It's Summer, Summer Time

For the first time ever we had to come up with summer plans for C and R. This was partially expected and partially unexpected.

Expected in that C is now in school and they give them the summer off. Which is way lucky for them and something I long for every single year when the season hits. Camp for a 6 year old is easier to manage. There's more options. She's older and more comfortable and adjusts easier.

Unexpected in that R now goes to a school that only offers Summer Camp every other week AND only from 9-12 each day during those weeks. Long gone are the days of 6 AM - 6 PM care that we enjoyed.

Because of this wrench in our planning we now had to figure out plans for the summer for two instead of one. I wanted to keep it as easy as possible for everyone, including them. Not a lot of running around or changing locations every week. Some structure and outdoor activity was top of the list. Somewhere together so they could look out for each other.

Most camps don't take 4 year olds so that narrowed the list a bit.

We ended up deciding to do a trial run at a local facility that offers everything...swimming, gymnastics, soccer, baskeball, dance, karate, etc. They were both familiar with this place so going wouldn't be a huge shock. They were comfortable there. We were comfortable sending them there. We'd give it a shot and if it didn't work, we'd revisit what we could do and try something else.

I set up OT appointments for the weeks when they would be there so R could get a break. We planned on 1 trial week, a two week break for vacation and Camp Granny, and then the rest of the summer spent at this location.

It didn't work.

R was the youngest by 2 years. She was refusing to participate in any of the activities and they weren't going to force her. Despite giving them a heads up of her sensory issues, the director of the program did not pass that along to any of the other camp counselors so they were unaware. Despite the offer to talk with them and be available to discuss any issues, no one ever reached out to us to tell us she wasn't doing well. Every night R would come home exhausted (Expected with all the activity and C was tired too.) and a complete mess full of meltdowns and aggression and all the old stuff we were trying to avoid.

We knew after a few days that sending R there was not in her best interest. We were paying too much money to have her not participate and then come home a complete mess. So we had to come up with a new plan.