I’m being tempted these days. Flyers come in the mail, and they are flyers about summer camps. These flyers detail all of the lovely things that my preschooler could be doing this summer. How about African dance? Learning Mandarin? Discovering how to be a spy? The possibilities are nearly endless, and she’s just four years old.
All of these choices are so tempting. Of course, there are also the old standbys: swimming lessons and nature camp. I’d really like to sign my daughter up for all of them. Thank goodness I have a limited budget, or we’d be flying around from one activity to another all summer.
Except that I’m not signing her up for anything. She’s interested in horses, so I debated horse camp, wincing at the price. I mulled over swimming lessons like we did last summer, then decided not to venture into the world of jumping into the deep end. No, we’re having a camp-free summer.
Last summer we were very busy. We did swimming lessons and nature camp and we planned just about every free moment of our time. This summer, my goal is to just be for some of the time. We’re going to go camping, we’re going to ride our bikes, and we’re going to enjoy a few – but not too many – of the wonderful events that our city has to offer.
Summer is short, and so are the preschool years. Call me lazy, but I’ve decided that it’s too short to really bother going to a camp. I don’t want to spend my summer days driving back and forth to horse camp, nor do I want to spend them convincing my daughter to go to her swimming lessons, even when she doesn’t really feel like it. No, I’d prefer to spend them sleeping in, working in the garden, and playing outdoors. That’s what summer is for – it’s for long, lazy days of nothing.
Do you send your preschooler to summer daycamp? If so, why? If not, why not?
(Image courtesy of jkingsbeer at stockexchange)