I am a bit behind so I’m just now getting to this episode. I have thoughts related to summer. My kids’ school district has a balanced calendar. We have eight weeks off in the summer, two weeks for fall break, 2+ at winter break and two for spring break. I kind of love it. Summer is long enough to do some camps and activities and also just have time to veg. I like the options of getting to do trips or travels at the other times of year as well. Any time kids don’t have a school is hard for working parents, but I’m happy with our set up.
I have so much to say about camp. I went to a church camp every summer from the time I was seven until I was in high school and then I was a counselor for one year. Turns out my husband went to the same camp for a couple years but because you would only go one week at a time until you were a senior camper, we were never there at the same time. We sent our kids to this camp. My daughter loved it. She went every year from the time she was five until she was in high school. In fact, she loved it so much that the Covid year when they didn’t have camp and which was her senior year, I rented the camp for a long weekend and all of her friends that she had been going to with the same week every summer came to the camp with their graduation gown and we spent a long weekend enjoying each other and saying goodbye as they headed off to the respective schools. She is still friends with all of them, my son however, did not enjoy the camp and when she stopped going, he stopped going, but he is such a homebody and a mamas boy that he hated being away. I feel bad that he did not get the same experience out of it that my daughter and I did, but I have to remind myself. There are different kids.
I disagree that summer is too long. Per my lived experience it is too short. For reference, my kids range 11 - 16. If society were to restructure so that summer break is shorter, the school year for us would have to become much less intense. By the time May ends, my kids are shells of themselves after 5 am wakeups, hours of homework, testing, and extracurricular activities. School life is so depleting and I don’t think we are particularly ambitious compared to other families in our area.
Took my kids to How to Train Your Dragon live version and the whole time I was thinking about Sarah and how she’s still waiting on” peace through strength”.
It didn’t work very well for the dragon slayers, either.
My heart is very heavy this week. 💔 I work at the bipartisan and nonpartisan membership organization for state legislatures. I did not personally know either Speaker Hortman or Sen. Hoffman, but my colleagues did and do. And it is painful and heavy in a way that is hard to describe. We were planning to host a gathering of bipartisan state legislators in Minneapolis next week, and chose to postpone, out of respect for our Minnesota members and for everyone's safety.
I work with state legislators every day, from all across the political spectrum. And I am impressed, every day with their commitment to service to their communities, regardless of their political beliefs. They don't make good - or in some cases any - money for it. They often have day jobs in their communities. They actually hear from the public in committee hearings and townhalls. And they actually get real, hard, bipartisan work done on every topic you can imagine, while the feds are spinning their wheels.
I have said, many, many times that working with state legislatures has restored my faith in democracy. This last week has been crushing. It feels like an attack that undermines one of the only places where I continue to see messy, real democratic work shine.
This attack feels designed to divide us. Let me be clear, I don't care about the political motives of the shooter. The heightened partisan environment calls everyone to violence in a way that carries us all with it unwittingly and unwillingly, until it feels like an inevitability.
But violence is not inevitable. And it undermines in every way the spirit of bipartisanship and compromise and relationship, that is the indispensible facilitating force in democracy. So it is a hard week. And my work, as a nonpartisan staffer, has never felt more urgent or important.
So, if you made it this far, here's my ask. Don't make this about red v. blue. Don't let this divide us more. Turn towards each other, especially those you disagree with. Turn towards relationship and conversation and nuance and love.
In the words of Speaker Hortman's children: “The best way to honor our parents’ memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.”
With love,
Your brokenhearted - but resolute - state legislatures zealot.
Re: camp and summer... That's why my daughter's balanced schedule public elementary school is the best!! 45 days of school, 15 days off. The kids start in late July, then have a three week break in October, around the end of the year, for spring break, and then they're out in early June like everyone else. IT'S WONDERFUL! Screw sports--they can work their schedules out. It's better for students, it's better for parents, it's better for teachers... It's glorious.
I don't think Ben really answered the question from Beth about what Democrats can campaign on moving forward that's got a more positive vibe, and that could lend itself to more fun (besides just saying that Dems have the comedy writers- like, yes- but we've had that for 10 years since John Mulaney was doing "horse in a hospital" and I think we need to go beyond that).
Just spit balling here, but I had the thought while I was listening- could Democrats rally around something like banning Congressional insider training, and maybe even throw a few of their own under the bus for the cause? Since everyone's always pointing the finger on every issue about how the other side does the same thing (or worse), could we just eliminate the "other side" and see one side taking inward accountability on this issue? At least it would be a new strategy over the doom and gloom of raising a million red flags about the dangers of MAGA. I think that would also lend itself to some fun cheekiness in messaging. I don't know enough about the Bob Menendez case, but was that one of his sins as well? Because I just read yesterday of his 11-year prison sentence, and if that was an issue for him besides the bribery and corruption, why not start with using someone like him?
Brain rot- my kids are watching YouTube as I type 🤦♀️ I did incorporate an "earn screen time" system this summer that's working decently so far. For the first hour of video games: piano done, teeth brushed, room clean, dishwasher emptied. After that, to earn more game or YouTube time, there's a chart with minute values for finishing a book, writing a story, doing more chores, memorizing a piano song, etc. The other day I took my 5 & 10 year olds to the pool while my 8 year old stayed home (husband works from home) because "I have 3 hours for today!" 😬 It may be backfiring, I'm not sure. I teach at their school so I'm grateful to share their schedule.
I’ve felt similarly with a lot of Sarah and Beth’s whiteboard conversations with dems. Like S&B are doing such a great job at pushing them and asking great questions and most of them just have the same answers and are not seeing what they’re doing… it’s frustrating!! And I normally don’t feel this frustrated with dems/liberals. Like come on guys Sarah and Beth are almost handing you the answers like why are these leaders so stuck?
We were taught from a very young age to show members of our military the utmost respect. My dad is a Vietnam Army Veteran. Our town was adjacent to Camp Pendleton. We would wave at the big tanks and trucks filled with soliders when they drove by us. We were used to the sounds of bombs and machine guns because we knew it was just practice drills on base. We admired the young soldiers who smiled and waved back to us. They were our heroes, and as a kid it all seemed so simple.
But then I was a young woman who learned to be cautious around the groups of young soldiers who were drunk and rowdy at Dennys at 2am.
And now I'm a middle aged woman who sees families and lives wrecked by untreated PTSD. Opioid addiction as a result of injuries from service. Veterans struggling to find housing and health care.
I don't like over militarization, but I understand the need for a strong Military.
My appreciation is nuanced, but it runs deep. I was brought to tears when a transgender Marine read their Oath of Enlistment at this year's Trans Day Of Visibility picnic.
The way the Trump administration is treating our Military is completely disrespectful.
I loved the discussion with Ben. Such insight in what we all need to be doing NOW - building community with voters. I sent this episode to our local Dem chat group. We need to not just do the big marches and vote push the month before elections, but build a constant work team that is everywhere all the time.
YES! Sarah, YES! You have it exactly! When they go on and on about cuts to Medicaid, it's hard to relate that to something that will happen to me. It sounds like something that will happen to somebody else. Ironically, I think it DOES affect me (not sure) but everybody calls it Medicaid instead of "your Obamacare premium subsidy will be affected" or even more simply "Your Obamacare premiums will go up."
I tell this story often. I don't think I've told it here. In 2017 when we were all certain that the US Congress would get rid of Obamacare, my friends said "We're in California. We'll be fine." There were rumors of California universal healthcare. The Democratic supermajority sent out "relax, we got ya" vibes, and then they went into a closed door session that lasted a while. Maybe it was just standard committee meetings, but no news came out about any progress being made. (My memory may be embellishing, but this is what I remember.) And when they finally came out to announce how they were going to help us when Obamacare went away they said "We are going to make it so that undocumented immigrants can qualify for Medi-Cal." While I sat here as a US-born person wondering if I was going to find a policy for myself and my husband. Thank God for John McCain.
So, reading the comments particularly re: camp has me thinking there might be a distinct urban/suburban divide here.
I teach in a wealthy suburb, and did send my son to summer camps there for a summer or two when he was pretty little: it was 100% the expense and sign up scramble I’m reading in most comments.
We now live in Long Beach, a BIG and diverse city in LA county with a very large and well-developed community infrastructure (parks and rec, public health dept, etc.). Camp is so easy here, it’s stupid: all the big city parks run day camp that’s about $120/week, $150 if you need 7-6 care. It’s run during the summer and every school break. They go on field trips using public transportation, and grab and go meals are available for those who need. There is also totally free drop in camp that’s runs 12-6, and kids can just come and be supervised whenever they need/want.
The school district also runs free care afterschool all year, and during breaks through a partnership with the YMCA at all elementary sites.
None of this is available in the wealthy suburb where I teach—and it’s only 15 miles away.
I’m sure there is a lot to dig into on community values/priorities that goes deeper than just my personal opinions on it all (which are many)… but definitely an objective difference.
I want to let my kids rot but they just pester me all day when they’re home and we are working. 😬 thank goodness metro Nashville public schools have summer “camp” for FREE all of June! I mean it’s like summer school but more fun stuff and not super academic but it’s a gigantic help! In July we travel, have a couple of random camps (like dance camp and a science camp) and then some days/weeks where they will indeed rot and I will get frustrated. 🤪😂
My kids are 21 and 16 so the camp days/worry about where they were going during summer is long gone. Honestly, I’ve been incredibly lucky as a single mom. I’ve worked for our schools for the last 8 years and my summer schedule is very flexible and I could bring them to work with me. Before that, my daughter had to babysit her little brother beginning when she was 10. It made her grow up a lot faster than I wish was necessary but I don’t think it was the worst thing for them. I think it’s important to remember most of us parents are just doing the best we can with what we have.
Before I even get into the meat of this episode, I feel the need to share a few things as an Army veteran. My time in the military was short, but deeply impactful. I was in basic training on 9/11 and when we went to war, I spent every day monitoring the names of the fallen. I lost several friends in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some by their own hands because of PTSD. My middle son is named in honor of two soldiers who we lost in combat in 2007, one of whom happens to share June 14th as her birthday (please feel free to learn about her! https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/75/documents/about/cryptologic-heritage/cryptologic-memorial/moretti.pdf) . So, the Army's birthday, the Army song, the flag, and June 14th in general means a whole f***ing lot to me. I LOVE that I was a part of the Army. I love that I did something that bound me to a community for the rest of my life. I picked the Army because their values resonated with me - loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.
I am deeply offended by Trump coopting this day to be anything but a celebration of the Army or the Flag. Maybe even more offended than I was by his awful X post on Memorial Day.
Then I watched the parade.
I shed tears during the national anthem and the Army song. I also noticed some things that brought me a little peace and pride - there were some soldiers out of step, and concentrating so hard to stay that way. Some were not ironed, had stuffed pockets, were chewing gum, sleeves not buttoned and hiding hands, pants not tucked into boots, hair not pulled up... silent protesting perhaps? Overall, I think the parade was just another parade. It was lengthy, a little boring, hard to see for the poor people who showed up... a whole lot of planning and money just to walk/drive in a long line.
Watching the actual content instead of relying on other people's reactions or my own imagination definitely helped soothe my overall anger. Writing this post helped even more.
This. The less coverage, the more people avoid or delay care. Sometimes those folks role into other sources of coverage, but they are sicker, which increases the risk pool for insurers which drives costs up for everyone. Also, when folks stay uninsured and end up in the ER, taxpayers pay for uncompensated care provided by hospitals. It has a squeeze the balloon effect, not cost avoidance.
I have so many feelings about kids' summers and I can't believe that we as a society have just said to parents, "idk, figure it out. "
We are privileged in that we live in a suburban neighborhood with a lot families that have parents home during the summer, so there is usually a herd of kids roaming about. I'd love to let my kids join in a more "wild summer" (and not have to pay for and manage camps) but my husband and I both work full-time so letting them stay home would mean a lot of screen time and depending on other families of the neighborhood, which doesn't seem like the right answer, so summer camps it is.
On the topic of the assassination over the weekend - I saw my grandparents Sunday afternoon and they hadn't heard about it. Historically, they've had Fox new on in their house constantly. I've heard they are trying to stop watching so it's possible they really hadn't watched the news but I'm also curious how much it was covered across news sources. Anybody have any insight?
This! Summer is incredibly stressful when camps let out before we’re off work and we end up putting in a “second shift” after bedtime. Wild summer is a privilege and I’d love to let my kids enjoy the freedoms of summer but until they’re older (or the world wakes up to childcare as essential to the economy!), we’re stuck with a camp filled summer.
I am a bit behind so I’m just now getting to this episode. I have thoughts related to summer. My kids’ school district has a balanced calendar. We have eight weeks off in the summer, two weeks for fall break, 2+ at winter break and two for spring break. I kind of love it. Summer is long enough to do some camps and activities and also just have time to veg. I like the options of getting to do trips or travels at the other times of year as well. Any time kids don’t have a school is hard for working parents, but I’m happy with our set up.
I have so much to say about camp. I went to a church camp every summer from the time I was seven until I was in high school and then I was a counselor for one year. Turns out my husband went to the same camp for a couple years but because you would only go one week at a time until you were a senior camper, we were never there at the same time. We sent our kids to this camp. My daughter loved it. She went every year from the time she was five until she was in high school. In fact, she loved it so much that the Covid year when they didn’t have camp and which was her senior year, I rented the camp for a long weekend and all of her friends that she had been going to with the same week every summer came to the camp with their graduation gown and we spent a long weekend enjoying each other and saying goodbye as they headed off to the respective schools. She is still friends with all of them, my son however, did not enjoy the camp and when she stopped going, he stopped going, but he is such a homebody and a mamas boy that he hated being away. I feel bad that he did not get the same experience out of it that my daughter and I did, but I have to remind myself. There are different kids.
I disagree that summer is too long. Per my lived experience it is too short. For reference, my kids range 11 - 16. If society were to restructure so that summer break is shorter, the school year for us would have to become much less intense. By the time May ends, my kids are shells of themselves after 5 am wakeups, hours of homework, testing, and extracurricular activities. School life is so depleting and I don’t think we are particularly ambitious compared to other families in our area.
Took my kids to How to Train Your Dragon live version and the whole time I was thinking about Sarah and how she’s still waiting on” peace through strength”.
It didn’t work very well for the dragon slayers, either.
My heart is very heavy this week. 💔 I work at the bipartisan and nonpartisan membership organization for state legislatures. I did not personally know either Speaker Hortman or Sen. Hoffman, but my colleagues did and do. And it is painful and heavy in a way that is hard to describe. We were planning to host a gathering of bipartisan state legislators in Minneapolis next week, and chose to postpone, out of respect for our Minnesota members and for everyone's safety.
I work with state legislators every day, from all across the political spectrum. And I am impressed, every day with their commitment to service to their communities, regardless of their political beliefs. They don't make good - or in some cases any - money for it. They often have day jobs in their communities. They actually hear from the public in committee hearings and townhalls. And they actually get real, hard, bipartisan work done on every topic you can imagine, while the feds are spinning their wheels.
I have said, many, many times that working with state legislatures has restored my faith in democracy. This last week has been crushing. It feels like an attack that undermines one of the only places where I continue to see messy, real democratic work shine.
This attack feels designed to divide us. Let me be clear, I don't care about the political motives of the shooter. The heightened partisan environment calls everyone to violence in a way that carries us all with it unwittingly and unwillingly, until it feels like an inevitability.
But violence is not inevitable. And it undermines in every way the spirit of bipartisanship and compromise and relationship, that is the indispensible facilitating force in democracy. So it is a hard week. And my work, as a nonpartisan staffer, has never felt more urgent or important.
So, if you made it this far, here's my ask. Don't make this about red v. blue. Don't let this divide us more. Turn towards each other, especially those you disagree with. Turn towards relationship and conversation and nuance and love.
In the words of Speaker Hortman's children: “The best way to honor our parents’ memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.”
With love,
Your brokenhearted - but resolute - state legislatures zealot.
https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/17/children-of-melissa-and-mark-hortman-release-statement-on-their-deaths/
Thank you - your comments really hit home especially because i was lost as to how to process this
Re: camp and summer... That's why my daughter's balanced schedule public elementary school is the best!! 45 days of school, 15 days off. The kids start in late July, then have a three week break in October, around the end of the year, for spring break, and then they're out in early June like everyone else. IT'S WONDERFUL! Screw sports--they can work their schedules out. It's better for students, it's better for parents, it's better for teachers... It's glorious.
Where do you live? I’ve been saying for years we need year round school but the schools always have excuses
I don't think Ben really answered the question from Beth about what Democrats can campaign on moving forward that's got a more positive vibe, and that could lend itself to more fun (besides just saying that Dems have the comedy writers- like, yes- but we've had that for 10 years since John Mulaney was doing "horse in a hospital" and I think we need to go beyond that).
Just spit balling here, but I had the thought while I was listening- could Democrats rally around something like banning Congressional insider training, and maybe even throw a few of their own under the bus for the cause? Since everyone's always pointing the finger on every issue about how the other side does the same thing (or worse), could we just eliminate the "other side" and see one side taking inward accountability on this issue? At least it would be a new strategy over the doom and gloom of raising a million red flags about the dangers of MAGA. I think that would also lend itself to some fun cheekiness in messaging. I don't know enough about the Bob Menendez case, but was that one of his sins as well? Because I just read yesterday of his 11-year prison sentence, and if that was an issue for him besides the bribery and corruption, why not start with using someone like him?
Brain rot- my kids are watching YouTube as I type 🤦♀️ I did incorporate an "earn screen time" system this summer that's working decently so far. For the first hour of video games: piano done, teeth brushed, room clean, dishwasher emptied. After that, to earn more game or YouTube time, there's a chart with minute values for finishing a book, writing a story, doing more chores, memorizing a piano song, etc. The other day I took my 5 & 10 year olds to the pool while my 8 year old stayed home (husband works from home) because "I have 3 hours for today!" 😬 It may be backfiring, I'm not sure. I teach at their school so I'm grateful to share their schedule.
I’ve felt similarly with a lot of Sarah and Beth’s whiteboard conversations with dems. Like S&B are doing such a great job at pushing them and asking great questions and most of them just have the same answers and are not seeing what they’re doing… it’s frustrating!! And I normally don’t feel this frustrated with dems/liberals. Like come on guys Sarah and Beth are almost handing you the answers like why are these leaders so stuck?
Re: Military Appreciation
We were taught from a very young age to show members of our military the utmost respect. My dad is a Vietnam Army Veteran. Our town was adjacent to Camp Pendleton. We would wave at the big tanks and trucks filled with soliders when they drove by us. We were used to the sounds of bombs and machine guns because we knew it was just practice drills on base. We admired the young soldiers who smiled and waved back to us. They were our heroes, and as a kid it all seemed so simple.
But then I was a young woman who learned to be cautious around the groups of young soldiers who were drunk and rowdy at Dennys at 2am.
And now I'm a middle aged woman who sees families and lives wrecked by untreated PTSD. Opioid addiction as a result of injuries from service. Veterans struggling to find housing and health care.
I don't like over militarization, but I understand the need for a strong Military.
My appreciation is nuanced, but it runs deep. I was brought to tears when a transgender Marine read their Oath of Enlistment at this year's Trans Day Of Visibility picnic.
The way the Trump administration is treating our Military is completely disrespectful.
I loved the discussion with Ben. Such insight in what we all need to be doing NOW - building community with voters. I sent this episode to our local Dem chat group. We need to not just do the big marches and vote push the month before elections, but build a constant work team that is everywhere all the time.
YES! Sarah, YES! You have it exactly! When they go on and on about cuts to Medicaid, it's hard to relate that to something that will happen to me. It sounds like something that will happen to somebody else. Ironically, I think it DOES affect me (not sure) but everybody calls it Medicaid instead of "your Obamacare premium subsidy will be affected" or even more simply "Your Obamacare premiums will go up."
I tell this story often. I don't think I've told it here. In 2017 when we were all certain that the US Congress would get rid of Obamacare, my friends said "We're in California. We'll be fine." There were rumors of California universal healthcare. The Democratic supermajority sent out "relax, we got ya" vibes, and then they went into a closed door session that lasted a while. Maybe it was just standard committee meetings, but no news came out about any progress being made. (My memory may be embellishing, but this is what I remember.) And when they finally came out to announce how they were going to help us when Obamacare went away they said "We are going to make it so that undocumented immigrants can qualify for Medi-Cal." While I sat here as a US-born person wondering if I was going to find a policy for myself and my husband. Thank God for John McCain.
So, reading the comments particularly re: camp has me thinking there might be a distinct urban/suburban divide here.
I teach in a wealthy suburb, and did send my son to summer camps there for a summer or two when he was pretty little: it was 100% the expense and sign up scramble I’m reading in most comments.
We now live in Long Beach, a BIG and diverse city in LA county with a very large and well-developed community infrastructure (parks and rec, public health dept, etc.). Camp is so easy here, it’s stupid: all the big city parks run day camp that’s about $120/week, $150 if you need 7-6 care. It’s run during the summer and every school break. They go on field trips using public transportation, and grab and go meals are available for those who need. There is also totally free drop in camp that’s runs 12-6, and kids can just come and be supervised whenever they need/want.
The school district also runs free care afterschool all year, and during breaks through a partnership with the YMCA at all elementary sites.
None of this is available in the wealthy suburb where I teach—and it’s only 15 miles away.
I’m sure there is a lot to dig into on community values/priorities that goes deeper than just my personal opinions on it all (which are many)… but definitely an objective difference.
You have me wanting to do some research on this!
I want to let my kids rot but they just pester me all day when they’re home and we are working. 😬 thank goodness metro Nashville public schools have summer “camp” for FREE all of June! I mean it’s like summer school but more fun stuff and not super academic but it’s a gigantic help! In July we travel, have a couple of random camps (like dance camp and a science camp) and then some days/weeks where they will indeed rot and I will get frustrated. 🤪😂
My kids are 21 and 16 so the camp days/worry about where they were going during summer is long gone. Honestly, I’ve been incredibly lucky as a single mom. I’ve worked for our schools for the last 8 years and my summer schedule is very flexible and I could bring them to work with me. Before that, my daughter had to babysit her little brother beginning when she was 10. It made her grow up a lot faster than I wish was necessary but I don’t think it was the worst thing for them. I think it’s important to remember most of us parents are just doing the best we can with what we have.
Before I even get into the meat of this episode, I feel the need to share a few things as an Army veteran. My time in the military was short, but deeply impactful. I was in basic training on 9/11 and when we went to war, I spent every day monitoring the names of the fallen. I lost several friends in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some by their own hands because of PTSD. My middle son is named in honor of two soldiers who we lost in combat in 2007, one of whom happens to share June 14th as her birthday (please feel free to learn about her! https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/75/documents/about/cryptologic-heritage/cryptologic-memorial/moretti.pdf) . So, the Army's birthday, the Army song, the flag, and June 14th in general means a whole f***ing lot to me. I LOVE that I was a part of the Army. I love that I did something that bound me to a community for the rest of my life. I picked the Army because their values resonated with me - loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.
I am deeply offended by Trump coopting this day to be anything but a celebration of the Army or the Flag. Maybe even more offended than I was by his awful X post on Memorial Day.
Then I watched the parade.
I shed tears during the national anthem and the Army song. I also noticed some things that brought me a little peace and pride - there were some soldiers out of step, and concentrating so hard to stay that way. Some were not ironed, had stuffed pockets, were chewing gum, sleeves not buttoned and hiding hands, pants not tucked into boots, hair not pulled up... silent protesting perhaps? Overall, I think the parade was just another parade. It was lengthy, a little boring, hard to see for the poor people who showed up... a whole lot of planning and money just to walk/drive in a long line.
Watching the actual content instead of relying on other people's reactions or my own imagination definitely helped soothe my overall anger. Writing this post helped even more.
👏👏👏
I have also been wondering about the lack of empty shelves in the grocery store.
Medicaid cuts are going to affect everyone with more people using the ER for their healthcare and rural hospitals being forced to close, right?
This. The less coverage, the more people avoid or delay care. Sometimes those folks role into other sources of coverage, but they are sicker, which increases the risk pool for insurers which drives costs up for everyone. Also, when folks stay uninsured and end up in the ER, taxpayers pay for uncompensated care provided by hospitals. It has a squeeze the balloon effect, not cost avoidance.
I have so many feelings about kids' summers and I can't believe that we as a society have just said to parents, "idk, figure it out. "
We are privileged in that we live in a suburban neighborhood with a lot families that have parents home during the summer, so there is usually a herd of kids roaming about. I'd love to let my kids join in a more "wild summer" (and not have to pay for and manage camps) but my husband and I both work full-time so letting them stay home would mean a lot of screen time and depending on other families of the neighborhood, which doesn't seem like the right answer, so summer camps it is.
On the topic of the assassination over the weekend - I saw my grandparents Sunday afternoon and they hadn't heard about it. Historically, they've had Fox new on in their house constantly. I've heard they are trying to stop watching so it's possible they really hadn't watched the news but I'm also curious how much it was covered across news sources. Anybody have any insight?
This! Summer is incredibly stressful when camps let out before we’re off work and we end up putting in a “second shift” after bedtime. Wild summer is a privilege and I’d love to let my kids enjoy the freedoms of summer but until they’re older (or the world wakes up to childcare as essential to the economy!), we’re stuck with a camp filled summer.