SUMMER BEYOND SUMMER CAMP

-Ruchi Adlakha Bhaumik

It was an easy Sunday morning. The kind of summer morning that starts off soft and slow before the heat kicks in. Out on my deck, it still felt nice. While soaking in the cool breeze and a little sunshine, I found myself enjoying a rare moment of calm, the kind that doesn’t come often when you have a five-year-old running around. Somewhere between sipping my tea and soaking in the quiet of a no-office day, I picked up my phone, almost out of habit, to do the ritual morning scrolls. And then, whoa….!

Every third swipe brought a different looking advertisement, reading: unleash your child’s potential, explore a nature trail with your child, enjoy a parent and child voyage, join the bright sparks camp, summer splash, sparkling minds, and the list went on and on. There was a lot to do adventure camps, dance

classes, art workshops and brain gyms. But the promise was the same: all claiming to make it the “best summer ever” for my child. Summer camps have always existed. But now, they seemed to have become the-thing to do in vacation. Like a certification of children did during their vacation. A certificate of being productively engaged during a season that originally meant to be the don’t-do-anything time.

As an advertiser by profession, I knew exactly what was at play; well-crafted words, vibrant imagery and an emotional appeal wrapped in FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) for parents. While it was the clever algorithms that did the magic that day on my screen, but it still pushed me to a crossroads as a mother I paused and thought, do our children truly need every moment of their vacation meticulously planned?

Now, do we need to schedule and structure their vacation too? Or is it better to give children the freedom to explore and enjoy their time without any planning?

I slipped into my childhood memories-some mine, and some my mother’s, the ones dislikes, and grew stronger and became resilient.

An article in The Indian Express echoes this sentiment, emphasizing that allowing children to experience boredom is essential for nurturing their inner creativity and contemplation.

But today, parenting feels different. We tend to plan and Sometimes, it’s just important to do things to your heart’s content to become an individual who is confident and truly satisfied. It is important to figure things out on our own, because life often throws situations that do not fit our structure plan. So, I wonder if we’re inadvertently depriving our children of the invaluable experience of unstructured she used to share with me. Summers back then, were a canvas of unstructured time. Days stretched endlessly, filled with impromptu adventures, daydreams, and the simple joy of doing nothing. It was in those “moments of boredom” that our creativity blossomed, we learnt about our likes and structure every part of our child’s day, even during vacation.

While summer camps surely have merits like enhancing social skills, instilling discipline, encouraging continuous activity, fostering new friendships, but a lot of it can be achieved in an unstructured way too. play by sending them to the summer camps.

I am not against summer camps but just not for the idea of having them an essential part of our summer vacation plan always. Just like the article in The Guardian suggested that balancing organized activities with free play enables children to develop independence and creativity, while also helping parents manage their workload.

Moreover, unstructured time provides children with the opportunity to connect with nature, explore their surroundings on their own, and develop a sense of wonder. Engaging in activities like gardening, nature walks, or simply observing the world around them can be both educational and therapeutic. As parents, it’s time we embrace the Joy of Missing Out (JOMO). Let us allow our children the luxury of unscheduled time, where they can learn the art of doing nothing, confront boredom, and in the process, discover their likes. After all, not every moment needs to be a structured or chased pursuit in life. Sometimes, we achieve the most when we are not doing anything.

It’s time we let our children experience boredom. Let them figure out what they want to do with it. This will help them express themselves better and

develop problem-solving skill, a skill they will need to survive the corporate world ahead. As parents, let us slow down this summer.

Let us balance structured activities with enough free time. Let boredom slip in.

Let us allow our children to enjoy simple joys of life, instead of chasing the planned bigger ones. And see the magic happen!