{
  "id": 19518,
  "title": "How working parents can maintain their summer sanity",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/01/how-working-parents-can-maintain-their-summer-sanity",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-01T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91582644/how-working-parents-can-maintain-their-summer-sanity"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The summer poses unique challenges for working parents, as balancing work and parenting becomes increasingly difficult. One major hurdle is securing appropriate camps or childcare, which can be expensive and fill up quickly. Even if camp works out well, there's often not enough coverage to maintain throughout the entire summer. Camp pickup is usually around 3 p.m., which is before the end of the workday, and finding childcare options during the gap between camp and school resuming can be a daunting task. To combat these issues, some parents are opting for a \"feral\" or \"90s-style\" summer, where children are encouraged to engage in unstructured play, like riding bikes and exploring their neighborhoods, without constant adult supervision.\n\nFor working parents, embracing the \"wild child\" concept is possible by setting behavioral goals and encouraging children to spend their time productively. For instance, allowing a child to earn spending money to visit a nearby store or socialize with friends can help foster independence and responsibility. Allowing children to determine their own sleep schedules, while still maintaining some boundaries around screen time and devices, can also contribute to a more relaxed summer. Utilizing parental controls on streaming services and YouTube can help ensure that kids are exposed to age-appropriate content.\n\nIntroducing chores and offloading new parenting responsibilities to a partner can also help alleviate some of the stress of the summer. By implementing these strategies, working parents can maintain their sanity during the summer months and better prepare their children for the upcoming school year.",
  "summary": "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world it was possible to balance work and parenting over a 10-week summer. Not only do working parents have to scramble through the spring to sign their kids up for appropriate camp or childcare before all the slots are filled, but the cost of just one week of camp can be exorbitant. (And it’s not like you get a partial refund if your…",
  "key_points": [
    "Summer presents challenges for working parents balancing work and parenting.",
    "Camps and childcare options are expensive and fill up quickly.",
    "\"Feral\" or \"90s-style\" summer encourages unstructured play and independence."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}