Summer camp mommy anxiety

There are exactly 4 school days left before summer vacation is officially here. My kids can't wait - swimming, camping, sleeping in and popsicles, what can be better?

This will be my first summer as a pseudo-SAHM and frankly, I'm a little nervous. I signed my son up for a whole bunch of camps when I was working full time knowing that I would need the childcare. I now have a spreadsheet of the various camps (sports, tech, swim and outdoor science), times, locations, friend whom he is attending with and the carpool situation. It is color-coded and nothing short of an organizational masterpiece! It's a Summer Camp Super-Matrix! Okay, that was then, now I am worried that I over programmed him and that he needs more downtown. Ugh! Does a mommy ever win?

I'm sure he'll have fun, but what happened to the days of summer of MY youth. I grew up poor, well not six people in a room poor. But we never went on lavish vacations or went to summer camp. My parents grew up in the Philippines - summer camp? When you are not working on a farm or in school, you go to the beach, stay inside and hang out. So what did I spend my childhood summers doing? You know it, we stayed inside our one air-conditioned room during the heat of the day and then spent the rest of the day in the New York city streets. We played stickball in the street, kick the can, and opened up the fire hydrant. The rule was " come home when the street lights come on". Wow, imagine raising your kids today with that freedom?? It sounds like a cliché now, doesn't it? Wow, I sound old.

As a child, I never knew any different. I thought camp was a thing rich kids, the Paris Hilton's of the world- got to go to somewhere in the woods. It was not something for normal kids, much less kids whose parents never even heard of summer camp. I'm sure this summer will be great. I suppose margaritas help...and getting to watch my kids enjoy the opportunities I never had.

As the song goes, "It's summertime and the living is easy...” especially with the aid of my summer camp super-matrix. I hope its worth the effort.