Has anyone in the tristate area done camp mommy?

amother

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 9:01 pm

Ds,7, is begging me not to go to camp. It was too much for him. He just wants to stay home. How crazy would it be to let him stay home and have camp mommy. Probably travel a little each half. I have other kids also one is going to sleep away full summer, one is fine with day camp or being home, one is working and one is going to Israel for the summer. So I’d basically have 2 kids home. Another option would be to do a month long Airbnb somewhere and do things there. The problem with that is dh wont b staying with us all week.

amother

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 9:02 pm

I want to add that I send to a regular yeshiva where something like this is literally unheard of. I don’t want ds to be an outcast for not doing the norm. On the other hand how do I force him to do something he really doesn’t like??

mamabird73

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 9:04 pm

I've done Camp Mommy for years either a full summer or for parts of the summer. I've done based out of Brooklyn and Northern NJ. Feel free to PM me if you want specific ideas on making a schedule/places to go etc.

amother

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 12:43 pm

For those of you that did this. How did you plan the days/week? What worked and what did you find hard? Did you go away on a roadtrip or fly somewhere or just do day trips? Were you restricted on a budget or did you choose keep the kids home because they didn’t enjoy daycamp? How did you keep your kids on schedule the entire summer without burning out? That’s what’s making me nervous I don’t want to burn out. Did you get extra cleaning help so you can focus on kids?

amother

Oleander

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 6:30 pm

I always had at least 2 kids home with me.
Preschooler, and toddler, or almost toddler, fall baby...

2 summers ago I had my 9, 6 and 2.5 yr old home.
Had some kids in camp too. And was pregnant then too..)
I do live in lkwd and they only" have 6 weeks summer.
4 weeks that I entertained them. $$ Trips, 3 times a week, parks, bike path, library, out for lunch...

We would go out every morn. Between 9-10 am until 12-1 . Lunch and then 2.5 yr old would nap, older ones read, played.. I do have a pool so We would swim every afternoon.

I kept it very chilled that summer, kids still talk about it.
This summer Im planning on having my 4.5 yr old and 1.5 yr olds home.

Want to add that last summer, I had my then 3.5 yr old and 6 month old, and we didnt need to run around all day, he was young, we played, happy to go grocery shopping and I let him nap every afternoon and I was ok with him going to sleep every night at 10,.. so sometimes its easier to keep them home when theyre young...

gootlfriends

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 6:33 pm

It depends on the kid. My daughter is 10. We did it 2 summers ago. She went to the library and got lots of books. We did 1 big trip a week. It's probably easier with more than one kid. They can entertain each other.

amother

Petunia

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 7:15 pm

None of my boys liked day camp. I’ve done a round robin with other families. When that fizzled out, they went to a learning program in the mornings and hung out the rest of the day. Too much screen time probably. If you’re home anyways and can manage it, I’d go for it. You can use the money you’re saving on day camp for trips etc. and the mornings are so much more relaxed.

amother

Powderblue

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 7:32 pm

I've been doing this for years with all different age kids. Up to about age 13 when they started going to sleepaway camp. My kids beg for it every year. We always go away for a few weeks for change of pace and to break up the summer since start to finish they ended being home close to 3 months. Some summers we did mega trips/road trips and some were more low key depending on if we were budgeting more carefully or not. Camp is really expensive so if you're doing it for the memories and quality time as opposed to saving money you should have a decent budget.

I found planing in advance is key so it doesn't get boring. Some days more major and some more chilled. I find when I'm totally involved with them they don't need the days to be so exciting. It's my attention and involvement they want. It's hard for me to always be on and focused on them but I throw myself into it and end up having the most amazing summers too.

We do have some lazy days where we may not get out until much later but we do go out somewhere every day.
Enough of me rambling ... If you have more specific questions I would be happy to help!

amother

Salmon

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 10:05 pm

My biggest reservation would be me losing it with my kids too often. I think u should dig deep into yourself before committing to such a long project. The 10 days from all to day camp are really long for me! Couldnt keep it calm much longer. Love my kids and still love the time they're in school/camp too so I can recharge for the after-school madness.

amother

Powderblue

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 10:43 pm

amother OP wrote:

It's practically unheard of where I live too. Just saying my kids were not considered outcasts for doing mommy camp if anything all their friends were dying to join us! I was in big trouble from all the mothers because their kids would beg to do the same!

monseymom161

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 10:01 am

I personally wouldn't do it. I think structure is good for kids and they would get bored too fast. You'll also end up spending more money schlepping them on outings. Unless you go somewhere like a bungalow colony with a lot of kids around, they will get bored.

amother

White

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 10:06 am

monseymom161 wrote:

You can have structure within your day even without day camp. We got up early, breakfast, davened, went out on our trip. It was considerably less money than daycamp. The kids had each other to keep them company and neighbors to play with in the evenings.

Amelia Bedelia

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 10:12 am

monseymom161 wrote:

Bungalow colony kids go to day camp too, so during camp hours while the other kids are in day camp, they would need structure anyway

monseymom161

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 10:20 am

amother White wrote:

My kids would fight Sad

If you have kids who work well together and aren't the "what are we doing today" type, I guess it could work out well.

amother

Powderblue

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 11:05 am

We do a balance of structure and chilled. My kids have a morning routine every day daven, clea their rooms, eat, summer homework... and we do that before going out. It grounds them. I find when I'm focused on them there's no fighting. You have to know if you're the type.

amother

Periwinkle

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 11:09 am

I’ve done last year with my toddler. We both loved it. It was great bonding time. I personally think camp should be for working parents only otherwise sham should take advantage of this time to really spend time with their kids and do things as a family. They spend more than enough time in school during the year.
One big tip- cook/ prepare dinner the night before so when you get home you can eat right away shower and bed.

amother

Emerald

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 12:35 pm

I did it with two teenagers (and a baby/toddler!) two summers in a row. I know it’s different with teens. But I want to share that I am so so grateful I had the opportunity to do that before they got too old. It was something I’d always dreamed of but didn’t work out for me before because of work. My oldest is iyh going to Israel next year, time goes by so quickly, and I’d never trade that time we had together for anything.