Thanks to the recession, more and more parents are asking their parents to play camp.

Vivian Manning-Schaffel: In this whopper of a recession, most folks haven't only had to cut back on the little things, but on the big things, like camp. This article says, in lieu of sending their kids to camp, many parents are packing their kids off to their grandparents'.

The American Camp Association reports registration numbers are down at some of the nation's 12,000 camps, but it's too early to estimate overall attendance this year. Reports from around the country point to lower turnout, from Maine to Florida to Texas and elsewhere.

The concept of Camp Nana is a win-win for many -- the grandparents get to hang with their grandchildren, and the parents can use the cash they save for necessities, like groceries, electricity, and house payments, and as an added bonus, they might even score some time to themselves. As summer camp costs range between $100 a week to $800 or more, this is a nice chunk o' change. And, most importantly, the grandkids get more love, attention, and better food.

"If this economic trouble is bringing people together, that's a positive," said Georgia Hope Witkin, associate professor of psychology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and a contributing editor for the website Grandparents.com.

Must be nice. Personally, I don't live in this world. My parents live five hours away, are ill and physically unable to help out. And during the six years we've been making and raising children, my husband's parents and their spouses retired and eventually moved to the opposite corners of the country. In fact, since my five-point-five-year-old was born, I can count the times he's spent a full day or night (without us) at his grandparents' on a single hand. So if you have the option of free family help, by all means, do it! I'll be living vicariously.

Are you sending your kids to Camp Nana this summer?

Vivian Manning-Schaffel has written for Babble, Parenting, The Advocate, The New York Post, Business Week and a variety of other publications and lives and works in the heart of breeder Brooklyn with her husband and two kids. She authors two pop culture blogs: The Mad Mom and A Hag Supreme, and is on the web at vivianmanningschaffel.com.