Summer

This morning, at 10am, I will be playing the Rec and Park summer camp lottery, hoping to get my kids into a few camps they want (or for my son, the only ones available for five year olds). In the past I spent weeks combing over the catalogue, attempting different configurations that fit into our summer schedule.

It can feel a little complicated because my kids are out of school almost two weeks before me, and our St. Louis dates are largely out of our control because the “farm” weekend is planned many months in advance. And since many of the camps are impacted, I always need to have a plan B or C in case we don’t get into our first choice. So yeah, it takes a lot of time and requires a lot of foresight.

This year though, I just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to start looking. I finally opened the catalogue earlier this week, found a few camps I hope we get into, and put them on my wishlist. The only two my daughter wants are hugely popular and I don’t even have a Plan B for the two-week arts camp that happens when I actually need coverage. I guess if we don’t get in there I’ll have to find an option outside of Rec and Park.

Getting ready for the summer camp registration forced me to think about a trip abroad with the kids. I haven’t really broached the subject with myself because I’m so terrified of our possible tax situation that I haven’t let myself even consider it an option. Also, our St. Louis flights will be much more expensive than last year, so I don’t know if it’s really worth it.

I also had to calculate how much we made with AirBnB, and then how much we spent on cleaning services (for our taxes) and honestly I don’t know if it’s actually worth it for us to do it again. After subtracting the small business and short-term rental licensing fees the city requires, plus all the cleaning services, we barely made enough to cover one set of flights last summer. I mean, it’s not nothing, but it’s also a crazy amount of work and I don’t know if (here in San Francisco) it’s actually worth it. Especially when my husband and cat have to be displaced, and neither one enjoys that.

{Really, what it will come down to, is if the possible money we could make would be enough to make a trip possible, and my guess is no, it won’t provide enough to fund an international trip. Since we’ll definitely be out of town for St. Louis I’ll have to decide if we want to rent out our space then.}

So I guess I’m feeling pretty blah about my summer. I keep reminding myself that it’s all about priorities. We bought a great car (earlier than we anticipating needing to) and that has stretched us thin on the financial front, and there are consequences for making that choice. Who knows, maybe our tax situation won’t be as dire as I’m fearing and we can still make something work. And if not, it’s okay. A low key summer at home could be really nice.

Wish me luck with summer camp registration! Only 10 minutes until it opens!

What do you have planned for this summer?