (protective 'do) and by the time we came home, those beads would be gone. LOL I can tell you right now, that I AM NOT fond of swimming in lakes or heading down a path in the dark to use the Port-A-Potty. Which is probably why I hate camping now. My version would have to be glamping. LOL
Another great story 🤣😎🙏🏻