Horseback riding camp. Dance camp. Band camp.

Modeling camp. Gymnastics camp. Language camp. 

There’s a camp for every kid out there. If your child is into science, there are more than 25 camps she can choose from. If he’s into sports, there are about 200 he could choose from. Want a music camp? Got it. Art camp? Yes. Computer camp, sailing camp, or scout camp? Check, check, and check.

It’s nuts to me, but kids can attend a motorsport camp, an extreme sports camp, a documentary filmmaking camp. They can spend time at an inventors’ camp, an animal-interest, cooking, or theater camp, even a rock-climbing camp. And of course, there’s the ‘camp camp’ where kids actually hang out in nature for all or most of the day, sailing, hiking and singing by the fire they learned how to make with their buddy’s specs.

But the completely unbelievable thing about all of these camps is that they’re offered here, in our area. I found them in several summer camp guides that I picked up at the library. We are incredibly lucky to have the wealth of options that we do, right here at our fingertips. I recognize and appreciate that.

But camps can really put a strain on a family financially. Especially when you’re talking 12 weeks of summer for preschoolers and nine weeks for kids in elementary, middle or high school. And when you have two, three, or four kids, the numbers can be astronomical for a middle-class family with only one full-time income. I know that for some families, camps are the only summertime child care option, and those families save all year so that they can weave an intricate summer of camp-hopping for their kids.  I’m betting it’s something that is a little nutty for parents but something the kids really love. There’s a ton of fun to be had at these camps, and the resulting learning, personal growth and friendships are rich and meaningful.

So what do I do when talk moves from what preschool class we’re applying for next year to what camps will my children attend this summer? It’s hard because as much as I wish we could afford to send each of our three kids to several uber-cool camps, we just cannot. We’ve made the choice for me to stay home and hang with these kiddos and have my husband work full-time. As a result, three kids at three camps for just one week could cost us anywhere from $600- $1000. Not. Going. To. Happen.

Two of my kids will participate in our community pool’s swim team and we may try to do a week at our preschool’s camp before public school lets out. But that’s it. If we want to put in any beach time at all, a summer of summer camps just will not be a reality for us.

So I gently, gracefully avoid the summer camp overload by not even going there. 

I’ll arrange play dates, we’ll do day trips, we’ll do our week at the shore and spend afternoons at our pool. And maybe once in a while I’ll bust out with some summertime crafts, if the kids—and I—are up for it.  And we’ll light our fire pit (with a match) in the backyard, toast some marshmallows and carve out our own summer, sans all the camps.

I'm sure we’ll revisit that the camp guide down the road, when the kids are a little older, when they’re really aware of the camp thing. We may consider these camps when they ask to go because the topic interests them, when the time is better for our family financially and when I’m a little more ready to send them off to Camp-ville for the week.