We Made It!
It's hard to believe that the summer is over. Home camping the kids was a great experience. My trepidation about not having the kids in camp with out having a babysitter for more than 8 hours a week were unfounded. It was one of those things that was much easier than it sounded.
When I told people that I had not put my kids in camp this summer a typical response was "Wow! That sounds great but I could never do it myself". I am not a particularly patient person and my kids can drive me totally crazy but with a little bit of planning and a little bit of flexibility the kids and I managed to really enjoy this summer.
The one thing I would do differently next year is I would plan a specific craft theme for each week. For example: one week we would do tie die and another week we could do sewing with felt. This way the kids would have an opportunity to immerse themselves in different mediums.
Here is our schedule for the week of 8/24:
Monday: We had our last ice skating lesson of the summer. T wins most improved. She couldn't even stand with out help and now she can skate backwards and is learning to glide. After ice skating we did not do our usual stops at Trader Joe's and Michaels. Instead we went to 2 Targets and a Toy R Us to find a blue razor scooter. Don't ask but it featured multiple head explosions on my part. The good news is that we found the color that I, I mean the kids wanted!
Tuesday: R had an appointment at the Orthodontist in the morning and Joy took the girls to the park in the afternoon.
Wednesday: We saw the movie Shorts (it was very loud and not particularly enjoyable for me) with our good friends The S family who had been in Israel for the summer. After the movie the girls went back to the S home to play. I met them at about 4PM with their scooters and then the kids rode down to River Run Playground where they had a great time playing in the sprinklers.
Thursday: We went to Fairway in the morning. In the afternoon R went to her friend T's for a play date. T and D refused all offers to go outside so they spent the afternoon playing at home
Friday: We needed to get ready for our vacation on Cape Cod so I had a bunch of errands that I needed to get done. The girls alternated between staying at home and coming with me to various stores. E came downstairs to play and the girls practiced making friendship bracelets for most of the afternoon. I had to deliver Z to Riverdale for his last Shabbat away from home Bar Mitzvah.
When I told people that I had not put my kids in camp this summer a typical response was "Wow! That sounds great but I could never do it myself". I am not a particularly patient person and my kids can drive me totally crazy but with a little bit of planning and a little bit of flexibility the kids and I managed to really enjoy this summer.
The one thing I would do differently next year is I would plan a specific craft theme for each week. For example: one week we would do tie die and another week we could do sewing with felt. This way the kids would have an opportunity to immerse themselves in different mediums.
Here is our schedule for the week of 8/24:
Monday: We had our last ice skating lesson of the summer. T wins most improved. She couldn't even stand with out help and now she can skate backwards and is learning to glide. After ice skating we did not do our usual stops at Trader Joe's and Michaels. Instead we went to 2 Targets and a Toy R Us to find a blue razor scooter. Don't ask but it featured multiple head explosions on my part. The good news is that we found the color that I, I mean the kids wanted!
Tuesday: R had an appointment at the Orthodontist in the morning and Joy took the girls to the park in the afternoon.
Wednesday: We saw the movie Shorts (it was very loud and not particularly enjoyable for me) with our good friends The S family who had been in Israel for the summer. After the movie the girls went back to the S home to play. I met them at about 4PM with their scooters and then the kids rode down to River Run Playground where they had a great time playing in the sprinklers.
Thursday: We went to Fairway in the morning. In the afternoon R went to her friend T's for a play date. T and D refused all offers to go outside so they spent the afternoon playing at home
Friday: We needed to get ready for our vacation on Cape Cod so I had a bunch of errands that I needed to get done. The girls alternated between staying at home and coming with me to various stores. E came downstairs to play and the girls practiced making friendship bracelets for most of the afternoon. I had to deliver Z to Riverdale for his last Shabbat away from home Bar Mitzvah.
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