🏷 Summer Camp sticker shock…

A day in the life of working moms generally involves some elaborate of exercise, packing lunches, school drop off, countless work calls and reports, the inevitable call from school to pick up a sick kid, car line, kid activities, making dinner, bath-time and bedtime. Oh — and that doesn’t even include spending time with your partner or, you know, sitting down and taking a breath. 

You get it, right?

So when we add the complicating factor of having to plan an entire summer’s worth of activities for the kids AND finding a way to pay for it — it’s about enough to push us over the edge. 😜

But as we all know, if we don’t do it, we’ll have kids bouncing off the walls at home all summer while we attempt to work. And if we procrastinate, there will be no more camp or childcare availability.

Like everything else you’re in charge of, you’ve got this too, mama.

This week in The CARRY™ ALL:

• 😎 How in the world do I find the right summer camp?! 

• 💰 Now that I’ve found a camp, how do I afford it?

• 👶🏻 What if my kids are too young or too old for summer camp?

We’ve got something special up our sleeves, mamas! We’re giving you 30% off our new CARRY™ ALL bag, plus gifting you our FAVORITE THINGS to go in it. Beginning this Thursday, use CARRYMOM30 for 30% off the entire ABLE site between April 17th and May 8th.

When you order The CARRY™ ALL bag (for 30% off!) — you’ll have a chance of being one of ten winners selected to get a gift box of ALL of our favorite goodies to keep in our bag like:

• An Owala water bottle

• A gift card for Goodr sunglasses

• A Simplified Planner

• Leather conditioner for your bag

• A copy of You Don’t Have to Carry It All

• A copy of Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

• VALUE= $175+

Want to enter? Just use the code and buy the bag! We’ll take care of the rest 🎉 (NOTE: Anyone who has ordered from March through May 8th will be entered! Keep an eye out for a special email later this week with all the deets)

THE BIG 1️⃣ 2️⃣ 3️⃣

1️⃣ 😎 How in the world do I find the right summer camp?!

Believe it or not, simply Googling “Summer Camp Near Me” is a helpful way to get a list of options in your community. Another idea is to search FACEBOOK for summer camp groups in your area. There are countless parents in the same exact boat as you who are searching for great summer options, and who are similarly happy to share the intel that they’ve already gathered. You’ve got this!

2️⃣ 💰Now that I’ve found a camp, how do I afford it?

There are ways to lessen the sting of that summer camp invoice. In fact, there is likely a camp for every budget. Always ask your camp director for scholarship options/and — some camps may even provide some sort of assistance to campers who apply for such scholarships. The key? Apply earlier rather than later, since many camps have already depleted their scholarship funds by the time summer rolls around. 

The American Camp Association is also a great resource. They believe that every child should benefit from camp, and they provide scholarship dollars to ACA-accredited camps for qualifying families. Another great option is to look to your church or synagogue, or your local YMCA, which might have a fund to support campers.

3️⃣ 👶🏻 What if my kids are too young or too old for summer camp?

Excellent question. Most summer camps are available to kids 5 and older. So — what’s a working parent to do when you have little ones or teenagers and 10-12 LONG weeks to fill? A great option to consider is a nanny or sitter-share with another family. 

If the kids are a little older, this is a perfect job for your high schooler (hello moms with high school kids) looking for a summer job. But if you have babies, you might need to find a summer nanny or college student (again, hello moms with college students) at the very least. In either case, have the sitter and all the kids alternate between your house and the other family’s house every week, and split the cost of the childcare with that other family. 

It’s not perfect, but it allows you to have a bit of quiet every other week while the kids are at the other family’s house. And when they’re in yours? Maybe consider a pair of noise canceling headphones. 😉

P.S. If you have summer camp ideas for our community of mamas, please share in the comment section at the very bottom of The CARRY™ ALL ❤️

Love The CARRY™ ALL?

Check out our friends over at FamilyMade for more family-focused content.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT 🤎

for working moms with older children

From romance novels to out of touch family members, parenting tweens/teens absolutely keeps us on our toes! 📚

• Think romance novels are just for moms on the beach? Then you’re WAY out of touch with today’s teens. 😂 Teen girls (and boys!) have been diving into the romance genre, and loving it. We’re not talking about “inappropriate” books for this age group. There are countless romance novels that are teen-friendly and a huge hit. Check out this Cup of Jo article to see what’s up. Are your teens fans of romance novels?

• Are your parents out of touch with the struggle of raising kids today? Our kids’ grandparents don’t always understand that we don’t have a “village” like they did, and that working makes everything harder. Add to it the expectations we now have, plus exercising, kid activities - the list goes on. We found this video of a millennial’s mom, posted for International Women’s Day, to be SO refreshing. This grandma gets it! ❤️

  

SHARE WITH YOUR MOM FRIENDS❤️

Share The CARRY™ ALL with other moms who will benefit.

You currently have 0 referrals.

Or copy and paste your personalized link to others: 
https://newsletter.carrymedia.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER