Summer Break And Your Own Kids

[daycare]

So I have two teenagers. they are two years apart 13 and 15 and they argue like no tomorrow, normal I think....

so The question I have is what do you do with your own kids while they are out of school for the summer. Today my kids are both home for the holiday and have done nothing but drive me insane. I don't know if I can deal with this the whole summer. Iknow that my daughter will be gone alot over the summer as she is going to europe for the last month of summer vacation, but not too sure what to have them do while they will be home. I do allow for them to go to their freinds houses, but friends cannot come in our house while DC is in progress. I do have a teenroom out in my garage. TV set up, music, gym, ping pong, video games. But they still seem to keep all of the DCK awake by non stop fighting.............

[Abigail]

can you put them to work for you? LOL

[daycare]

not without heavy pay...hahah My daughter is really good with teaching arts and crafts, stuf like that.

My son is good with playing sports with them, but those activities only take up some of the time in daycare. I really wish they could go to summer school, but i cant afford to pay to send them this year.....

[Abigail]

wow you have to pay for summer school?! Do you pay for regular school too? Ask them what their friends will be doing all summer? Maybe they can take short road trips with a friend's family at a low or no cost to you? OH YEAH, call around for volunteering opportunities! I start working at our local animal shelter one evening a week starting next week for the summer months.

[daycare]

regular school session did not cost. but the state of CA is broke so we have to pay for summer school, books, buses, and lots more.
I told them today that if they dont stop fighting that I am giong to make them hold hands for the rest of the day. Or worse Ill lock them in my room together until they make up.... jk.

my daughter will be going on a vaction across europe for about a month in July to august so that will be nice, but in the mean time i jjust might lose it...

[sharlan]

I was lucky, mine (2 girls, 2 yrs apart) got along great.

But this summer, I'll have my 15 yo granddaughter all day. She loves to bug her 4 yo brother, but he loves to do the same to her.

My granddaughter is going to be in charge of lunch and snack. She'll have to plan healthy menus and make out the grocery list. She'll also be in charge of backyard play. She'll also have no choice, do what I ask or do what I ask.

There is no free summer school here, either.

[daycare]

I'm in northern Cali no free summer school and they both would have to ride the bus so I would have to pay for that too! Ugh

I think I might do that. Make the responsible for something in the daycare

[AfterSchoolMom]

I was going to say have the 15 year old get a summer job...but I guess that would require transportation as well?

[DBug]

Are there any day camps locally that your daughters can volunteer at (or work at, for that matter)? Might be a good way for them to get some work experience under their belts while keeping them busy

[daycare]

I think you have to be 16 to work or be low income if not 16. And he's neither.
I do like the summer camp idea I will have to look into that.

My son rides his bike alot so maybe I can work something our
Thanks for all the ideas.

[AfterSchoolMom]

I don't know if it's different from state to state, but where I am you can get a job at 15 with a parent's permission. I think it may even be 14 with special paperwork...I had my first job at 14 (bussing tables).

[MN Mom]

I had my first job at 14. I worked at Hy-Vee (Midwest grocery store chain) bagging groceries, stocking shelves, and doing drive-up. We could only work until 7pm at the latest, so during school I did 4-7pm shifts and the bus would drop me off in the parking lot. On weekends I did 6am-3pm or 7am-4pm. I loved the extra cash for shopping! I was also so excited after getting my first raise. I went from 4.10/hour to 4.20/hour (gosh, minimum wage was a lot lower then).