SacMomsClub.com

Jennifer (Dual Career Mom of Jacob, 5, Caleb, 2): Let me paint you a picture. Envision a dark room of organized chaos with flyers, printed emails and mailers scattered across a desk -- the computer monitor the only light in the room. A large monthly calendar is torn to shreds, the pieces lying on the ground next to a woman crying in sheer frustration. Can you guess what I was doing?

Kelli (Stay-at-Home Mom of Logan, 8, Whitney, 7): Ooh, ooh, I know, pick me! You're trying to pencil out a summer camp season.

J: Bingo. This is Jacob's first year of summer camps and I had no idea I should've started planning out summer while I was putting away my Christmas decorations!

Please tell me, oh veteran mother of many summers and camps...Is it always this hard?

K: Ah, stick with me young grasshopper, and you will be wise.

I remember my first year of signing the kids up for camp. After hopping on board late for the preschool sign-ups bandwagon, I made sure I wasn't going to come out the gates late again on summer camps. My kids were signed up for Camp Have-A-Lot of Fun before the end of the line realized they should've got there an hour earlier.

J: That was me! Is there some secret manual for summer camp selection and scheduling? And why didn't I get a copy?

K: The secret is all around you.

J: All right, you've lost me...

K: As with most things involving children, other mothers are your best resources -- especially those with older children who have BTDT (Been There Done That). This is where the walls of working vs. home moms comes tumbling down. Commiseration is the great unifier.

J: It's true! Standing in an hour long line for camp sign-ups I was there with every variety of mother - working, home, few kids, lots of kids, new moms and veteran moms. Suddenly I had a wealth of information and experiences to draw from, even playing the BTDT role for a mom who just went back to work.

K: It was a BDTD mom who pointed me toward my kids' first summer camp through a park and rec. I was a little nervous about putting a four and five year old in a half-day camp since I didn't need child care, I just wanted it -- it would be the first time I ever had three hours to myself for a whole entire week. And only $40!

J: So, who IS summer camp really for -- you or your kids?

K: I wondered that on the way to my son's first day of camp with him in the back seat crying, "Why do I have to go have fun at Camp Have-A-Lot of Fun?"

Of course, he had a blast and since then summer camp has been a fun way to enrich their summers and give Mommy a little summer break too.

How about you? Do you feel better injecting some traditional summer fun into your children's normal daycare routine?

J: I do, but it can be frustrating when it seems those half-day camps are the only ones out there. A half-day camp only fills up 3 hours of the day. That's a huge gap to bridge for kids who still need daycare during the summer! Plus, I don't know how I feel about sending my little one to camp yet. But, really, what choice is there?

K: I'm going to repeat the mantra that has gotten me through many a tough time - it'll get easier as they get older...

J: ...the challenges just become different.

K: Exactly. The right camps are out there. You'll find them. Now that my kids are older, camp is less about giving Mommy a break (or kids a break from daycare) and more about matching interests with a resource. My kids are eager for camp because we've found fun sports camps that also develop their skills. I have a girlfriend whose child does acting camp through Fairy Tale Town. Another who does science camp at Sacramento State. A nature lover at Effie Yeaw Nature Center camps.

J: Okay, this does give me hope that next year I can be someone's BTDT of Summer Camp. I did get some good referrals and after chewing up two pencils, I think I finally ended up with a fun summer schedule that works for both me and the kids.

K: See! That wasn't so bad was it? Now just wait until both your kids are playing soccer on dueling schedules. I need to find a BTDT mom for that one...

Kelli Wheeler is a Sacramento stay-at-home mother of two racking up BTDT points in order to BTTS - Buy the T-Shirt.

Jennifer Hall is a Sacramento dual career mother of two with big plans to be the first in line at Camp Have-A-Lot of Fun sign-ups next year.

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