However, I’ve now had 2 summers to go through several different summer day camps and I’ve learned a lot about what to look for and I’ve also learned a lot about what isn’t worth worrying over. Hopefully, these tips will help you in making your summer childcare decisions.

1. Think about what kind of experience your child needs.

Over the last two summers, we’ve chosen a church summer program and then subsequently chose a setting more akin to a daycare. Both provided rather limited time outdoors, extremely structured time during most days, an off-site field trip every other week, movie time, some arts and crafts, along with Bible lessons. This year, however, we’ve chosen a much different environment. We’ve chosen a place that encourages unstructured outdoor play almost all day, every day. ZERO electronics are allowed, and feeding farm animals are part of the daily routine. We just feel like this is the type of environment our daughter will thrive in during this particular season of her life. Take into account your child’s current likes and dislikes, what activities that seem to be their natural calling, and go from there. It may be that a week at basketball camp, and a week at science camp is what your child needs or yours may be one that does best in a structured environment with the same schedule weekly.

2. Ask about the staff.

Ask how long they’ve been an employee with the care center. I have found on numerous occasions, whether it be daycare, after school care, or summer camp, that the organizations with longer-term employees tend to be the best. High employee turnover is a big red flag for me and tends to be indicative of poor management.

3. Consider your schedule.

One of the challenges I’ve found is that many sport-specific or interest-specific summer camps don’t offer a full-day option, which is why we typically end up in a daycare-like setting. Many of the sports or science-related camps are typically three to four hours long, maybe from 9 am to noon. When I worked from home, these were a perfect option and were often more affordable than a full day camp. If you have a relatively flexible schedule or only need childcare part-time, some of these half-day camps may be exactly what you need. It may also be optimal to find a college student home for the summer to provide childcare. I’ve had several friends contact the education department at the local universities to find students willing to provide quality childcare during the summer.

4. Start to save early.

Summer camps can be a real budget buster. They can typically range anywhere from $100 to $300 per week, per child! To combat this expense from sneaking up on us, we set up a sinking fund (savings account that we contribute to regularly) throughout the year so that we have the summer camp tuition money available when summertime rolls around.

5. Check references!

Ask friends for their opinions. Other moms who have had children in a summer program can give you better information than a website or brochure ever will. Hopefully, most will be open and honest with you and give real feedback on their experiences. Another thing to be sure to check is your state’s department of health website to see if the organization has had any issues that have been reported. Most state websites will list out the type of infraction along with the corrective action taken.

I hope these considerations help you in making your summer camp decisions less stressful. Here’s to a great summer ahead!

After a few minutes of proclaiming how excited she was, a moment of trepidation stopped her in her tracks. She looked at me and said “Oh no. This means I’m growing up, right?” I assured her that it is an indicator of getting older, and she quietly mentioned that she didn’t want to grow up. I thought that was an odd thing for her to say, as she usually talks about looking forward to doing things she can’t do now when she gets to be a teenager. But quickly the Tooth Fairy talk returned and off she went to bed.

“I don’t want to grow up.”

Fast forward to about 3:15 the next morning. I had gotten up to go to the restroom and all of a sudden as I was about to turn out the light and return to bed, my daughter rushes into the bathroom with tears streaming down her face. After a few minutes, through her giant tears, she was finally able to tell me what was wrong. “I don’t want to grow up. Because if I grow up it means you will die.”

I could practically feel my heart shatter into a million shards of glass onto the floor. Logically, I know that this probably stems from conversations we’ve had with her as well as conversations that she’s overheard about my own mother’s rapidly declining health. My initial thought was to reassure her that nothing is ever going to happen to me, but… I’m a realist. Instead, first, we talked about how old her Daddy and I both are and that we both still have our parents around and so she will likely have us both around for a very long time.

My job as her mother is to give her the skills to thrive.

I explained to her (as I have numerous times before) that my job as a mother is to teach her to be able to live on her own so that if for some reason I’m not there, I’ve given her the skills she needs to not only live but to thrive. And then finally, I made a promise. I promised her that I will do everything in my power to ensure that I’m around as long as possible for her. We talked about how that means eating healthy foods, exercising, and even continuing to learn and read to keep my brain sharp.

As I tucked her back into bed, I thought back to my pregnancy and how I had this incredible, innate, and automatic shift in the foods I chose to eat to nourish her as she grew in my womb. Now I know that I have to make that same shift again, but this time it’s to nourish her a little differently. After all, I made a promise.

Here are a few quick tips to help stretch your dollar a little further this summer.

1. Kids Eat Free App by GrandeMocha, LLC (currently only available on iOS) is an app that provides a list of restaurants that offer free meals or discounted meals for children on certain days of the week. It defaults to show the current day’s deals, but you can go to the settings and look for another day or all days of the week.  If you see a restaurant or deal that is not listed, you can submit that information to be verified and then once verified, it will be posted to the app. Our local mom user tip: disable the GPS and manually enter your location in the settings. The GPS functionality appears to currently be broken and no restaurants show up in the list when GPS is enabled.

• Visit your local library. Libraries are a literal wealth of resources. Not only do libraries have books, they also have a vast assortment of movies and shows on DVD, books on audio, and even video games. Our local libraries host game board nights, have knitting club, story time for babies and toddlers, craft activities, teen nights, trivia nights, bingo, bridge, chess, book clubs and all sorts of TOTALLY FREE activities!

• Meatless meals are a way to lower your grocery bill is by preparing meals that do not require any meat. We try to do this once or twice a week. One of my family’s favorite meatless meals is burrito bowls with pinto beans, rice, sautéed vegetables, roasted corn and typical Mexican style toppings like shredded cheese, salsa, and sour cream.  Making a change like this to just one meal can save you around $6 to $12 a week in groceries. That doesn’t sound like a lot in one week, but after a month of this savings we are talking about $24 to $48 a month in savings, and that’s with just changing one meal per week!

• Pay with cash.  We all tend to overspend when we use a credit or debit card. By paying with cash, we literally see money leave our hands so by it being more tangible it evokes a bit more of an emotional response. Each payday I allocate whatever amount I have budgeted toward expenses like groceries, dining out, clothing, and gifts to an envelope that is labeled for each of those categories. When it’s gone, it’s gone. This helps me stay on budget and prevents me from overspending in any given category.

Hope these tips help to keep a little money in your pocket. Maybe a little money for you to go have a summer relaxation day!

1. Picnic dinner at the playground

One of our favorite things to do is to pack a picnic dinner of sandwiches or pasta salad and head out to our local park, which has numerous tables and a nice shade-covered playground. We sometimes plan ahead and meet up with another family or two that we’ve met through school or activities. It gives the kids a chance to burn off some energy before bed time, and gives us parents an opportunity to socialize.

2. A day at the zoo

Although here in the deep south it can be steaming hot on a midsummer day, if we prepare well, we thoroughly enjoy an educational day spent at the zoo. Most zoos now have some sort of splash park or water feature for kids to cool off in, which is a great way to beat the heat and give both parents and kids a break.

3. Dessert and splash

There are numerous shopping centers and parks around here that have fountains that turn on when the weather heats up where the kids are welcome to splash around. Almost every one of them are close to some sort of yogurt, popcorn, or ice cream shop. It’s such a fun treat to head out to one of these spots after an early dinner, grab dessert, and let the kiddo splash around. (Just remember to bring a towel!)

4. Sidewalk Chalk and bubbles

Children of all ages love to play with sidewalk chalk and bubbles. They can be used virtually anywhere; at home or on a walk through the neighborhood, at a park, at kid-friendly craft beer breweries, restaurants with outdoor seating, and while waiting on a 4th of July parade or fireworks to start, you name it!

5. Rock painting, hiding, and hunting

Many communities now have groups of citizens that have made a hobby out of painting and hiding rocks as well as searching for painted rocks that others have hidden. You can collect unpainted rocks (or even buy a bag of them at your local craft store!), paint them with acrylic paint, and hide them at a local park. Many of these communities have local Facebook groups that give clues as to where the rocks have been hidden. It’s pretty exciting to see what kind of rocks you can find!

6. Nature walks

We love to load up the whole family (our dog Daisy included) and go to the closest nature preserve for a nice long walk early in the morning. We try to make it as educational as possible by noting the different types of trees, birds, and flowers we see. Just make sure to bring the bug spray and sunscreen!

7. Swim Day

Pack the cooler full of finger foods like sliced fruit and sandwiches and head to a local pool or water park for the day.

8. Paint wars

Have you heard of Goblies? They are soft nontoxic and biodegradable paint balls that are intended for throwing. Grab a few colors, have the kids dress in clothes that won’t make you cry if they get stained, and let them have at it in the backyard. So much fun! You could even have them throw them at a blank canvas and make a little work of art!

I hope this list gives you inspiration to get outside and enjoy the sunshine this summer!

Picture this: I’m at a playground with my five year old. She’s happily playing with some kid she just met and I see what appears to be the mother of this newfound playmate about twenty steps to my right. I try to look her way without being too obvious. The things I take note of are that she appears to be in her late 30’s or early 40’s (yes!!!), her hair is up in a messy bun, but it doesn’t look like one of those way too perfect chicks on YouTube tutorials (yes, I have looked up Messy Hair Bun tutorials on YouTube, hasn’t everyone??). She occasionally looks at her mobile phone.

I think to myself, “Good! Maybe she won’t judge me for occasionally checking my phone for my work e-mail”.

She carries a cross body bag and pulls out some snacks which turn out to be vegetables-carrots and cucumbers. I catch myself secretly hoping that maybe they are conventional and not organic just so that they won’t clash too badly with the bag of cheese puffs covered in bright orange “cheese powder” that I’ve brought for my child.

I can see that she’s wearing a rather expensive pair of shoes, so then I start wondering if maybe we live in two different worlds, financially speaking. Or maybe she got them on a sale at a huge discount. This kind of thought process can not be normal, can it? Expensive shoes or not, I know that I desperately need mom friends.

Should I approach her? What should I say? “Hey, there, I see you have a kid around the same age as mine, want to be friends?” I talk myself out of approaching her, afraid of rejection, thinking that maybe she’s a stay at home mom that would have nothing in common with me, a busy working mom who is constantly reassessing the best way to juggle family and career.

A few more minutes pass and as our children continue to play, I decide to take a cue from my fearless five year old who never meets a stranger.

I walk up to the mom and introduce myself, we exchange phone numbers. A few months and play dates go by and what do you know? I’ve now added to my mom-tribe and have a friend I can count on for a Mom’s Night Out or a lengthy text convo consisting mostly of GIF’s and venting about the things our kids do that drive us crazy, socially awkward or not, take the risk and speak to that mom you see at the park, the school, or the gym. You never know what could happen!