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Strollerderby
The Chicago Tribune ran a wonderful story about the powerful impact libraries – and loving librarians – have on low-income children, especially in the summer months. Many poor children and their parents are using their local libraries as a makeshift camp or child care provider. And Chicago librarians seem happy to report for parent/teacher duty.
Susan Neuman, professor of educational studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who is writing a book on public libraries and education, lauds librarians as “the hidden stars of our communities.” She adds, “Librarians act as substitute mother teachers. They have taken it upon themselves to fill this role. They are doing it and doing it well, even if it is not something they wanted to do.”
In Zion, a suburb north of the city, “the children without parents are especially welcomed,” reports Carol Cramer, the library youth services coordinator. “We like to see our library used,” she said.
It’s quite touching to read the stories of these unsung heroes, like Jan Brooks at Thurgood Marshall Library in Englewood, who “has at times checked out books in his own name for children and paid their late fines” and even “taken children outside to the fenced-in courtyard and shared his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the ones who don’t have a lunch.”
Brooks admits that he’s a bit of a softie when it comes to kids. He says, “So you’re running around, that’s no big deal for me. If you’re talking, it doesn’t bother me. That’s so insignificant compared to what we could do to help a child.”
Indeed. Which is why it’s so sad that year after year libraries around the country have to fight for funding and in fact to stay open. Continue reading »
I’ve heard of horseback riding camp and theater camp, but until today, I didn’t know there was a specialty camp for the children of agnostics and atheists.
Honestly, I didn’t know there was a need for such a thing. But, then again, there are Jewish camps and Christian camps. So why shouldn’t there be a camp for nonbelievers?
Camp Quest, the week-long sleepaway camp in Ohio, hosts about 80 children whose parents are atheists, agnostics, humanists and other nonbelievers. The campers range in age from 8 to 17 and many of the kids are still figuring out their own religious beliefs and attitudes. Continue reading »
My kids, ages 5 and 7, aren’t going to camp this summer. They didn’t go last summer either. This fact caused me to hyperventilate for exactly 1.2 seconds — when my older daughter turned down what looks to be a fantastic five day camp at the planetarium where she’d even get a chance to learn to sail.
“SAILING!” I told my husband in my capital letters voice. “We live on a Great Lake, she should learn to sail!”
“We’ve lived here our whole lives,” he countered, bringing me back to Earth. “Do either of us know how to sail?”
Of course she doesn’t need to learn to sail, especially not at 7 when she’d rather be building sandcastles anyway. They turned down every camp that came their way — even the one at the rec center that costs just $80 for the whole summer, including lunch and breakfast. That one hurt more than sailing.
Like me, Michelle Sinclair Coleman isn’t sending her kids to camp this summer, either. But unlike Michelle, I didn’t feel any peer pressure when making my decision. She writes:
Continue reading »
As parents, it is up to us to set boundaries for what our children are allowed to do as they progress on their way to maturity. We don’t let them cross the street by themselves before a certain age, we don’t let them play with matches, and we give them ineffective plastic knives to use on the food we’ve already cut up for them. Of course, every parent has a different view of what children should be allowed to do at each stage of their life. Some parents let their kids climb trees, some parents let their kids build ramps for their bikes and skateboards, and then there’s Gever Tulley.
Recently Jeanne wrote about the Yankees getting all kid-friendly. Not to be outdone, the New York Mets have their own special way of reaching out to the young ones, specifically in the surrounding community of the new and shiny Citi Field in Flushing, Queens (which some diehards are still calling Shea). Continue reading »
I have been trying to write about this excellent piece over on Double X, where Elizabeth Weil talks about how she wound up making her daughter attend summer camp even though the 6-year-old didn’t really want to but what other choice did Mom have, you know? She had to get work done! School vacation is interminably long! There were no other options!
Yes, I have been wanting to commiserate with Weil, tell her I’ve been there, I AM there — that there are simply not enough affordable options for school-aged kids in the summer run on a schedule amenable to the working parent. But I can’t. No free time! Because I’m having childcare problems of my own.
Like Weil, I signed up my two daughters, 8 and 4, for day camp. Like Weil, I am sensitive to the fact that my children are not enjoying their time with Coach Ryan and Coach Meghan and really just go because they’re not given a choice.
Unlike Weil, however, I don’t feel guilty. I just feel disappointed, angry even. Continue reading »
It’s summer. Your kid’s out of school and ready for camp. But your pocketbook is not prepared to take yet another financial hit. When the going gets tough, the tough get all DIY. A new trend for cash strapped families with tight budgets is not Camp Recess but Camp Recession.
With sleep away camps being out of reach financially for many a family, city friendly adventures and local amusements have replaced the long trek from home. Some parents are joining forces and putting together daily adventures for the kids to participant in, while some parents are opting to Continue reading »
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