Come summer vacations and these summer camps crop up faster than you can say hopping grasshoppers...
indeed so many of them that you are spoilt for choice...there are camps for everything from drawing to dance to creative arts to skating to swimming...you name it.
not that i have anything against them...why should i ? when they are so convenient - i just enroll my child and pay a fortune and get a few hours of free time for myself...quaint !
nor am i jealous that i never had any summer camps...for us kids, summers were a time of sleeping in till late,swinging in handbuilt swings from huge shady trees, eating mangoes till you were about to burst,reading comics,hanging out with friends in any water body that wasnt too green or too black in colour...and in general, lazing around...
or we went to our grandparents' where we were pampered to no end, and did these same things with a different set of friends...
and we turned out just about fine ? didnt we ? ( or so we like to think...;) )
but no, its not me going green with envy here...
you see, i am not a very campy sort of person - as in this summer campy sorts....ok, you send your kids to a camp, but we need to know that not all kids are cut out for it...nor are all comfortable with the varied activites on offer...each kid has his/her own talent that should be allowed to bloom naturally...
there's no point in making your kid go dancing if all he really likes is drawing..."oh, he must learn some other skills too!" some kids just enjoy being indoors, not every child is outdoorsy...so you may save the tennis and swimming for later..
but the camps i see around are a mixed bunch, its a buffet of sorts...in trying to attract everyone, they justify none...they claim to teach everything...how fair is it to let a child go through the routine of drawing,skating,alphabets/phonics,swimming,singing/music and a sport all in 3 hours flat ?
there may be an arguement here that kids need to discover all in order to find what their natural flair is...right, but once that is established, need you still keep pushing for more to prove your child is a super child ?
and really, is it so bad to let your children hang around each others' place and just have child like fun ? is being a bit bored such a waste of time ? isnt being bored akin to being pushed to do something creative ? and as parents, does the onus not lie on us to provide some impetus, some stimulation ? or is it that we are just too lazy or too occupied for it, and look for summer camps as an escape ? school through the year and summer camps in vacations ? so where do we, as parents, stand here ?
finally, all said and done, it is upto each parent to decide what is best for their child...and not get carried away by this latest fad !
come to think of it, how about some real summer camping of our own ? a group of parents and kids ? i bet the fun of it will last our kids the entire summer !
so, happy summers and happy camping - whatever way you choose !
