Who watches your kiddos in the summer

[mwatson011]

I need some ideas...

What is up with summer camp prices??? Basic summer camp around here runs about $200 per child per WEEK, and I have two kiddos! Our DW trip planned for August with 12 nights at POP, QSDP, 10d MYW tickets and 4 RT flights is going to cost significantly less than summer childcare for 10 weeks! How does that make sense....enlighten me please!

Maybe I am spoiled, last year my BIL watched them for us, and before that I was a SAHM. What do you do? My mother is disabled and unable to watch them, and all of our other relatives have FT jobs. Are there any other safe, reliable alternatives? I only work PT which is perfect during the school year, but summertime is such a dilemma!

 

[budbeerlady]

I am curious to see the results of this.

DD is 10, in prior summers she did a summer day care for $125 a week. Its great, at the local school she attends and open from 6-6 M-F. Sadly 5th grade is all it goes thru, I dont feel comfortable leaving a 10yr old home alone all day so I am looking for other suggestions. Everything seems to stop after 5th grade, even though middle school is 7-9th grades.

 

[angierae]

I need some ideas...

What is up with summer camp prices??? Basic summer camp around here runs about $200 per child per WEEK, and I have two kiddos! Our DW trip planned for August with 12 nights at POP, QSDP, 10d MYW tickets and 4 RT flights is going to cost significantly less than summer childcare for 10 weeks! How does that make sense....enlighten me please!

Maybe I am spoiled, last year my BIL watched them for us, and before that I was a SAHM. What do you do? My mother is disabled and unable to watch them, and all of our other relatives have FT jobs. Are there any other safe, reliable alternatives? I only work PT which is perfect during the school year, but summertime is such a dilemma!

Local teen that can come and spend the day with them? When my daughter was attending a county-run daycamp about 6 years ago it was running $150 a week, so $200 seems a bit high to me, but I don't know how old your kids are, either. A daycare center with a summer program might be a cheaper option ,and they often have discounts for multiple kids. Back in 2000 it was $120 for kids 4+, so even with an increase maybe it's cheaper than $200?

Do you know a SAHM that would like some extra summer income?

 

[Chelley00]

My husband switches to 3rd shift during the summer. He gets home at 7:30 in the morning, I leave for work while he stays home with the kids, I work part time days and I'm home by 1-2pm for DH to go to bed.

He used to be on 3rd full time, so he doesn't mind. It's an adjustment the first week or so, but he enjoys it.

 

[crisi]

We've done summer "day camp" - its expensive.

I've looked into the teen thing, but haven't done it. One year I wish I would have - I was working with a teen through church would would have been great, I just didn't think of offering it to her early.

The past few summers my mother has watched them. This summer she is watching them just two days a week, the other days they will be home alone. Its a transition year for them.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Our kids go to daycare. They go before and after school, inservices and holidays. Daycare is located in their school.

We pay the set rate of $18.80 a day per child. The daycare takes them on a ton of field trips, swimming lessons and provides breakfast.

Do you have a daycare in the kids school?

 

[Squirrel!!!]

I wish I had ideas for you. I just have to suck it up each summer and drive my DD all over town and spend a lot of money. I do not know what I would do if I was paying for two!!!!!! As it is, a lot of my paycheck keeps her in camp.

My local YMCA offers Daily camp so I pay for only the days I need since I work part time, but it is still $55 a day. Sad but true. One summer I used a friend who was doing a mini camp at her home for $30/day, but that was too awkward as she wanted the children picked up before my DH and I were able to and she made "special exceptions" for me. Awkward.

Do you have any community centers run by your city. Those camps are less expensive in my city. The hours do not work with my schedule, unfortunately.

Babysitting around here would run me more, so off to the YMCA she goes!!

I hope you find a solution.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

The last couple of summers I worked I paid a friend of mine $360 per week to watch my 3. She drove them to all their activities. Worth every penny for my piece of mind. This was about 12 years ago.

Do you know any HS or college age girls who might be interested? I would love to find my DD a full time day babysitting job to supplement her work at the swim club.

 

[canadianjovigirl]

Summer day camp here to for my kiddos and it is expensive, but the price i have to pay to have paycheques the rest of the year. The camps here are up to age 12 and have daily swimming and a decent field trip one day of the week so its not too bad. I think this year my 12 year old will stay home alone some weeks and see how that goes, but my 10 year old will go as i dont feel comfy leaving her home alone and my 12 year old wants a break from the day camp to hang out with friends.

 

[debf]

The town I live in has a summer camp program. It runs about 5 weeks from 9:00 to 3:00. The cost is $25 for town residents. My dad drops off DS for me and picks hime up since I don't get out of worrk until 4:00.

 

[abcboys]

I just got a part-time job last month for the first time in 9 years so I will be looking into summer day-care also. My oldest is 12 and he is going to stay home with the 9 year old (I only work 3 hours a day) I am taking the 5 year old to daycare. It is at the local college for preschool kids but during the summer they take up to age 7. It is 3.65/hour. If that was not available I would just use a regular in-home daycare. The one down the street from my house is $4/hour. On the rare days oldest DS is not home I will probably ask around for somewhere for DS9 to hang out. Good Luck!

 

[aprilgail2]

My 11 year old daughter usually goes to summer camp during the summer- she will go to different ones during the summer- the girl scout one was about 275 a week, another week she goes to marine biology camp which is 250 a week, she went 4 weeks to a local day camp and that was 1800.00. I also have 4 weeks off in the summer so I don't have to send her those 4 weeks.
This year she is only going for 2 weeks because she is babysitting 3 days a week for a neighbors kid a few weeks and I have 4 weeks vacation time again this summer.

 

[justintime]

My kids go to summer camp as well for $200 per week. And that is the cheapest camp around me. A camp in the next town over charges $300 per week. The sitters around here charge $10 per hour, so camp ends up being cheaper. At camp they go on one field trip per week (included in the weekly price), daily swimming, and once a week they have some other sort of special activity, magician, blow up bouncies/water slide, etc. The kids love camp, but I wish it wasn't so expensive. Like a PP said, it is the price I have to pay to have paychecks for the rest of the year. I take a week of vacation (stay at home vacation) one week during the summer, so that saves me one week of camp fees.

 

[My2BabiesLexis&Dill]

Good luck!! I'm tryin to find an alternative myself. I pay 300.00 every 2 weeks for 2 kids for the summer. But my kids go to church camp for a week at a steal of 50.00 per kid. They are gone all week, all meals provided, everything. But the kicker is...I still have to pay my sitter even tho they aren't there. Then were going on vacation for a week, again, I have to pay her while we are out of town. It sucks that I have to hand over half of my monthly pay for 2 mths...really a budget buster!!!

 

[brymolmom]

That price sounds about right...And the thing about a lot of summer day camps is that sometimes they start late or end earlier than your work day which = MORE expense!

I would start asking around NOW at your school....ask if anyone knows someone who does summer care out of their home. Oftentimes this will be a lot less expensive, but not cheap by any means! I would say $150 or $175 per week might be about what you would expect for that per child.

The teenager or college aged student is a good idea too. Askign around your neighborhood is a good place to start with that - maybe makeup flyers askign someone to call you if they are looking for summer work and put them in mail boxes.

 

[mb_uh]

Well mine will stay with Grandma and go to a community center $100 bucks total for 6 weeks of 6 hours a day plus lunch

The daycare we uses charges 85 a week for summer care but only charged me like 150 for 2 kids.

 

[mom0299]

Do you know someone else who is in a similar situation? Maybe you could tag-team with another family or two and create your own summer day camp. You can watch the kids when you are not working and someone else can take them when you are. Each family can plan special activities like picnics, pool, park. Just an idea, but it could work if you had the right people to do it with.
I'm fortunate to be a teacher so I'm home when my kids are.

 

[mwatson011]

Do you know someone else who is in a similar situation? Maybe you could tag-team with another family or two and create your own summer day camp. You can watch the kids when you are not working and someone else can take them when you are. Each family can plan special activities like picnics, pool, park. Just an idea, but it could work if you had the right people to do it with.
I'm fortunate to be a teacher so I'm home when my kids are.

Yeah, that was the original plan. I was going to become a teacher when my kids were in school so I could have the summers off, but I can't bring myself to want to be around all those kids all the time...more power to ya! You have my utmost respect!

The tag teaming is a good idea, I will really put some thought into it, but really I am the only one out of our friends who stayed home when the girls were babies/little, and I am the only one working PT now. Most everyone we know had babies and threw them into daycare FT at 6 weeks old. We went broke to not do that...to each his own...

 

[lastminutemom]

They are saying that teenage unemployment this summer is going to break all records.

Ask around -- especially about older high school and college students who will be home for the summer.

I know the college students that went away for the school year are having zero luck finding work this summer.

 

[Poohforyou]

$200 would be cheap around here but I realize it's all relative to where you live. Most summers we've paid between $300-375 a week for DD to attend different camps for 8 weeks. I've done the dependent care spending account through my benefit plan which helps a little since money is deducted pre-tax for the account.

Fortunately last summer and the summer before I was able to hire teen girls to watch her. We have a pool in our community and are within walking distance to parks, playgrounds and the ice cream shop so there was plenty for them to do. I paid $50 in cash for the 3 days a week I had to be in my office and DD was home with me the rest of the time. The girls were really happy to make that kind of money without having to do much more than make sure my child was still in 1 piece when I got home .

This summer DD will be between 6th and 7th grade so we're going to let her stay home 1 or 2 days a week and then have her go to a friend's house the other day or days I have to be in my office. Luckily I'm close and can come home at lunch time.