Fun Under the Sun
School’s Out for Summer!
The kids are home — what to do with them?
For kids, summer means freedom.
But for parents, summer means kids are
home 24/7 for nearly three straight months.
Ideally, one might envision homemade ice
cream and fresh-squeezed lemonade, build-
ing summer forts and tree houses, trekking
out to the local pool or even to the beach —
three months of perfect summer memories.
The reality for working parents is that
summer is a numbers game: Week by week,
the time gets ticked off with an activity camp
here, a playdate exchange there, a family
trip/vacation somewhere in between. And
there’s always the question of cost: No mat-
ter how you slice it, three months of child
care, summer activities and vacation costs
quickly add up. The challenge for most par-
ents is how to plan the summer so that kids
have sound supervision, quality time with
family and friends, and a fun, relaxing break.
For working parents Chris and Dawn
Cianciulli and their two sons Rowan, 8, and
Cedar, almost 4, summertime has presented
challenges in finding affordable, dependable
childcare. After some trial and error, and
through luck and community networking,
they’ve found programs that will cover the
part-time days that Dawn is at work.
Cedar has a spot in a wonderful daycare
situation that provides creative activities and
tasty, organic, mostly veggie meals for the
kids. Rowan will be with a schoolmate
whose mother plans to watch over several
BY BOBBIE WILLIS
kids for summer income. “It just turned out
pretty great,” says Dawn, “that we could all
work together. We get great childcare and she
gets some income and can stay home with
her kids.”
Rowan will also do a soccer camp
through the YMCA, and the Cianciullis have
plans for camping trips and incoming family
visits. Chris works longer full-time days for
Rainbow Valley Design and Construction.
His schedule allows Dawn to have more
flexibility with part-time work. Dawn also
says that flexibility within her job at Saylor
Painting Co. has been key for family life.
The ability to work within the boys’ schedule
and to take time off for family outings
“couldn’t happen without the flexibility,”
says Dawn.
Dana Tessler, single mom, business man-
ager and co-owner at Rainbow Valley,
agrees. “Flexibility at work is huge,” she
says. For Tessler and her 9-year-old daugh-
ter, Elianna, summer challenges have been
more about finding the right programs to suit
where Elianna is developmentally year by
year.
“There was a year or two — the summers
before and after kindergarten — where we
didn’t know about camps, and when Elianna
was at an in-between age — too old for pre-
school, but too young for some of the more
structured camps,” says Tessler. “The last
couple of years, we’ve developed a good pat-
tern.”
Elianna will do four weeks of Nearby
Nature’s (www.nearbynature.org) kids’
camps. Tessler says, “Elianna has friends at
this camp, and it’s low-key but really inter-
esting for her. There’s a low child-to-adult
ratio, and it works really well for her.”
Elianna will do a few weeks of other
camps related to her interests in music and
theater. She’ll also go on summer trips that
she and Tessler make every year. Tessler, like
Dawn Cianciulli, has found great resources
in the parents at Elianna’s school, The
Village School. “We have a good communi-
ty of moms and parents there,” she says.
So while planning for summer can be a
little stressful, even for the busiest parents,
the season is usually full of afternoons at the
pool, weekend barbecues, campouts and vis-
its with family. Tessler puts it all in perspec-
tive, “We rush kids so much to grow up. We
don’t always cherish what time we have with
them, and then they’re grown up and gone.”
ew
For resources, check out the Camp Guide in this issue
and visit: www.ci.eugene.or.us www.eugeneymca.org or
www.lanecc.edu/schedule/community/kidscollege.htm
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MAY 27, 2004 13