I’m a planner, or at least, I try to be. I don’t like surprises, but I do like to surprise my kids with fun things to do. In years past I researched every corner of the internet for free activities we could do during the hottest months (because my children bicker when they’re bored, and I hate bickering.) I’d come up with challenges and rewards, and the rewards were always free activities they could do.
But for the past two years, as I tried to deal with the grief of a brother passing away, depression, and a hormonal imbalance, I flubbed what we used to refer to as “Camp Roffey.” We managed a few trips here and there, but my mental health simply didn’t allow me to really plan too far ahead.
When my brother passed away, my mind immediately went to all the things he wouldn’t get to do. He always took his kids on long walks and to the library, on the bus and the train. My niece once told me that she enjoyed the bus because she always went on the bus with her dad. He wouldn’t get to do those things anymore, and it makes it even more pressing to me to be able to do them now.
Fast forward to this year, when I’m feeling much better, I have my agoraphobia mostly under control, and I even managed to plan and take a road trip with my kids and nieces down to Savannah, GA for my cousin’s wedding. My creative juices are flowing, and I’m ready to let my youngest, who is 6, experience the truly Clark Griswold-ian experience of a real Camp Roffey.
Because yeah, I get crazy about vacation. I want to do all the things. My eldest child is about to turn 18 on the 31st, and my middle son is turning 16 on the 21st. Believe me when I tell you the time went by in a blink, and I miss the excitement they used to feel at the prospect of Camp Roffey.
I’m reminded of a eulogy a dear friend wrote about her mother. She recounted all the special things her mother did for her, like making homemade pieces to a dollhouse. I always hope that my kids will remember Camp Roffey as some of the best experiences of their lives, things that when I’m gone will stick out in their minds. I want this one last summer with my eldest to feel like that, and I want to give my youngest the summer he missed the last two years.
This year my spouse, who remembered that last summer my mental health wasn’t in its best place, decided to forgo anything else we might need in favor of spending his bonus money on experiences for our family this summer.
He bought memberships (always family memberships with at least 3 adults on them so we could take my cognitively challenged brother-in-law with us, or my mother, or my nieces) to The New England Aquarium, The Franklin Park Zoo, The Museum of Science, and The Museum of Fine Arts.
In the short term, it was expensive. But the Aquarium membership (which I took advantage of this weekend) will pay for itself in less than two visits. That means all summer we can pop in, visit Myrtle the Turtle, and not have to pay anything more than train fair or parking. The same is true for almost all of the memberships (and the Museum of Science comes with two hours of free parking!) And while, yes, we can get a couple of passes at the library (which I do love to do), our family has gotten so big we cannot get in free with so many people on those passes.
The author and family enjoying time at the New England Aquarium.
Memberships also come with bonuses we shouldn’t overlook. IMAX passes, Planetarium passes, special member previews, and member-only events are only a few of the benefits. Discounts in the gift shop, and with some, like the Zoo and Museum memberships, they have reciprocal benefits at other facilities both in-state and across the country (even, in some cases, in other countries.)
The cost savings for the extra benefits alone ends up being worth it in the long run. I know I’ll have plenty of opportunities over the summer to make the most of the memberships we have, and I recommend getting any membership if you can afford it.
If you cannot, however, you aren’t left out in the cold. Besides the library passes, many states offer free summer activities. In Boston, for instance, the Highland Foundation presents Free Fun Fridays, where different museums and other cultural venues are free on Fridays throughout the summer. For a full list of Free Fun Friday activities, keep your eyes on this page.
The important thing isn’t the membership, or the activity. It’s that you spend what time you have doing what you love.
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This post is republished on Medium.
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Photo Credit: Photoliver on Pixabay
