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Grandparents' Houses Become Kids' New Campgrounds
By Dave Carpenter, Associated Press
July 16, 2009
Tightening economy causes parents to find summer alternatives
Chicago
-- Over the river and through the recession to grandmother's house they
go. The lingering recession is forcing cash-strapped parents to cancel
camp for the kids. Instead, they're being packed off to their
grandparents' house.
For 5-year-old Ashlyn Preston, this summer's agenda includes familiar
activities such as swimming and cooking. But this time, there are no
counselors, canoes or costly registration fees -- just grandma and
grandpa.
The hundreds of dollars a week that would have paid for camp are being
diverted to more essential needs -- groceries, electricity and house
payments.
The arrangement shifts the child-care burden to the grandparents, many of
whom enjoy the extra time with their grandchildren. The kids' parents save
money and get some time to themselves. And the grandkids get more love and
attention -- and better food.
"If this economic trouble is bringing people together, that's a
positive," said Georgia Hope Witkin, associate professor of
psychology at
Mount Sinai
Medical
Center
in
New York
and a contributing editor of the Web site Grandparents.com.
The American Camp Association reports registration numbers are down at
some of the nation's 12,000 camps, but it's too early to estimate overall
attendance this year.
Summer camp fees nationwide range from under $100 a week to $800 or more.
Some moms and dads are opting just to keep their kids at home until school
resumes, but others are taking up their parents on offers to help.
Ashlyn's dad, Jason, said he and his wife, Roseann, could not afford to
send their daughter to camp or day care. He's an experienced land surveyor
in
Fort Walton Beach
,
Fla.
, but the sour economy has cost him job after job. He and his wife now
work at a fast-food restaurant.
Ashlyn is spending the entire summer with her grandparents, Anita and Neal
Preston of
Kennisaw
,
Ga.
A full slate of "camp" activities is under way: swimming,
campouts, museums, movies, parks, libraries, reviewing school workbooks,
cooking with Grandma, helping Grandpa in the yard.
"The best part? Just getting to be with her!" said Anita
Preston, 52.
Of course, having an extra person in the house for the summer merely
shifts the burden to the grandparents' budget. Anita said they should
probably have set aside money in preparation for the visit but did not.
Her husband works for a Web development company.
She isn't working.
"So when Ashlyn visits," she said, "we just take things as
they come along, and try to do things that won't cost us a lot."
Tamara Bolerjack of
Midwest City
,
Okla.
, is having a similar experience this summer. She recently opened what she
calls
Camp
Granny
for grandson Marlee, 4, and granddaughter Maleah, 5.
Her son-in-law, Maurice, finds it hard to get regular construction jobs
because of the economy. That puts pressure on her daughter Rachel to take
on extra hours in her nursing job, so they can make ends meet. She's also
going to school, so even though they live nearby in
Oklahoma City
, the kids will be with their grandparents for all but one week this
summer.
"They don't have to pay day care this way," Bolerjack said.
"And some of the camps around here are a little expensive, so they
just come to
Camp
Granny
."
The 52-year-old Bolerjack has epilepsy, so she works only part-time out of
her home as a landscape designer. That makes full-time grandparenting
almost ideal for her and husband Ronnie, a lawn technician.
Despite the extra cost, she said, the long summer visit is well worth it
because it "makes you a lot closer to your grandkids."
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