Theoretically, summer is seen as an idyllic season for children, with carefree sunny days spent with friends, possibly at camp. But for parents, especially those who work outside the home, this time of year can be one of nearly constant stress.
The perception of camp as a mere extracurricular enrichment is part of what makes securing summer plans a costly logistical nightmare for many families, says Raena Boston, cofounder of the national family advocacy organization Chamber of Mothers and a mom of three who lives in Florida. After all, for most U.S. kids under the age of 6 (68%), all their available parents are in the workforce, according to a 2022 survey by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. For those families, camp is child care, an essential work support that keeps kids safe when school is out so their parents can stay employed-there is nothing "extra" about it.
"Parents are not just putting kids in camp because they have all this disposable income," Boston says. "They need a solution to cover the 10 weeks kids are not in school and they need to go to work." Considering camp to be what Boston calls "a nice-to-have" when it should actually be considered "infrastructure" leads to a hot mess: a dearth of affordable and public camp options; a dizzying array of weeklong private specialty camps (such as soccer camps and theater camps) that pick up the slack but sometimes charge exorbitant prices; camps of all varieties ending hours before the workday ends and shuttering weeks before the school year begins; and parents-often moms-left to reinvent the wheel year after year, piecing together summer child care on a week-by-week and sometimes hour-by-hour basis.
CAMPS BOOK VERY EARLY
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2024-Ausgabe von Good House Keeping - US.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2024-Ausgabe von Good House Keeping - US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Can Anything Really Firm Your Face? - Countless complexion brands tout skin-tightening solutions like firming skincare products, at-home devices and professional treatments
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“OK, OK, just take a breath.” If that’s what a friend advises after you panic-share about a major-anxiety-inducing situation — your teen taking his maiden solo voyage behind the wheel, work instability, another high-stakes world crisis dinging your phone every few minutes — it’s probably because they hate seeing you so on edge. But also, your friend is offering an effective means of slowing your spin. “The way you breathe affects anxiety, and anxiety affects how you breathe,” says James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. “It’s a two-way street, and while anxiety isn’t a conscious choice, our breathing is.”
Do Men Really Not See The Mess? - The answer might surprise you. Journalist and author Gemma Hartley pulls back the curtain to reveal the invisible forces that drive this all-too-common cause of marital strife.
There was a time, earlier in my marriage, when every morning as I walked into the kitchen I braced myself for the rage and resentment that would well up in me.Cupboards left open. Dirty dishes in the sink. Coffee cups strewn around the house. And usually a pair of slippers or shoes, with inside-out socks, on the floor somewhere nearby. Even when I had left the house spotless the night before, I’d wake to a scene of disarray — the mess my husband had left behind on his way out the door for work.I didn’t know which scenario seemed worse, my husband’s consciously expecting me to clean up these messes or his truly not noticing them at all. I found myself silently tallying these small resentments, furious and flummoxed in turn that he seemed oblivious to things that needed to be tidied up around the house. It seemed as if he was always waiting for me to tell him what had to be done, as if he was incapable of noticing the mess himself even when he was creating it.
BLISTERED BITES
Shishitos are delicious all yearand creepy on Halloween!
DRINK if you DARE
Welcome, vampires, skeletons and zombies: This spiritforward duo may be strong enough to wake the dead.
Have a scary-good HALLOWEN
The spookiest day of the year calls for tricks and treats!
