AITA for refusing to put my son in camp
My husband and I have 3 kids (9m, 5f, and 3f). My kids go to a home daycare after school and in the summers. It’s run by a woman, Judy, with her daughter as an assistant. Every kid in the daycare is related to Judy, except for my kids.
Judy was a preschool and public school teacher for 20 years before opening her daycare. She’s a great teacher but she is very strict.
The kids aren’t allowed to bring any toys from home or anything with a screen (including a smartwatch). Judy doesn’t allow screen time during the school year and over the summer she only allows a half hour to an hour of PBS kids for the kids over 5 after they do roughly an hour of “summer school” while the kids 5 and under nap.
Judy also doesn’t make alternate meals without a doctors note. She tells the kids she did her job by making the food, whether they choose to eat it or not is on them.
Additionally, the kids over 5 are responsible for packing their bags when they go out (they do at least 3 outings a week). The first few times they get a list, after that it’s on them to remember their snacks, water bottles, books, toys, etc. If they forget, she keeps a small water bottle and granola bar in her bag but it’s not as good as what they would get if they remembered to pack.
My son hates Judy’s daycare. He doesn’t want to carry a backpack so he ends up drinking lukewarm water and eating a granola bar or skipping snack, he hates her lunches, he’s upset about the no screen rule and having to leave his watch at home, and he especially hates summer school.
He’s been begging me to put him in camp. I’ve been refusing because:
a) camp is $450 a week for him to be in a group of 25 kids watched by some teenagers at our local rec center. Judy charges $375 and has 8 kids to 2 adults.
b) camp is from 9-4. Judy’s is from 7-7 (our kids are typically there from 8:30-6:30)
c) the kids are learning responsibility at Judy’s and the summer work helps prevent the summer slump.
My son has been throwing massive tantrums when it’s time to leave in the mornings and my husband is wanting to give in and put him in camp to make things easier. I’m refusing to pull him from Judy’s so he’s upset at me for being difficult.