Rage Against the (Summer Camp) Machine

It’s still winter. Parents are navigating the never-ending cycle of seasonal illnesses—kids home sick again, juggling work while managing fevers, wiping noses, and rescheduling meetings. We’re just trying to survive the here and now, and yet, somehow, we’re also expected to be thinking six months ahead, strategically planning and securing summer camp spots right now.

Because if we don’t? The best camps will be full, the waitlists will stretch for miles, and the only choices left will be overpriced half-day programs in inconvenient locations that barely cover a fraction of the workday.

I’ve been hearing this exact frustration over and over again from parents in different spaces—professional groups, therapy sessions, text threads, school pick-up conversations. And this year, I’m feeling it firsthand. Of course I’ve heard about it; I've seen my sister-in-law come up with creative summer plans for my nieces even opting for an extended European trip because it was cheaper than summer camps. But this year I’m experiencing it myself. Then I listened to a Jo Piazza’s recent episode, The Hellscape of Summer Vacation for Moms, on her podcast Under the Influence about this exact issue, and my mild irritation turned into full-blown rage. Because this isn’t just an annoying logistical task—it’s a systemic failure that assumes moms (always moms) have the time, mental bandwidth, and flexibility to make it all work.

And the worst part? We just accept it. But what if we didn’t?

The Mom Network That Saves Summer

If there’s one thing holding this broken system together, it’s moms helping other moms.

I have endless appreciation for the moms who take the time to share information, exchange tips, and make recommendations for what my kids might like. Some go even further—building elaborate, color-coded spreadsheets breaking down every camp option by cost, schedule, and availability.

These spreadsheets are works of art. I look at them with both awe and utter rage—because while I’m grateful for the resource, I can’t help but think:

Why are our brilliant minds being forced to do this?

The moms who are compiling these logistical masterpieces could be using their talents on far more important, meaningful, and engaging activities—but instead, they’re tasked with fixing a system that should already work. Imagine if all the energy and brainpower spent orchestrating camp schedules could be redirected to, I don’t know, literally anything else?

And yet, without these shared resources, tips and tricks offered in school pick-up lines, the summer camp system would be even more impossible to navigate. So to all the moms out there dropping camp registration dates in group chats, sharing discount codes, and building Google docs that rival corporate project management tools—thank you. You deserve a raise.

A System That Was Never Designed for Working Parents

The modern school calendar—with its long summer break—is an outdated relic from a time when most households had a full-time, stay-at-home parent (read: a mother). It made sense in an agricultural economy when kids were needed to help with seasonal work. Fast forward to today, and we’re still clinging to a system that completely ignores the reality of dual-income households.

Most jobs don’t pause for summer. Most parents don’t have three months of paid time off. But instead of having a seamless, full-summer childcare solution, we have… a messy, fragmented, overpriced patchwork of options.

• Camps are expensive –  In the San Francisco Bay Area (where I’m located), private day camps range from $375 to $750 per week, while specialty camps can cost over $900. Overnight camps often run between $990 and $1,123 per week. For families with multiple kids, these costs add up fast, making summer care a major financial burden.

• Camps don’t actually cover a full workday – A 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. camp? That’s just a really expensive way to keep kids entertained while parents still can’t get anything done.

• Camps fill up instantly – The competitive registration process means that parents (again, mostly moms) need to have lightning-fast reflexes, flexible schedules, and a full strategy for securing spots—months in advance.

The Unfair Burden on Moms

Even in households where both parents work, the burden of planning, researching, and coordinating childcare falls disproportionately on moms.

1. The Mental Load Default

Camps don’t just magically appear in the calendar. Someone has to research, compare costs, map out locations, and figure out how to make it all fit together. That “someone” is usually the mom. It’s part of the larger mental load—the invisible, unpaid labor of managing family logistics that most dads aren’t expected to carry in the same way.

2. The Urgency Factor

Camps fill up in minutes—sometimes seconds—so there’s no room for hesitation. Registration times are often in the middle of the workday or the crack of dawn, requiring someone (again, moms) to drop everything and refresh the page like they’re trying to get tickets to a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift concert. The level of stress involved in securing a spot is absurd.

3. The System Pits Moms Against Each Other

As if the stress of planning and securing summer care wasn’t enough, the way the system is set up often unintentionally puts moms in competition with each other.

We’ve all been there—refreshing the camp website at 9:59 a.m., knowing that the second it hits 10:00, we have to click faster than every other parent trying to get a spot. Instead of a system that supports families, we get one that forces us to race against other moms in a desperate attempt to claim limited spots before they disappear.

Instead of being able to collaborate and support each other, we’re thrown into a survival-of-the-fittest scramble, competing for something that should be a given: safe, reliable summer care for our kids.

4. So Many Changes and Transitions 

Transitions are hard for most people, especially for big feeling and neuro-spicy kiddos. Bouncing between different camps each week can be overwhelming. The lack of consistency, new environments, and changing expectations create emotional stress that—let’s be honest—falls primarily on moms to manage. The meltdowns, the anxiety, the need for extra prep and reassurance all add to the already immense mental load of summer planning. Instead of simply securing a spot, moms are also left navigating the emotional impact of these constant transitions, making an already broken system even more exhausting.

5. Workplaces Still Expect Moms to Figure It Out

Even companies that claim to be "family-friendly" often fall short in actually accommodating working parents. Many moms end up working odd hours, taking unpaid time off, or relying on a patchwork of PTO and favors just to survive the summer.

This isn’t normal 

Until the system changes, we’ll keep juggling waitlists, tuition payments, and camp drop-offs, all while trying to do our actual jobs.

But let’s not pretend this is normal. And let’s definitely not pretend it’s working.

And honestly? I don’t have a set solution. I’m just angry, fed up, and deeply relating to what so many moms are going through right now. The system is broken, and we’re left to make it work however we can. Maybe the first step is simply acknowledging that this isn’t okay—and that we shouldn’t have to accept it as normal.

If this resonates with you, talk about it. Share your frustrations with other parents, with your community, with policymakers. Push for better childcare solutions in workplaces, schools, and local governments. The more we voice our struggles, the harder it becomes to ignore. Change starts with conversations, and maybe—just maybe—we can start shifting this broken system together.