Summer Camp - Yay/Nay?

Summers are here.. and so will be the mangoes along with the camps for little and big children thronging the nooks and corners of the city. 

Its almost thrilling to see soo many options to entertain and keep our children busy through the scorching heat. Growing up I never saw/read/heard something like that in my then small city. 

As a new Mom, I was fascinated by the dearth of options I had to choose from. Be it phonics, swimming, craft, quilling, dance etc etc.. I literally had just about too much to choose from. And mind you - it was overwhelming!!

I remember the first summer that we were in Pune, I was just happy that my mermaid could enjoy in the tub and pool with her cute lil flower swim suit. Of course, finding the right Playgroup was on the top of my mind..It seemed such a huge decision then! 

Then came the next summer. When we both had got used to 2+ hours of structured time in play school. Yes I was happy I didn't have to go pick her up in the scorching heat anymore, but at the same time I was saving every pamphlet and message of upcoming summer camp so as to choose the best for her. It was like the 'In' thing to do. Finally 'cos of time constraints I ended up sending her to an Art/Craft 1-week camp within the society premises. But she was just done. And frankly so was I. 

Next couple of summers too, I tried sending her to 1-2 camps.. where the only thing was to get up and eat on time... so as to learn to make a cute lil figurine or art work or learn a few dance steps on the current bollywood beats. It was fun while it lasted! It also gave me a couple of hours to focus on the work on hand. But could we have done without it? You bet!!

Over the period of time, I realized that its us parents who need these camps much more than our children do. More than half the parents are just concerned of too much screen time that the kids are gonna have in the summer break...and that's the sole reason they want to enroll into summer camps back to back. Then there are mothers who are captivated of the guilt of leaving their kids alone at home at the mercy of aayas or houseful day care centres in the absence of pampering grand-parents. This is where 4-5 hour summer camp sounds the best thing to happen. We are spending 

money and time so that the child can learn something and be "Occupied" - that's what goes around in the minds as well as talks of the circle of women. 

In an ideal situation we all would love the fact that kids go to their grand-parents' house and make memories of a lifetime, but unfortunately with changing scenarios it doesn't always work out like that for all. Sometimes the grand-parents' are too old or too far away to be taking care of the kids on their own...Or with nuclear families so being inter-woven its hard for moms like me to just drop their offsprings for 2 months and go on with their lives. So a lot of ladies around me try and take few days off to visit grand-parents' while the kids can gather up the silly laughters and abundant stories.. with unending dose of ice-creams and mangoes! And then there are others who have to keep up with their jobs 

and bosses and few days off is either a family vacation or visiting dada-dadi or nana-nani ... Needless to say more often than not - the former often wins the game. And there are absolutely no judgements here. Its just an observation!

So summer-camp enrollment is the only way out? Not necessarily!! I am definitely not saying its a bad thing. 

With newer things for kids to learn like abacus, robotics, yoga, mind-sharpening skills etc - we all want our child(ren) to flourish with new skills. But we need to take a pause and ask ourselves.. 

- Do I really want my child to learn this skill or art?

- Am I only enrolling because all his/her friends are going?

- Is it worth the money? (Include the pickup-drop expenses and time too)

- Is the center hosting the summer-camp safe, hygienic, able to handle these many children? 

- How else can I occupy my child without the financial and time burden? 

- Can I restructure my day to give them the 2 months of unstructured play/fun/activity time?

- Is it possible to call grand-parents' and stay with us so its a win-win for every one? 

- Most Importantly : Is my child interested in taking this activity? 

I absolutely don't want to discourage moms for enrolling their kid(s) into meaningful skill or art during the precious holidays. But at the same time.. I urge all moms to not get under peer pressure by seeing a flood of social media messages of these camps and enrolling just for the sake of it. 

Our kids are only going to have 17 odd Summers when they can actually take the time OFF and not do anything. They will have to get to the grind once they grow up..

Let them enjoy, snooze a little, cuddle some, bathe longer, eat with stories in the background, read and re-read fun stories, play with glee and jump with joy while they can!!!