If you decide to forsake making maximum money to become a FIRE parent or stay-at-home parent, then you had best spend more time with your kids. Otherwise, you might as well go back to the office and grind under fluorescent lights for 10 hours a day to make that sweet coin.
One of the greatest benefits of FIRE is the freedom to fully lean into parenthood, especially during summer and winter breaks. While working parents scramble to juggle camps, childcare, and schedules, you can relax knowing that if a spot doesn’t open up, Daddy Day Camp (or Mommy Day Camp) is always ready to go.
Even though I no longer consider myself a stay-at-home dad after eight years of being one, my goal is to return to full-time parenthood every summer and winter until my kids leave home. It feels like the optimal balance: enough flexibility to savor these years, while still writing about ~15 hours a week to keep my brain engaged.
Given that my kids have about 48 vacation and in-service days during the school year plus another 80 or so days off in the summer, they’re out of school for more than four months each year. You could argue this dilutes the benefits of FIRE since parents naturally get plenty of time with their kids anyway, if they can take time off from work. Or you could argue it makes FIRE even more valuable, because it gives you the freedom to truly take advantage of all that extra time together.
Either way, having kids doesn’t diminish the FIRE lifestyle, it enhances it, because they give you more purpose. So for all of you who no longer have to work, don’t be afraid of having kids. You will find a way to provide for them financially if necessary.
The Financial Case for DIY Camps
Whether you are a stay at home parent, FIRE parent, or working parent, I highly recommend trying your own Daddy or Mommy Day Camp at least once. It does not have to last a whole summer or winter. Even a week or a few days sprinkled here and there can make a huge difference.
The beauty of running your own Daddy or Mommy Day Camp is that it can be whatever you want it to be. You’re the counselor, the coach, the chef, and the chauffeur. You set the schedule, design the activities, and, best of all, actually spend time with your kids in ways that create lasting memories for both of you.
From a financial perspective, the savings alone are eye-opening. In San Francisco, for example, summer camps typically range from $600 to $1,200 per child, per week. Let’s say you have two kids and want to keep them busy for six weeks of summer. That’s $7,200 to $14,400, basically the cost of a used car or a family vacation to Hawaii.
Hiring a private coach to teach your kids tennis, swimming, soccer, basketball, music, or anything else often costs $60–$140 an hour. By coaching them yourself, you not only save money but also build a stronger bond—a true win-win.
DIY Day Camp Is An Extension Of Homeschooling
When the pandemic hit, we homeschooled our son for 18 months. It was one of the only few good things to come out of that era. We also realized how much more efficiently he could learn at home. In just 1.5 hours, we could cover what might have taken eight hours in a traditional school setting.
So if you’re not ready to take the step in homeschooling just yet, you can take a baby step through DIY camp first to see how it goes. If your nerves aren’t frayed by the end of it, you might just be cut out to be a homeschool teacher.
Not only do you save thousands of dollars, but you also get to reallocate that money toward investments, travel with your family, or simply padding your savings. If you have the time, you could conceivably run a camp for other family’s children too. Building wealth for your children before they become adults alleviates stress and creates a nice safety net.
Daddy Day Camp can also help you assess your children’s abilities early on. If you notice above-average talent in a sport or activity, you can choose to dedicate more resources accordingly. At the same time, you’ll avoid wasting money on lessons and activities they have little interest or aptitude for. Because you’re directly involved in the teaching, you’re less likely to fall victim to the Dunning–Kruger effect—overestimating your child’s abilities compared to reality.
The ROI is clear: Daddy and Mommy Camp offers both financial savings and emotional dividends.
Activities for Daddy Day Camp
When I first tried Daddy Camp, I thought I needed elaborate activities, but I quickly realized kids don’t care about fancy. They just want fun and attention. A ten dollar soccer ball or a stack of board games often goes further than the priciest setup.
It’s the same with houses. Sure, my kids enjoy running around a bigger yard. But their happiness isn’t any different from when we lived in a smaller place with fewer en suite bathrooms and only a deck to run around on. At the end of the day, all kids really want is a parent’s love, time, and attention.
Here are some easy activities to get you started:
- Sports Day: Organize a mini Olympics in the backyard with running races, soccer drills, and basketball shootouts. Add medals or silly prizes for fun.
- Cooking School: Let the kids choose a recipe and cook it together. It might get messy, but kids love eating what they made. They might even start appreciating all the time you or your partner spend time cooking for them, and volunteer to cook and clean up in the future.
- Adventure Hikes: Explore a new trail or park nearby. Bring snacks and make it a scavenger hunt for certain plants or animals. During COVID, we made it a mission to visit every playground in San Francisco. We found some cool hidden gems, like a slide in Bernal Heights that ran down one block.
- DIY Projects: Build a birdhouse, paint a mural, or even set up a lemonade stand to teach entrepreneurship. My favorite physical activity so far is landscaping a rental property. Nothing like a hands-on lesson in marketing, margins, and customer service. Eventually, these properties will be theirs to manage.
- Board Game Marathon: Rotate through Monopoly, Chess, and Uno. Keep score for an end of camp prize like choosing what’s for dinner. Great way to sneak in strategy, math, and negotiation skills.
- Water Play: If you don’t have a pool or hot tub, a garden hose, buckets, and water balloons are enough for hours of laughter.
- Library and Movie Day: Pick out books in the morning to read, then make popcorn and watch a family movie at night. The library is one of the best free resources around.
For children 8 and under, the ideal amount of time to spend for each activity is 45 minutes. Any longer and many children start to really lose focus.
Also, when kids are younger, it’s easier to teach them everything you know. One day, though, they may surpass you and that’s when a more experienced (and pricier) coach may be worth it.
Our Customized Daddy Day Camp Activities
For the last week of Daddy Day Camp this summer, we packed up and headed to Sonoma County, just a quick hour and twenty minute drive away.
I set three fun challenges for the kids and me this week:
- Master a safe and proper dive into the pool
- Work on forehands and backhands in tennis
- Be proficient at breaststroke and freestyle swimming
We settled into a steady routine: tennis and pool in the mornings, then tennis and pool again in the early evenings. Over five days, I logged seven 45-minute tennis sessions with the kids, seven 1.5-hour swim-and-play sessions, and five 20-minute soccer passing and dribbling drills. With all that practice, their skills took a noticeable leap forward by the end.
Midday was for recharging, especially with the daily 90–103 degree heat. We’d head out for lunch, followed by a little Pokémon-hunting adventure, and then it was quiet time. Mommy and Daddy took a nap while the kids curled up with books, sketched, or battled over board games.
The Hardest Parts About Daddy Day Camp
To make Daddy Day Camp work, I woke up at 6 a.m. to write until 8. Luckily, I’m a morning person and have kept this routine since 2009. If mornings aren’t your thing, you may need to carve out time in the evenings instead.
A successful Daddy Day Camp starts with enthusiasm. Kids pick up on everything. The moment they sense you’re not excited about heading out for another activity, their interest fades too.
Consistency is another key. When you’re tired, it’s tempting to skip a session. Don’t. By sticking to the schedule, you show your kids you’re serious about camp while also teaching them the importance of showing up. I truly believe the key to success is long-term consistency. It’s hard to lose if you never quit.
Teaching kids new skills also tests your patience. Accept there will be tantrums and meltdowns! For some reason, kids often listen better to other adults than to their own parents. It can drive you crazy when they keep ignoring your instructions and repeating yourself or the 100th time, but your job is to stay calm and keep leading with kindness and enthusiasm.
When your child makes the same mistake ten times in a row, or keeps smacking the tennis ball into the net despite your reminders to start from low to high, you’ll want to quit. But this is when you need to carry on with encouragement. Don’t give up on them!
The Breakthrough Moment After Reaching The End Of My Rope
After nearly ending a tennis session when my son threw a tantrum, I decided to change my coaching approach. Instead of repeating instructions, I leaned hard into positivity. After a miss or bad hit, I’d say things like “Almost!” “Great effort!” or “You got this!”—instead of “Try to hit the strings, not the frame” or “Remember to swing low to high.” Steady encouragement kept my kids far more motivated than constant corrections ever did.
Finally, mix things up to keep them fresh. By day three, my kids were bored of forehand and backhand drills. So I added cone runs, practice swings, and live hits to end the drill. Suddenly their “Do I have to?” turned into “That was fun!”
After the tennis session was over, we transferred over to kicking the soccer ball in a triangle. Then we put cones out for them to dribble around and beat their own time. They were thrilled. Then of course, it was time to do some diving and cool off in the pool.
As parents, it’s up to us to make activities engaging while also teaching that hard things get easier with practice.
Diving instructions on first day: Place your hands together above your head, break the water cleanly, tuck your chin, enter with the top of your head, and keep your legs fully extended.
The end result! Frog legs entry and face plant with hands apart.
Making Up For The Missing Pieces In Your Childhood
My main reason for running Daddy Camp is not to save money. It is to avoid a future where my adult children ask why I was not around. That fear comes partly from my own childhood. Both of my parents worked full time, and when I desperately wanted to throw a baseball in the backyard after school, my dad often came home too tired.You might also discover that running your own children’s camp helps heal parts of your own childhood.You might also discover that running your own children’s camp helps heal parts of your own childhood.
Since my parents did not return until after 5:45 p.m., I had hours of freedom once school ended at 2:30. Too often, I used that time poorly. I got into trouble in middle school and high school, and I still feel guilty for disappointing them. In some ways, Daddy Camp is not just for my kids, it is also my way of making peace with my past. You might find the childhood healing aspects of running your own children’s camp too.
You might also discover that running your own children’s camp helps heal parts of your own childhood.
I have met too many adults who carry strained relationships with their parents. Sometimes parents truly were not around. Other times, children simply remember it that way, even if the reality was different. But in the end, perception becomes truth.
That is what I fear most: my kids one day saying, “Dad was always working or distracted on his phone. He never had time for us.” It stings because I know I spend more time on my phone than I should. That is the narrative I want to avoid.
Consecutive years of Daddy Camp are my safeguard. If my kids ever decide to misremember, I will at least have the evidence to show them: I was there
You Won’t Regret The Time You Spend With Your Kids
Daddy Camp is not about being the perfect parent. It’s about being present, being engaged, and making the most of the precious years we get with our kids.
Money is important. We all need it to survive and to provide stability for our families. But beyond a certain level of financial security, the tradeoff between money and time becomes obvious. You can always make more money. You cannot make more time with your kids when they are little.
When they are grown and gone, you will not wish you had worked longer hours or made a few more dollars. You will only be thankful for the memories you created together.
So this upcoming summer or winter, if your kids can’t get into a camp, don’t panic. See it as an opportunity. Run your own camp. Create your own traditions. Laugh together, get frustrated together, get messy together, and make memories that will last a lifetime.
That is the magic of Daddy Camp and its true ROI.
Parents, do you ever run your own little “camps” or activities for your kids during the summer or winter? What fun things have you tried at different ages? For those of you who are FIRE parents or stay-at-home parents, do you ever find yourself missing work during the ~8 months when the kids are in school? And how do you balance taking care of the kids with still doing something purposeful for yourself?
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