Welcome to Second Listen Saturday on the Parenting Roundabout podcast, where we share some
fun moments from a past episode for your weekend listening pleasure. Look for new
episodes every Monday through Friday. Today we're talking about how businesses can help us
make it through the summer. We noticed again a story about AMC Movie Theater
chain's summer movie Camp that offers cheap rates on kids movies and snacks. And
these showings take place in the middle of the day, so if you're looking
for something to do for your kid, you could take them to the movies
and not you know, have to skip a payment on the car to do
so. I actually, many years ago, some friends and I did a
camp mom where we just got together every day with our kids and we planned
specific activities to do. And one of the things we did every week was
go to the AMC Summer Movie Camp. And a lot of you know,
a lot of like or nice camps will take a whole load of kids there,
which is probably I think what it's mainly for, but it was really
nice. You could get cheap admission, cheap snacks, it keeps the kids
occupied for a couple of hours. It's cool it's very nice. So and
you know you'll point one mom to go out and get the snacks. Who's
willing to miss like the first half hour of the movie because you're behind the
camp people getting thirty popcorns at a time. But you know, that's cool,
we'll do that. I think there's not a mom who wouldn't mind missing
half an hour of a kids movie. So we got to think in what
other businesses do we wish would offer this same sort of please bring your children
here thing for the summer. You know, if fast food places wanted to
knock down their prices to real cheap and not give stink eye to kids who
are just hanging out for a long period of time, that would be okay.
Bowling alleys, I think, I think the bowling alleys where I live
do do that they have free bowling for kids in the summer. Do they
have it for just general kids or is it just organized because I think what
happens we don't bowling alleys and Catholic schools have been closing down at a record
rate in Northeast New Jersey, and so there's not that many anymore. And
I think, like the same thing, these organized camps will come through and
take up all the lanes. So you want to go bowl in the middle
of the day with your kid, it's sometimes very restricted in availability, but
it would be nice if they would offer that to just general populace. You
have that there where you are. Possibly bowling is healthier in Wisconsin than it
is here. I can only think of one two bowling alleys, three bowling
alleys that are in our general area. And they do offer some kind of
free summer stuff I'm not too clear on, you know, what all the
caveats are, Like the bowling is for you, but you have to pay
for the shoes or whatever it is the shoes, right, and if there's
certain days or times that it's like I'm assuming it's only during the day.
Yeah, but but I know that they definitely have summer specials, right,
so that's always, you know, good for a couple outings. Yeah,
my kids like bowling. That would have been a good thing to do and
so far. And our movie theaters too, like they have the kids,
you know, special kids movies and deals, but then they also have like
every Tuesday I think is cheap days. Yeah, where it's where it's the
regular movies, not the special kids movies. Right, that's nice. What
would really be awesome is if they provided childcare. Drop your kid off in
this movie to watch something by Disney, and then we have this other theater
with that movie you've been meaning to see but you couldn't get a babysitter.
All moms could go in there and then you meet up after. Let's get
that going. What would they call that? Mom movie time, AMC Summer
movie camp and rest it services, and the ushers would becoming sick moms.
Moms, the movies are over, Please come get your kids and moms.
These chairs are so comfortable. It's nice and cool and dark in here.
Can I just take a nap? Sleep those those reclining chairs, man,
Yes, take a good nap in one of those, and like the you
know sometimes we bring blankets too because it's cold in there, and wow,
you could get a good rest. Yeah. They to turn on all the
lights and blare music to clear the moms down there, get out, get
out, or just like release the children into the parents auditorium. That would
end. Yeah, I mean for me, of course, ice rinks would
be a you know, cost effective thing, right, because my kids do
skate all summer and but they don't go to public skate and there's a public
skate kind of year round, and like go with the terriffraff. They just
yeah, like the camps. There's definitely days went in a whole a whole
camp full of kids comes. But but yeah, they they would, they
would take advantage if there's sheep ice. Yeah, at the at the mall,
like your kids off at the mall, be awesome. They could like
like, you know, fence off one portion of the mall. Yeah,
our mall does have one of those little kids play areas and it is kind
of fenced off, but you you are expected to stay there and watch,
pay attention to your child. What if or what if a salon just sort
of you know, shut down for a day and offered, you know,
four hour sessions of personal grooming for teen girls. That is an awesome idea.
What if they just like, you know, it's personal grooming camp for
teen girls and or teen boys, because obviously absolutely, and they they even
partnered with a nail salon. Yeah, and they had like this, yeah,
this session where you could just you know, go in and do your
hair and your nails and try different hairstyles and yeah, that kind of cool
that would be. That's a great idea. Yeah, I'm thinking, huh.
This was because I just had a conversation with a friend who was telling
me about her daughter, who is obviously a teenager, and it's summer vacation,
and he's lamenting because all she seems to do all day is personal groom
She spends her day personally groomming. I think he'll come home and she'll say,
what did you do today? I watched my daughter do her personal groomming.
Well, and I'm excited because my son is going to sleep away camp
and she said, I need to bring a nail clipper with me. What
step? I said, Well, why don't we just clip your nails before
you go? And then you don't have to know they inspect us every day
and they check our nails, like dirt under our nails a camp away taking
off? So I wows really really short so that I don't get dirt under
What kind of camp is this? It's just like you know, you're your
every day like swimming in the lake, get in trouble if you didn't have
dirt into your nails, because that meant you were just sitting somewhere reading a
book and not getting into it. Right. At that camp, they inspect
their cabins every day. They have to clean them. Remember this is the
one we're on the packing list. It's like you have to bring rags and
oh my, do you remember we talked about that. How can you get
them to bring that routine home? Right? Wow? You need refresh your
camp every so often. Camp, Right, I have to start having a
competition between my two kids or who has the cleanest room, because that's what
they do at the camp they give They pit the cabins against each Oh my
gosh, wow, I was curious to know the story behind this camp.
This doesn't sound like a typical camp experience. Yeah, it is, though
it's very some traditional, very finicky person is in charge there. We're not
going to have any this MESSI on my watch, Holly and the kids do
it. God bless them. That's wonderful. Do yeah? Oh learning good
habits theoretically speaking of teens, Yeah, yes, I have one another idea.
Okay, what if you had a Instagram camp where you took the kids
around the city to various locations, yeah, and took photos of them for
Instagram. Wow, and whoever gets the most likes against dessert, and you
could pit them against each other. Yes, which cabin has the most likes?
You got those kids online buying likes right and left. Like you know,
just one of those buses, those little air conditioned shuttle buses, and
you just go from hop around from place to place in town, and the
kids would just pile out, take photos of one another, and then you
get back in the bus, give them some you know, food and water,
and keep going. Yeah, that's that would be a popular option.
I think, yes, it, Yeah, that I'm excited about. For
my son's campus. They're not allowed to bring cell phones. Oh scream free
week without having to. But won't you be like, you know, wanting
news. We're like the other end of that. It's like ID because you're
healthy. But then I can't like follow by GPS. They're a removement.
They put the camp post pictures on Facebook. Can you like having microchipped or
something so you can still trace his whereabouts? Yeah? I still want to
know, and I would be a withdrawal and such a scenario. You can't
text me every hour, I know, right, you can't night. I
traced my daughter on a trip once by her her debit card. Receipts,
so they're a ways. But I guess that wouldn't work for camp. I
know, you just have to assume that they're on that island in the middle
of that lake. Wow, sounds like the beginning of a horror movie.
To matter, No children, leave your cell phones home, Everything would be
fine. Yeah yeah, well a lot now that we're coming up with concepts
for horror movies instead of camps. Will finish