Camp Mommy...

It's that time of year again...SUMMERTIME!!!!!!!

Do you send your kids to summer camp? I don't remember this being such a big thing when I was growing up but here in south Florida, it seems EVERYONE sends their kids to camp. I mean, when my girls were younger, there was big-time pressure to sign up ASAP for camps, unfortunately most of it coming from moms who thought this was "enriching"and you were holding your child back if you didn't do this. I'm talking all-summer, all-day camps and not just for parents who work. (For those parents, summer camps must be a blessed gift compared to trying to figure out childcare while kids are out of school.) And I understand those sports camps for kids who excel at a sport or want to learn one so they take a few weeks of soccer camp, volleyball camp or dance camp. My daughter is doing this, in fact. I think camps are a fun, great way to make new friends, learn something new... I went away to summer church camp for a week. I guess I t hink that's different than what's out there today. I just know that I had friends who worked and needed summer camp for their kids and couldn't get them in because they were full of kids who didn't really need summer long camps but their parents didn't want to be bothered. I always thought that was kind of sad and unfair to those who needed this. Summer camp at home is fun and easy. We don't do this now that my girls are older but we don't need to. It was when they were young that they loved these special days.

Anyway, signing up for camps for the summer was not an option for me and with the money situation being so tight for families, this may not be an option for a lot of parents, either.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I am one of those weird parents who LOVE having their kids around and couldn't wait for school to get out. We had a huge party after school on the last day with a bounce house, friends and all that to celebrate the end of school. YAY!!!!!


I love not having a strict schedule, waking up, making a lunch, rushing out the door... My girls loved a break from that, too.

So...what to do, what to do... Then we decided to have a summer camp at home and called it "Camp Mommy". This was my answer to summer camp for my girls and started this when they were 5 and 3 years old. This left plenty of time to have playdates, go to the park, just chill out...typical lazy summer stuff. But it also let them feel they were in summer camp and they LOVED it. Sometimes their friends would join us for a day of camp. Don't get me wrong, this was not me planning like crazy to occupy my kids every minute of every day. They were not raised to expect to be entertained so this was more like a weekly or bi-weekly treat for them. Yep, I do have a problem with demanding kids and parents who entertain. Have a lemonade stand or something, right? (I'm sorry...just had to throw that in. It is so annoyingly common today:-)

Okay, on to Camp Mommy...



Camp was usually one day a week but sometimes we would do it more, like three mornings a week. If we were going to the beach or the library, it was a field trip and they wore their camp mommy shirts, which we made the first day of camp by spraying paint on a shirt or tie-dying...it varied. Each week , for the full day camp we had a theme. I'm going to list as many as I can think of but I know there were more. Basically, any activity you can think of can be a theme. Sometimes, just doing something you don't have time for in the school year is all they need. We had "porch picnic" day where we had our meals on a blanket on the porch and their friends came to join us:-)


~Teddy Bear Day: we went for a Teddy Bear picnic, did teddy bear crafts, watched episodes of Little Bear, had teddy bear pancakes for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, crafts...

~Arts & Crafts day: Painting, bead jewelry, cereal necklaces, shell art, sidewalk chalk... We got rolls of white paper and colored a table cloth, made a huge paper mural for the playroom...

~Christmas in July...our favorite: We played Christmas music and watched our favorite Christmas shows. We cut out Christmas cookies, baked and frosted them. Maybe we love this because it made us feel "cool" in the steamy Florida summers.

~Jammies Day/Slumber Parties. Sometimes it was an actual sleepover and sometimes we would pretend to have one during the day. We did spa stuff, made popcorn, played twister...

Camping Day: We made forts, naps in sleeping bags, cooked out, made smores...

Princess or Barbie Day: We made crowns, tutu's, wands...played dress-up, had tea parties. You see how it is stuff they might do anyway but they thought they were at "camp":-)

Carnival Day: dressed like clowns/ silly people, face painting, carnival games, water balloons, games for their friends, sprinkler fun...

Anyway, you get the idea. Very silly and tons of fun! They were happy making bubbles, play doh or cleaning counters with shaving cream.

We ended every week with a theme dinner/Friday Family Night. We decorated, had themed food and watched a movie in Mommy and Daddy's bed, followed by a sleepover in our room. Some of the themes for this were luau's, mexican fiestas, French/Paris theme, Italian night, 50's Night, Groovy 60's/70's and disco, mermaid, polka dot parties or color themes.

At the end of the summer, we went on a back to school road trip but more about that in August. Guess that's about it for my trip down memory lane. I hope it gave those of you looking for ideas a bit of inspiration. My 14 year old finished school yesterday and is now officially a high-schooler. Trust me when I say it is well-worth it to do those silly, special things while you can:-)
Hugs, Suzanne