It is now officially summer, although summer weather’s been making an appearance on and off for the past few weeks. Summer time means a lot of different things, and now that I’m a mom to a near first-grader, summer means day camp and swimming lessons. Earlier this spring, I waded through the sea of options for MaM. It’s been two weeks, and it’s going well, which is a huge sigh of relief (today’s sunburn and lost glasses not withstanding).She’s come home tired and happy every day, and she’s even run into a few kids she knows from church and from school. She’s loving the rock climbing and swimming every day, and doesn’t even mind the imposed “quiet time”. She went to sleep tonight with dreams of their field trip to the zoo tomorrow.

Not all childcare plans pan out the way you hope, though. and that is why I’m interrupting this blog post with a PSA:

The YMCA of Greater Indianapolis offers programs for kids of all ages. I had the chance to speak to YMCA rep, Tangela Floyd, on the importance of the services the Y provides. She told me that their main goal is to keep kids of all ages busy while school is out. The YMCA is a dedicated to being accessible to all, so their fees are based on income, and financial assistance is available. Kids enjoy swimming, games and many other activities, all designed for them to have a happy and healthy summer, while their parents know they are in a safe environment. We talked about the challenge of finding a place for kids in the summer when parents are at work, and how it’s not easy. The Y can even accommodate young teens, because, as Tangela said, some twelve year olds can stay at home by themselves, and some really can’t. If you are finding that you need to make some childcare arrangements for the summer, see what the Y has to offer! There are still openings in their various camps around town.

Fine print: This is the first in a series of posts on what the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis has to offer. Next week, I dive into their Aquatics programs.