Summer Camp

An article about families trimming back on their kid's summer camp expenses.

It's the fireside tale that spooks parents every summer: A few weeks at camp can cost thousands of dollars.

To avoid that scary fate, Gabriel and Jennifer Griego and their friends plan to take turns watching the kids for part of this summer.

"In the past, we always sent them to camps the whole summer," said Gabriel Griego a 43-year-old father of two in Berkeley, Calif.

"This year we're looking to reduce that by about half." Translation: No more than $1,000 for both kids.

In the past you sent your kids away for the whole summer? I'm not clear on this. Was it because this was cheaper than day care? Camp, for the whole summer, only cost you $2000 for both kids? That probably is cheaper than day care.

That doesn't mean parents are opting out of the national camp tradition altogether. In fact, enrollment numbers are on track to hit the 10 million mark that has held steady for the past several years, according to the American Camp Association.

This is something that clearly has grown a lot. 10 million kids? Their are 81M kids between age zero and 19 in this country. If you figure only half of these are old enough to go away to camp, that leaves 40 million kids.

Of those, 25% are going to camp? When I was a kid I don't recall even knowing anyone that actually ever went to a summer camp. Unless they're counting Vacation Bible School. The closest I ever got to summer camp was watching The Parent Trap.