Just how annoying a summer camp advertisement can get! As a parent I keep getting this advertisement all the time. All kinds of camps are present to cater to all kinds of parents. Focused summer camps to teach children specific things right from acting, dance, sports till robotics. Generic camps to have kids spend time on crafty things. The advertisements are all over, newspapers, special fliers, Facebook, school circulars, whatsapp, in conversations with other parents. All it does is at least gets me ponder over if my kids are wasting their summer vacation...
I do not remember my parents worrying about summer camps. It was not fashionable then. My brother and I would go to our grand parents place in summers. We would have a gala time playing a lot of games with our society friends all day and night.
But it was different for me. I was worried about whether my kids may waste their summer vacation doing nothing. There was a time when my son was pretty young and started going to play group. That summer was the first time I had sent him for a summer camp for 15 days, 2 hours each day. I did that for some more years including sending my daughter as well there. The idea was exactly this, what are they going to do at home anyways, how can I keep them engaged most of the times in some or the other activities. Whether my child will be left behind if other kids are learning something new during summers. How much learning comes out of that, and whether the kids really wanted to go or not was not thought about.
After a while I started thinking about whether as a parent I have become obsessed with what my child does all the time and whether the time spent is a quality time or not. I also read about empty mind and free time for kids. As they started growing in their school activities during the academic year I felt that they probably need time that's not planned by us for something, something they can plan for themselves.
This summer was a lot of fun for them and for me. My kids did 10 hours of craft club, 3.5 days of TCS Maitree Summer smiles, and the rest of the time was spent on meeting relatives, having a great time with cousins and friends. Most of the time they were not at home, either at their grand parents' or at our native place or visiting different places they always wanted to or playing downstairs with their friends. I am really hoping that they learnt some social skills by doing it I e how to deal with people, how to have an empty mind,decide what to do for themselves.
I think I am coming to terms to come out of the compulsive need to manage my kids' time "more effectively and more quality'. I know I can do better than this. I am just hoping that kids could de-stress and enjoy themselves. -and are feeling fresh to start school again!
I do not remember my parents worrying about summer camps. It was not fashionable then. My brother and I would go to our grand parents place in summers. We would have a gala time playing a lot of games with our society friends all day and night.
But it was different for me. I was worried about whether my kids may waste their summer vacation doing nothing. There was a time when my son was pretty young and started going to play group. That summer was the first time I had sent him for a summer camp for 15 days, 2 hours each day. I did that for some more years including sending my daughter as well there. The idea was exactly this, what are they going to do at home anyways, how can I keep them engaged most of the times in some or the other activities. Whether my child will be left behind if other kids are learning something new during summers. How much learning comes out of that, and whether the kids really wanted to go or not was not thought about.
After a while I started thinking about whether as a parent I have become obsessed with what my child does all the time and whether the time spent is a quality time or not. I also read about empty mind and free time for kids. As they started growing in their school activities during the academic year I felt that they probably need time that's not planned by us for something, something they can plan for themselves.
This summer was a lot of fun for them and for me. My kids did 10 hours of craft club, 3.5 days of TCS Maitree Summer smiles, and the rest of the time was spent on meeting relatives, having a great time with cousins and friends. Most of the time they were not at home, either at their grand parents' or at our native place or visiting different places they always wanted to or playing downstairs with their friends. I am really hoping that they learnt some social skills by doing it I e how to deal with people, how to have an empty mind,decide what to do for themselves.
I think I am coming to terms to come out of the compulsive need to manage my kids' time "more effectively and more quality'. I know I can do better than this. I am just hoping that kids could de-stress and enjoy themselves. -and are feeling fresh to start school again!
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