Summer Camp Planning Stress: Why It Feels Like a Full-Time Job for Parents

Ah yes, summer break—the magical time when our kids get to run free and we, the moms, get to… scramble like lunatics trying to build a full-time childcare puzzle out of overpriced half-day programs and desperate group texts. Yay, memories!

If you’re a mom, you already know: the summer camp scramble is real. Registration windows open in February, and by the time you blink, every affordable, full-day option that actually covers work hours is long gone. What’s left? The dreaded three-hour camps that technically help—but also make your workday feel like a chopped-up mess. Most of us can’t exactly clock in and out for a three-hour shift.

Trying to piece together a summer schedule as a working mom becomes its own part-time job from February through May. And if you’re more of a type B mom like me? You’re probably not thinking about July while you’re still scraping ice off your windshield. So you miss the midnight registration frenzy, where every other mom is online panic-clicking to secure a spot.

As a teacher, I get a front-row seat to how desperately kids need unstructured downtime—but also how much they thrive on routine and enrichment. Camps give them that… but planning it feels like there needs to be a mom camp for recovery. One of the biggest perks of being a teacher? I get to skip that stress. I still want my kids to go to camp—for the fun, the friendships, the chaos that isn’t in my house—but if they don’t get in, it’s not the end of the world. I’m home for the summer, and that’s a privilege I don’t take for granted.

I recently found out the origin of summer break. Fun fact: Summer break wasn’t even created for family bonding or childhood bliss. It comes from outdated school calendars that were designed more around overheated buildings and rural farming schedules than actual child development. Not that I’m complaining. Summer is literally a necessity for teachers. But I do really feel for the parents who struggle with months of an overloaded mental load trying to figure out how they are going to have enough childcare to continue working full time. 

Not aligning the school day and yearly schedule with the typical American full-time working schedule seems really odd—and honestly, like a slap in the face to the moms who are already overwhelmed and exhausted. Did you know that in countries like Sweden, France, and Germany, there are actually government-funded programs that help bridge the gap? Sweden offers subsidized after-school care until 6 p.m., France has structured aftercare and half day coverage, and Germany is expanding full-day school options to align with the typical work schedule. France even offers very affordable, income-based summer camps—not just for childcare, but because they believe every child should have access to enriching summer experiences. It’s not perfect anywhere—but at least other countries are trying. Meanwhile, American moms are left patching together summer camps, babysitters, and backup plans like it’s a full-time logistics job.

There’s also this weird guilt tug-of-war between wanting your kids to have a magical, memory-filled summer—and just desperately needing them to be somewhere else so you can get your job done. The guilt hits either way: if they’re home with too much screen time, you feel bad. If they’re shuffled from one camp to the next, you feel bad. There’s no winning, just surviving.

I just feel so deeply for the full-time working parents who are expected to magically cover two and a half months of childcare every year—often at insane prices, with limited options, and a constant sense of guilt for whatever gap they can’t fill. It’s not just expensive. It’s exhausting. It’s logistics on top of logistics on top of emotions.

And even when you do manage to secure a few weeks of camp, the mental load doesn’t disappear—it just shape-shifts. Now you’re up late filling out emergency contact forms, scrambling to find the right color T-shirt for Spirit Day, and ordering yet another water bottle because they keep losing them. You’re still the cruise director, snack packer, sunblock applier, and logistics manager. Summer isn’t carefree for moms—it’s just a different flavor of chaos.

And the fact that we put this kind of pressure on families every single year, without any real support system in place? It’s infuriating. I’m so lucky that my job as a teacher lines up with my kids’ school schedule, because not having to solve the summer childcare puzzle is one of the only things saving my mental load right now. And trust me—I know what a gift that is.

I don’t have a solution here—just a whole lot of frustration and a deep desire for things to make more sense. Maybe instead of asking moms to bend over backwards every summer, we could start thinking a little more like France. Affordable, income-based camps available to all? Built-in systems that actually support families? Yes please. Until then, I’ll just be over here Googling how to move to the French countryside on a budget.

Let’s not lose our minds together,

Tori