I watched as the emails came through, day by day: the shockingly expensive but magical device-free two-week sleepaway camp — canceled. Our local go-to let-children-be-free day camp — canceled. The STEM program I lovingly call “nerd camp” — virtual. What’s a mother with two kids, no childcare, and a general anxiety about coronavirus to do?
I found one outdoor camp that promises social distancing, hand sanitizer, and masks on hikes later in the summer, but I've otherwise resigned myself to rebrand as Camp Mom.
Traditional summer camp is still happening in many parts of the country, especially where COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders are not as prevalent. But in places like New York, Washington, D.C., Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and other regional hotspots, the decision-making process is a little less clear.
Here's how 11 moms are trying to make it work.
No — social distancing is just too hard for kids.
Jackie MacGuire, a mother of three — ages 5, almost 7, and 8 — in Washington, D.C., is most definitely not choosing camp this summer, but not because she’s concerned about COVID-19. (She suspects the family already had it.) “It just seems like such an ordeal for our kinder, 1st, and 2nd graders, being told they can't actually touch their friends,” she said. “They’re basically going to spend all day getting in trouble, for trying to be kids.”
Yes — I just started a new job.
For Samantha Sugar, who has two kids, ages 5 and 7, as well as two teenage stepdaughters, in Los Angeles, camp is a no-brainer. Having just started a new job during the pandemic, she had to find childcare ASAP. “Now I have to figure out camp and a babysitter, just like normal,” she says. For the time being, the sleepaway camp for the teens is still on, and she found a nature camp for her younger kids, as well as a science camp that has not yet been canceled. But camp isn’t just for childcare, it’s to bring back some sense of normalcy. “Their mental health is so important," she says.
Yes — but cautiously watching.
Michaela Romesburg, a mother of a 6-year-old boy in San Francisco, has been sending her son to a small forest camp since he was 3 years old. Back in January, before she ever suspected the pandemic, she signed him up. “It's all a great coincidence,” she says. “I'm a bit nervous still to let him go, but it's only five kids.”
Yes — so important for an only child.
Shoshana Lewin Fischer, mother to a 7-year-old girl in Simi Valley, California, where the rate of coronavirus is relatively low compared with neighboring Los Angeles, was eager to get her daughter into a YMCA day camp the moment it opened. “Dani is in kindergarten and was missing her friends terribly,” says Lewin Fischer. Kids get their temperatures checked each day and wear masks. “My husband and I both have been working from home, and she is an only child. She needed the social interaction.”
No — online only — for better or worse.
“Sleepaway for our week was canceled, but we wouldn't have sent them to camp anyway,” says Emily Bills, a mother of two girls, ages 6 and 8, in Los Angeles. “How will we balance kids at home with two working parents? Probably as inadequately as we've been handling homeschool with two working parents!”
Yes — so I can work.
Christine Rinki, a mother of two boys in California's Bay Area, ages 3 and 6, wasn’t planning to do camp in the midst of the pandemic. “But honestly, we just can’t manage with two working parents and no childcare.” The camp she’s considering is an outdoor sports camp, with 12 kids in a pod, for half-days. “It’s less risk than being at school.”
No — everything’s canceled.
Meagan An, a mother of three in Portland, Oregon, with kids ages 10, 11 and 13, has had most of her camps, overnight and otherwise, cancel on her. And she’s on the fence about the only one that hasn’t — a futsal camp at the end of July. “Even if they have it, I don’t think we’ll do it because it’s inside a warehouse,” she says.
“Today was the highest daily count in Oregon since this all began," she adds. "We’re still relatively low compared to other states, but I don’t think I’m going to be comfortable with any of my kids going to camp this summer, especially indoors. I realize it could be much worse, but this is going to be tough!”
Maybe.
Michelle Filleul, a mother of two outside of Boston, is watchfully waiting. “We are still waiting to hear if any of our favorite camps are opening,” she says. “I feel very lucky that my husband is a teacher and will be around this summer. I have no idea how working parents are going to handle no-camp summer.”
Yes — if we can get her there.
Rebecca Feldman, a mother of two in Los Angeles, might be shipping her 12-year-old out to sleepaway camp in Maine. “But, boy, are there some serious logistics to work out.”
Yes —but on the camp’s terms.
For Shannon Peavey, mom to 9-year-old twins in Silicon Valley, it’s an outdoor camp with a four-week mandatory signup. “For this and most camps around here, you have to sign up for four consecutive weeks,” she explains. “They want to fill slots with people who will stay in a herd for this amount of time.”
Yes — surf's up.
Catherine Crawford, a mother of two teens in Brooklyn, New York, is looking forward to surf camp. "We were signed up for the camp before the pandemic hit (I'm a planner), but I haven't worried about it really," she says. "Being on surf boards in the ocean seems like ideal social distancing."
