Cooper started summer camp yesterday at a local preschool/dance school. They offer a summer camp program for kids in K-6th grade and it's close to home and the office so I checked into it. For some reason, I was ignorant to the fact that summer camp costs an absolute fortune! Coop has always been in pre-school or day care type facilities that run year round and therefore the costs during the summer always dropped! When I first started looking around here I was shocked at how expensive some of the camps were. One was $400/week plus lunch and snacks, plus activity fees of $350 and craft fees! Who can afford over $1200/month in summer camp? Don't answer - I know who can afford it and it's not me!
This camp seemed to be pretty basic but they do offer water activities and a few extras for the kids. Most importantly, it was affordable in the relation to the other options in this area. I took Cooper for a tour there before we ever paid the registration fee and he was really looking forward to the start of "camp". They allow the kids to play their DS or DSI early in the morning and after 5pm so I bribed Cooper with good behavior during his last two weeks of school in order to justify the purchase of an expensive gift that wasn't for Christmas or his birthday.
I dropped him off yesterday and found the kids who were already there to be between the ages of 8-12. They were all sitting in what I will refer to as a "waiting room" complete with bare walls and very uncomfortable looking chairs! But they were all chatting and playing their DS' and seemed to be content with their isolated stay. The director informed me once they get 10 or more kids they move back into the rooms. Okay, I thought, no big deal!
When I picked him up yesterday at 5:15 he had metamorphosed into the Grumpy dwarf! He said they did "baby stuff" all day and didn't do any water activities or karate like I had mentioned. I explained that it was the first day and I'm sure it would get better but he was determined to be in a bad mood. We sat through dinner barely talking because he was such a grump. He may have just been hungry though because after dinner his mood turned around. I really feel bad if he doesn't like it and won't have a fun summer. And this morning he mentioned they had to take off their shoes and lie down to watch the movie. To me, that is very immature for a group of 5-13 year old's. But I can understand a need for time to "chill" for both the campers and counselors!
Hopefully today will be a better day. I really don't have another option for him so if it doesn't improve I'm afraid my little man is going to have a very long summer. Luckily he will be on vacation two weeks of the summer so he will only be there a total of 30 days or so. All in all, I'd rather be at summer camp than sitting at work!
This camp seemed to be pretty basic but they do offer water activities and a few extras for the kids. Most importantly, it was affordable in the relation to the other options in this area. I took Cooper for a tour there before we ever paid the registration fee and he was really looking forward to the start of "camp". They allow the kids to play their DS or DSI early in the morning and after 5pm so I bribed Cooper with good behavior during his last two weeks of school in order to justify the purchase of an expensive gift that wasn't for Christmas or his birthday.
I dropped him off yesterday and found the kids who were already there to be between the ages of 8-12. They were all sitting in what I will refer to as a "waiting room" complete with bare walls and very uncomfortable looking chairs! But they were all chatting and playing their DS' and seemed to be content with their isolated stay. The director informed me once they get 10 or more kids they move back into the rooms. Okay, I thought, no big deal!
When I picked him up yesterday at 5:15 he had metamorphosed into the Grumpy dwarf! He said they did "baby stuff" all day and didn't do any water activities or karate like I had mentioned. I explained that it was the first day and I'm sure it would get better but he was determined to be in a bad mood. We sat through dinner barely talking because he was such a grump. He may have just been hungry though because after dinner his mood turned around. I really feel bad if he doesn't like it and won't have a fun summer. And this morning he mentioned they had to take off their shoes and lie down to watch the movie. To me, that is very immature for a group of 5-13 year old's. But I can understand a need for time to "chill" for both the campers and counselors!
Hopefully today will be a better day. I really don't have another option for him so if it doesn't improve I'm afraid my little man is going to have a very long summer. Luckily he will be on vacation two weeks of the summer so he will only be there a total of 30 days or so. All in all, I'd rather be at summer camp than sitting at work!
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