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#1
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Summer Plans
I think I asked this last year, too, so curious me will ask this year. What's everyone doing with their kids this summer? DS (10) and DD (12) are again on a summer swim team that meets each morning during the week for practices, and there's a meet every weekend. DD can bike to the practices -- DS is still a bit young for that -- maybe next year. Swim season ends the first weekend in August with a big city-wide meet. DS and DD are at the top of their respective age brackets (9-10 and 11-12), so they have an advantage this year. Their afternoons are completely empty. So far. DS is also going to take fencing lessons -- he's totally into swordplay, because he loves all things Tolkien/Eragon/Fantasy novels. I'm hoping DD will be babysitting a lot around the neighborhood as well -- she's totally gone mall-shopping teenager, and needs to fund her addiction. Thankfully, she shops for bargains, most of the time. DD has two weeks of camp lined up as well, one week in July with a different family -- they take her every year -- and one week in August where she'll know nobody. I think she'll have fun both weeks. Their grandparents will also be in town for a week in July. Our vacation plans are up in the air, 'cause I'm supposed to go to India sometime this summer to train some people, in Delhi. But the week when I do that isn't set! But I do want to get to the Twin Cities to see the Bodyworks exhibit at the Science Museum. That's just a daytrip or an overnight. Scott DD 12 and DS 10 |
#2
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Summer Plans
Scott L wrote: I think I asked this last year, too, so curious me will ask this year. What's everyone doing with their kids this summer? 13 is a tough age for this. Henry relishes his freedom and school years are so stressful for all of us (he struggle with organization, etc as he is ADD and it can be a nightmare to ensure homework is completed, etc) that we all appreciate a break. He's a night owl so he sleeps until noon or later -- I am home by 3:30. I have challenged him to find one class/activity to do by next week or I'll find it for him. He has responsibilities around the house that he doesn't have during the school year, and we are significantly increasing his allowance. This actually SAVES us money because then he has to budget movies, going out with friends to restaurants, etc., rather than 5 and 10-dollaring us to death. We are hoping it will teach him responsibility with money. Last week was the first week on the money plan -- we had a "Leave it to Beaver" moment. Henry got his first mega-allowance Friday morning and by 3 p.m. when I got home, he had walked to a pet store and purchased two gerbils. He had enough money for gerbils, food and bedding, but not a cage, so his plan was to keep them in a cardboard box (yikes!) for a week until he could afford the cage. Since he did not have permission to purchase pets and we already have three dogs, we required him to return them. I called ahead and spoke with the manager, who, after I suggested it was irresponsible for them to sell pets to a 13 year old without parental permission/involvement, agreed to refund his money. So -- I told Henry that the store would give the money back, but that Henry could only have the money back if he personally returned the gerbils. We sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes while he tried to decide whether his pride would win out over the cash. The cash won. I felt like I was in a sitcom. Turns out Henry had an entreprenurial plan: The gerbils cost $13 each and he purchased (yikes again) a male and a female. He figured he could sell the babies for $1 or $2 each to friends and he'd be in the the black by mid-July. Sometimes it feels like we're living in a Leave It To Beaver episode. -Dawn Mom to Henry, 13 |
#3
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Summer Plans
"Scott L" wrote in message
... I think I asked this last year, too, so curious me will ask this year. What's everyone doing with their kids this summer? DD(8) has 3 weeks of 1/2 day camps planned: one week of dance camp and two weeks of musical theater camp. She'll have 1/2 hour swim lessons twice a week for 6 weeks. And she'll have her gymnastics classes. Gymnastics is where things get tricky. She takes both rhythmic and artistic gymnastics (rhythmic uses the ribbons, balls, hoops, clubs and ropes; artistic uses the balance beam, bars and vault). In rhythmic she is being pressured to move to the "pre-team". I put "pre-team" in quotes, because they compete, so I'm not sure why they aren't called part of the team. She would go from 2/days, 1.5 hours a week to 3 days, 2.5 hours a week, plus her 1.5 hours in artistic gymnastics. After talking to her coach, I don't think she will be able to stay where she is-- she'll have to move up or quit (which really bothers me. Since she doesn't have a goal of getting to high level competition, I don't see why there needs to be a hurry on this. But her coach doesn't see it that way.). DD doesn't like change, and will strongly resist. She doesn't want to go to the pre-team, but she also doesn't want to go to 3rd grade. She also didn't want to move to a higher class in her other gymnastics a year ago, but was glad when she did. I think I'm going to have to insist she try the pre-team for the summer, and then decide if she wants to continue or quit. I'll also check out the one other rhythmic program locally, but they also don't seem to have much of a recreational program. Given what we are dealing with, I'm hoping she'll decide to continue with the rhythmic and drop the artistic gymnastics (which she is good at, but not as good as she is with the rhythmic). This will allow her to still have time for playdates and playing on her own, which we both agree are important. Liz |
#4
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Summer Plans
My older daughter (going into senior year in high school) will be going with
her dad back east to check out colleges for the first week and a half of summer. (I got the Southern California road trip over spring break...) Then she's going to UCLA for 6 weeks, taking a real college course and fun stuff and living in the dorms in a program. Then my parents pick her up and deliver her to the airport, where she will meet the rest of the family in Maui for a weeks vacation. Then it's work on college admittance essays and whip the school dance team into shape for the beginning football games and rallys. My younger daughter is going for three days to Tahoe with her girl scout troop. (And I will be home alone, without kids or husband, for the first time since the children were born.) Then she comes homes, works a horse camp for a few days, and head off to two weeks of tennis camp. My husband and I are taking this juncture to head to Europe ourselves. We get back as camp gets out, and she turns 12!! She spends a week and a half at home, taking half day advanced horse camp, then head off to another sleep away camp for 10 days, this one with emphasis on riding. I think I have jury duty while she's gone. Then she comes home, and we have a week before we all head off to Maui. When she comes back she signed up to work horse camp for the little ones. Then school and soccer and tennis and dance all start again. At that point it seems relaxing. |
#5
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Summer Plans
"Elizabeth King" wrote in message
... DD doesn't like change, and will strongly resist. A followup to my own post. She was strongly resisting moving to the pre-team when we talked about it last week. We finally talked about it again today, and she's excited about trying it. She still doesn't know if she will like it, but she's going to give it a try. I feel much better now :-). I still wish there was a better option, but at least I know what we do next. Liz |
#6
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Summer Plans
Scott L wrote: I think I asked this last year, too, so curious me will ask this year. What's everyone doing with their kids this summer? For the last five or six years, both kids have been going to a "summer camp" program offered by the public schools -- 9 to 3, multiple rotating "classes," swimming every day (hurrah). This year is they first year they're not doing that; Graham (now in middle school) is too old for the program, and Roger (entering fifth grade) is no longer interested in it; the activities repeat on a cycle and he's done them all to death by now. So I signed them up for summer school, a real bargain here at only $15 a class, and two class periods -- so $30 per kid keeps them occupied with fun, educational stuff for four hours each morning for the next six weeks. Roger chose art and chess; Graham chose a computer class and another class that involves taking field trips to local sites and then blogging about them. (A writing class in disguise!) There will still be a month, eek, after summer school ends and before the next school year begins. For one of those weeks, DH is taking Roger to a Cub Scout Webelos camp; only one boy (Roger) signed up from his den, so DH got to be the chaperone, and it will essentially be a father-son outing. Meanwhile, I promised Graham that if he kept his grades up, I'd take him on a road trip for some touristing, just the two of us. (Last year we did a weekend in Kansas City, to see the science center there, as a motivational award, and that worked out very well.) He pulled straight A's, something we've never seen before but known him capable of -- and this was his first year in middle school! So we're going to Chicago for a few days, while DH and Roger are at camp. The rest of the time? I'll probably enlist them in some serious housecleaning. Lots of stuff around here that should go to Goodwill or the consignment shop, and some home and lawn repairs that need doing. Most of the actual work is beyond them, but involving them in any way will be good for all of us. --Robin |
#7
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Summer Plans
Elizabeth King wrote:
"Elizabeth King" wrote in message ... DD doesn't like change, and will strongly resist. A followup to my own post. She was strongly resisting moving to the pre-team when we talked about it last week. We finally talked about it again today, and she's excited about trying it. She still doesn't know if she will like it, but she's going to give it a try. This is DS. Spring something on him, and it's a terror. Give him a week's notice, and periodic reminders, and it's like it was his idea all along. Scott DD 12 and DS 10 |
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