A few weeks ago, while having a root canal, I fell asleep. There are many ways to interpret this kind of behavior, but for now, I’m going to stick with the obvious: I was tired. Really, really tired.

I was reminded of this bizarre episode a few mornings ago, the day after my children’s school finished, when my son woke up in a happy mood. Let’s just say that as peculiar as it was for me to have fallen asleep at the endodontist, it is even more unusual for this child of mine, Josh, to wake up with a smile on his face. Normally, he needs at least an hour in the morning before he’s civil.

“There’s no school today,” Josh beamed.

“Right. It’s Saturday,” I told him.

“But there’s no school on Monday. Or the Monday after,” he said, glowing enthusiastically.

“You got it,” I said.

Why did Josh’s unusual morning sunshine remind me of my dental drowsiness? It’s June and we’re both burnt out. Josh needed summer vacation to arrive and so did I. It’s time for a change of pace, a chance for our children to have downtime. It’s time to daydream and read, or go to the crafts store and make something. It’s a chance to lie in bed a few minutes longer.

All of this makes me surprised to see that fewer and fewer city parents are affording their children this chance to unwind. My inbox has been cluttered with e-mails from various city children’s programs offering mini-camps for these few weeks before summer camp officially begins. Your child’s baseball, soccer, chess, gymnastics, and ballet skills can all be honed even before camp begins.

“We filled up our programs so fast this year,” said the director of an athletic program that has cashed in on parental desires to fill their children’s calendar each and every week of the year. “Some schools let out June 1. Some let out June 8. The parents want their kids outdoors, running around, and that’s what we do,” he said.

They also pick up the children at around 8:30 a.m. and drop them home at around 4 p.m. I don’t doubt that there are many children who love these programs, and many parents who feel thrilled to have their children run around outside all day with their friends.

But since when did every waking moment of our children’s lives need to be structured? Don’t these weeks of “no man’s land” — the period after school ends and before camp begins — have a purpose?

“All the boys in my son’s class have been going to camp basically since the day school ended,” a mother of three said. “I told the other parents that we should just have the kids meet in the playground a few mornings a week. But that seemed to require too much effort on their part. Basically, the parents felt it was easier to pay $500 a week and have the kid entertained the entire time,” she said.

Of course, some parents choose this option because of their own work schedule. “I’m crazed at work right now,” a mother of two said. “I can’t expect my nanny — who’s used to having much of the day free to clean up and get dinner ready — to be able to entertain my kids and do all the housework. These mini-camps are a lifesaver. If it weren’t for them, my kids would sit in front of the TV and computer all day,” she said.

A veteran elementary school teacher at a private school on the Upper East Side said the popularity of these kinds of programs helps her understand why her students are increasingly less creative and self-motivated. “Twenty years ago I would venture that my students spent a far greater amount of time playing in their room and in the park without a caregiver or parent instructing their play,” she said. “Kids made up games and negotiated the arguments. They stumbled upon personal interests. They physically and intellectually pushed themselves as far as they could.”

“Today,” she continued, “I see children who are very good at following instructions, who want to please me. But they have no core. They have no idea who they are, and no idea what they’re interested in. They just know how to follow the program,” she said.

Unstructured hours give our children time to develop and grow in ways that structured hours do not. There are roughly 12 weeks before school begins again. Surely there are enough days for some free time.

sarasberman@aol.com