Kids home for 2.5 weeks after camp. VENT! Any ideas?

chanchy123

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 2:53 pm

I don't know how flexible your jobs are but one year DH and I split the days beyween us. I would leave early in the morning and he would leave at noonish. The kids were at the age where they could be left alone for an hour or so when we overlapped.
Last year my older ones were old enough to hold a "camp" for the younger ones (I left a craft each day for them to do and paid the older ones a small fee).
This year I'm on maternity leave, which is amazing.

amother

Cerise

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 8:37 pm

I'm going to say this anonymously because:
a. I'm a coward and
b. I know how personal and angry people get about this.

I saw this somewhere on the internet and it made my heart stop for a second: "You only have 18 summers together with your kids".
I can already hear you answering "well, that's very nice but someone needs to pay the bills" but here's the thing: why are you living a life in which you can't afford time to spend 2 weeks of the summer with your families? What is going on that everyone is so busy trying to keep up and catch up with life that we forget to pause and actually live? That we have come to the point where we use the words "dump" and "kids" in the same sentence?

If the idea of spending 2 weeks with your children is sending you into such a panic, then something is wrong with the way you planned your life. If you can't afford it, change your lifestyle, change where you live, change your birth control...something's got to give.

https://www.mother.ly/life/we-.....-baby

amother

White

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 9:00 pm

amother wrote:

I also have it just worse.
Ds starts august 22nd and has a half day until September 5th....means I need to run out every day t 1:00 smack in middle of work to get him and entertain him. He ends camp the 15th...
Dd ends the 16th and starts September 5th.
Bh babysitter for baby will go thru until school starts.
Oh...and my sister in law is getting married September 4th....night before dd starts school and night before ds starts English Rolling Eyes

This is my post. I think my kids will be in school like 5 days in the whole September. It's crazy we need to pay full tuition for that month.

This I what my schedule looks like. BTW dh and I both work full time but bh are flexible somewhat.

August 15th. Ds ends camp (why are etheu dismissing at 2:15???)
August 16. Dd ends camp.
August 22nd. Ds starts school. Half day till September 5th. (wHY???)
September 3rd. Baby has orientation...(for what?? He is 2!!!!)
September 4th. Sister in law wedding. Baby first day of school
September 5th. Dd starts school. Ds has a full day. Forst day transportation....oh and Sheva brochos two hours away I need to go to...aaarrggggg

September 6. Nothing bh. Pack for shabbos Sheva brochos.
September 7. Go to shabbos Sheva brochos two hours away
September 8. Motzai shabbos. Drive back.
September 9 erev rosh hashana.
Going away for succos September 20th already. (Day after Yom Kippur)

Crazzzzzzy

sky

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 9:28 am

amother wrote:

Its not Panic about having kids home its called work.
I love Succos and Pesach the kids are home for almost 1 1/2 weeks. I take off of work then - instead of the summer - we have a great time - there is no panic having them home - its wonderful.
The panic is that after pesach, succos, shavous, rosh hashana and yom kippur vacation time I don't have much more vacation. I also take off for school plays and other school events.

How many days off do you think the average working person has?

I think there is a tremendous disconnect in understanding the challenges of those who work in America outside of education.

flowerpower

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 9:31 am

sky wrote:

For working mothers it’s really hard!!!!!

gold21

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 10:16 am

sunflowershine wrote:

But why do the schools do this??? They can charge whatever they want and give off as much as they want. How can we stop this nonsense????? They higher tution, the prices are crazy and they just give off whenever they feel like it

That is incorrect.

In the U.S., there is a specific # of school days that are required by all schools, according to the Bd of Ed. Children (age 5 and up) need to have a certain number of school days per academic year.

Public schools give plenty of vacation time. Presidents Week... Xmas through New Year's.... Etc.

The schools that go longer than the set # of days- some more right-wing boys schools continue through July and only have summer vacation in August- are not offering general studies during the extra month of school (it's Rebbe time only), so it has nothing to do with the Bd of Ed at that point.

But all schools, public and private, offer the same # of days of general studies.

gold21

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 10:25 am

amother wrote:

Aug 22nd is actually very early to start school in the US- the boys schools do it to prep the boys for the Yomim Tovim, but they don't offer any general studies until after Labor Day. That's why it's half day. Is it fun to have to carpool the boys during those days, because there's no bussing until after Labor Day, while shlepping all the girls who are still home along for the carpool trip? Nope, it is not fun at all.

I'm just explaining the reasoning. Aug 22nd is early- schools usually start after Labor Day.

(Yes, I know that there is a huge amount of time off for Yomim Tovim coming up. Non Jewish schools give plenty of vacation time too. Make a phone call to a local school and find out. The public schools are off on a lot of Jewish holidays, you would be surprised!)

amother

Blue

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 10:29 am

gold21 wrote:

Wow. Lucky you they start Aug 22 even if half a day. My kids don't start until SEPTEMBER 5 and that is a half a day until 11:30. It's crazy. Can't anyone do anything? How come schools do whatever they want???????

keym

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 10:30 am

amother wrote:

This is a beautiful concept- for nonJews who don't have have to use 15 vacation days a year just to cover yom tov- not including chol hamoed, erev yom Kippur, school plays, and days the kids are sick.

Yes people could move. But that usually won't help. Many oot places where housing is cheaper than Brooklyn, day schools run in the 12k per kid, whereas one could find for 5k in the tristate.

The basic issue that gets hashed over and over is that the American Working lifestyle is not family friendly or religious friendly and the amount of vacation days gets swallowed up by yom tov.
(And this is a frum website. So it can't be that your solution of changing your lifestyle means working on yom tov.)
Let's face it. We are struggling similarly in ideals to our grandparents by not working on yom tov and using our precious vacation days. But instead of applauding our mesiras nefesh, we are guilted and criticized (mostly by people in education fields) for having skewed priorities and not being there for our kids.
No. WE ARE BEING THERE FOR HASHEM AND YOM TOV. AND EVERY PARENT WHO IS STRUGGLING THESE THREE WEEKS SHOULD BE APPLAUDED FOR CHOOSING NOT TO WORK ON YOM TOV.

There. Rant over.

gold21

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 10:40 am

amother wrote:

My boys don't start Aug 22nd. I was responding to another poster. Im not sure when exactly my boys school starts IY"H, but it's a week earlier than my girls schools does. And that whole week is half days.

gold21

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 10:43 am

amother wrote:

The number of school days required by private schools varies by state (I realize this is in the NY-Related forum). In my state, public schools have 180 days per year, while the private Jewish schools that we have used have in the 170's, sometimes even fewer.

Oh my! My state requirements are stricter than that. I would not be pleased if my school was offering 10 less school days than the public schools offered. That is frustrating. Is it really 10 less school days being offered? That should not be acceptable. What is the state minimum required # of school days?

gold21

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 11:16 am

amother wrote:

They are usually not meant for boys over the age of six or seven.

Hmm. That's a very good point. Definitely an issue that needs to be addressed. I imagine it's hard to entertain older boys in someone's house (a lot of these camps are run in homes), boys are usually very active and it's probably not the first choice for someone choosing to run a gap camp. There has to be a solution though. A program run in a shul perhaps. You're right, a lot of gap camps are only for younger kids, and if they are for older kids, it's only older girls.