Mother's Helper - hire a preteen in the neighborhood to come over and play with your kids. Kids LOVE being around older kids, and the preteen gets a little extra money - her first job!!!! You can get some things done around the house or the yard or maybe - and this is a biggie - even nap. Shhhh. We won't tell anyone!

Nanny - Hire an older teenager, college student, or professional nanny to help out, part-time or full-time. In our family, we've done two days a week, five hours each day, and it has afforded me the opportunity to go out and run errands (yes, shopping for clothes for Mommy IS an errand!). The best places to find a nanny: posting on college bulletin boards and Craig's List. Craig's List is amazing. Under the Childcare section are ads for people looking for nannies as well as nannies looking for positions. There are all sorts of situations ("Need part-time nanny Tues and Wed from 2:00 to 6:00." "I'm available Monday through Thursday 9:00 - 2:00."), so you're sure to find something to fit you.

Childcare Share - Have a friend with kids who is looking on the summer with the same trepidation? Do a childcare swap once a week. You watch her kids one day, and she watches your kids on another. Gives you both some much-needed free time, and your friendship gets stronger (as long as your kids don't break any windows in her house!).

Summer Camp - Yea!!!! Structured activities rule!!!! Sure, I can do the whole let's-do-play-doh-followed-by-painting-followed-by-reading-time-followed-by-outside-activity-time for about a day, but then I start to run out of ideas. Summer camps to the rescue! In our area, we have one-week, two-week, half-day, and full-day camps offered through the county. Then there are what are called sleep-away camps (which we have not ventured into and I don't know that we will any time soon!) in which the kids, gulp, actually sleep there!

Structured Activities at Home - Even though I can't do structured activities all day every day, some structure is nice. We started two years ago with the following summer schedule, and it still works. The girls are allowed to play computer games, Gameboy, or video games on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. We have piano lessons every Wednesday. We go to the library once a week. Not structure all the time, but enough so that the kids aren't wandering around with a dazed look on their faces.

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