What Do You Do With Your Kids in the Summer?

**nessarowdy** · 04-10-2010, 06:44 PM

Hi,
We are facing our first dilemma for childcare this summer. I just started back to work this past fall since my youngest dd entered kindergarten. The job is great, my hours are when the kids are in school. Dh and I rotate who takes time off to stay home with them for holiday breaks and sick kids, etc. But for the summer we are wondering what most people do! We don't have family around to help us, either.

Our oldest dd (almost 12) wants to stay home and watch her brother (8), and really thinks she could handle it. I have made tentative arrangements to put youngest dd (6) in a daycare summer program. I just don't know. I would call a neighbor lady and ask to pay her a flat rate every month to be "on call" in case the kids had an emergency. I'm still nervous and undecided, though. Unfortunately our state doesn't have a specific age the child has to be before they can stay home alone, it's up to the parent's discretion.

What age did you allow your child to stay home alone, or what do you do now with your kids for the summer?

Thanks, everyone! And don't worry about offending me, I want to hear all sides of the argument!

-Vanessa

**Mom2-3** · 04-10-2010, 06:49 PM

Personally I wouldn't leave my kids home alone at that age. Maybe to run a couple errands, but not for an 8 hour work day.

Can you pay your neighbor to watch the kids? With this economy, I'm sure there is a stay at home mom looking for some extra money.

**monkeywrangler71** · 04-10-2010, 07:09 PM

Check with your local YMCA, municipal recreation centre, library, etc. Ours all offer week long day camps for children in those age groups. You might be able to cover most of the summer with a combination of camps and your and your husband's vacation time.

**sunshine** · 04-10-2010, 07:31 PM

I paid a teenager from our church to watch my kids in the summers/school holidays, etc. He was thrilled to get a little cash, we were thrilled to have a trustworthy sitter.

**valerian** · 04-10-2010, 08:43 PM

I don't work and dh is a teacher so he's home during the summer. I wouldn't leave your kids home alone. That's a long day for a 12-year-old to be in charge of things. I would imagine it would get to be a chore rather quickly and I'd worry about the safety of it. I don't even leave my 18-year-old in charge for longer than a couple of hours, but then he has some issues at the moment.

**McD** · 04-10-2010, 08:53 PM

You could place a posting on the childcare section of craigslist. There are a lot of summer nanny postings, as well as teachers who supplement their summer income by taking care of kids.

I would background check anybody that you find on CL. I'm not sure about other states but Iowa has a website called Iowa Courts Online where you can search a person's name, see any tickets or arrests that have been made and the outcome (ticket, probation, jail, etc). Its a very handy site.

**CampCrazyMom** · 04-11-2010, 07:05 AM

I have 2 girls myself. 12 & almost 9. I couldn't leave them home for that long of a stretch. There would be fighting like no tomorrow! They're ok for an hour or 2. But 8 hours is a long time. Plus it's summer and they'd want to leave the house to visit friends or do things.

I'd consider making a deal with a SAHM in the neighborhood. Just my opinion. A barter perhaps?

**Maine Girl** · 04-11-2010, 07:56 AM

Check to see if you put all three of them in the same camp do you get a discount.

**McD** · 04-11-2010, 08:30 AM

I wanted to add--my older brother and I used to have to baby-sit our two younger brothers while my parents worked summers. We started about age 11/12. I resented it. It took my summer away. If a friend called and wanted me to go on a bike ride, I couldn't do it unless I took one of them with me. I couldn't just up and go to the library or to the pool with a friend without major coordination. It wasn't something that I ever offered to do, I was expected to do it.

Also, we were hooligans. We tied my youngest brother to a tree and left him there for a couple of hours. We intentionally squeezed all the toothpaste out of the roll because we were bored. There were lots of fights.

Just food for thought.

QM · 04-11-2010, 08:47 AM

I'm not to that stage in life yet (my girls are 6 and 3-1/2 years), but I don't think I would want to leave my older daughter in charge for that long of time.

Another place to check out is kijiji. That where I place my home childcare ads. There are probably quite a few providers that are going to have spaces because teachers in their care want the whole summer off. Instead of just looking at the ads, you could always post your own want ad for your neighbourhood. You might be surprised that there are openings that you didn't know about. Good luck.

**nessarowdy** · 04-11-2010, 10:45 AM

Ha ha, Mrs. McDowell, you crack me up!

Thank you so much everybody for your thoughts! We are still undecided. For the record, my work day is only 5 1/2 hours, not the traditional full time shift. I will not be sending the older 2 to the summer daycare program, as the director said that the older 2 would be extremely bored.

I spoke in great lengths with dh last night on what we should do, and he wasn't too much help. Our oldest child is very well-behaved and mature, so he knows she would do great. I, on the other hand, think having a teenager on hand might be the best for us for this summer. Then if she would like to stay alone with her brother next summer she could. However, I would also have to pull my youngest from the daycare program, as I couldn't afford to pay both. Ugh, decisions, decisions!!

Thanks again for everyone's thoughts!
-Vanessa