Mommy Commentary

Structured Summer vs. Free Summer — Why I’ve Stopped Picking a Side

 June 1, 2025 It starts every May without fail. The camp registration emails, the activity sign-up deadlines, the well-meaning questions from other parents: "So what are you doing with the kids this summer?" And right alongside all of that comes the quieter pressure from the other direction — the think pieces about unstructured play, the nostalgia for long summers with nothing to do, the gentle implication that if you over-schedule