In this article we're going to discuss child care and some tips on what to do when the summer comes and you need to get away from it all for a while.

Let's be honest, no matter how devoted you are as a parent and no matter how much you love you kid, eventually you reach a point, especially if you're a full time stay at home parent, where you need to get away for a while. And usually the best time to do this is in the summer when both parents might be off work.

This is actually quite common in families where one or both parents are school teachers and get the summers off. No sooner June 21 hits and they're off to somewhere. But what do you do when you want to get away and have a small child, or even not so small child, that needs to be taken care of?

Well, option number one is you take the kid with you. But that kind of defeats the purpose of going on your much needed vacation.

That more or less leaves you with option number two. Leave the child with someone. The $64,000 question is, who?

Well, you have a number of choices here. The best one is probably to leave the child with a family member, like your parents for one. Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to awkward situations. Maybe your parents really weren't planning on taking care of your little brat for 2 months. Or maybe they had plans to go away themselves. Most likely brothers and sisters or distant relatives will politely tell you that they can't do it.

Your best bet is to simply go to a professional. If your child is old enough then you'll probably want to send the kid off to summer camp. This is always a favorite with parents. The problem is, you want to make sure this camp is going to be one you don't regret sending your kid too. After all, this is still your child.

So these are the things you should look out for before sending your kid off to whatever summer camp you choose.

1. Find out what the camp has to offer and if it is accredited. You don't want to send your kid somewhere where he'll be sitting around twiddling his thumbs all day in a place that has absolutely no accreditation. This will most likely turn out to be a disaster. Camps that have specific programs that will keep your child busy all day are your best bet.

2. Make sure though that there is a balance between active and quiet times in the schedule. If your kid is going non stop all day long by the time he gets home he is going to be bouncing off the walls and you'll never get him down.

3. Make sure you keep in constant contact with the camp and your child. This doesn't mean you have to call 3 times a day everyday but you should at least keep in touch to find out what's going on a couple of times a week.

By following these simple tips and having a little faith, you and your child can both have a very enjoyable summer.