What do working parents do with their children during school holidays?

[jocesar]

Hello

My DS is just coming up 3 and I've just realised he'll be in school next year. I have no idea how working parents cope with school holidays. What happens to the children? Will one of us need to give up work? Surely not? What are our options?

Thanks

[GypsyMoth]

childminder? family? or summer playschemes

[Beamur]

You'll have to take leave/sort out relatives/friends to do childcare/swap with other parents/pay for out of school clubs.

[wasabipeanut]

My nursery run a holiday club - I think it's fairly standard?

[somersetmum]

Get your dp/dh to retrain as a teacher

[GypsyMoth]

no,its not standard,op will be dealing with school by then

[onepieceofcremeegg]

It depends on a lot of factors.

for example, I work shifts and dh doesn't. So I request to work some specific weekends meaning I am around more in the week during the holidays. Also my parents (not local) will have the dcs for 2 nights which = 3 days of childcare.

Dh and I try to take 2 weeks off together in the summer so we can try and spend that time together as a family.

On a typical half term week I might request to work 2 late shifts which means dh only needs to take a half day annual leave (i.e. the afternoon half) to cover childcare.

We do work very much as a team. It's not solely my job to sort it all out.

There may be a possiblity for you to take some unpaid parental leave?

A lot of school have playscheme type activities during the holidays.

A local cm may have term time only children (e.g. teachers's children) and therefore have holiday vacancies?

[davidtennantsmistress]

mum's had DS this week. XH is next week, i'm the week at may, 6 weeks hols will be 1 week mum, then i'm on maternity leave (thank god) but sually we'll prob do DP 2 weeks me 2 weeks mum one & XH one. (he only likes one week) xmas XH, I & DP all have 2 weeks shut down so easy to work that one out, october will prob be DP. if not there's always the club thingys they can go to as i'm PT and the boss isv v flexible so I can always change my hours to suit DS's class (they're usually 8.30-3 around here) so would switch about for the week.

or nan in fact bless her (however after her P saw fit to leave my DS stood outside the betting shop whilst he put a bet on i'm a little about him being there - plus I don't trust the dog)

[jocesar]

Dragonfly- what's a playscheme?

Sounds like it's going to be complicated as I get the standard 4 wks holiday per year and I'm not sure my parents could cope with so many weeks! And I'd be a dreadful teacher. Is there any chance a boss would be understanding enough to agree to much more time off?

[Beamur]

You could request unpaid leave - depends on the employer if they will allow this.
Mine would.

[headfairy]

we have a nanny, so childcare covered all year round (apart from annual leave) ds is at pre school now 5 mornings a week, dd still at home. when they're both at school during the holidays I guess we'll have to try and do what other posters said, a combination of my parents, holiday clubs and annual leave from work.

[wasabipeanut]

No, I mean that DS's nursery have a holiday club where school age children spend the day there. A lot of former nursery pupils who are now at school go back there for the holidays.

[Georgimama]

What is wrong with using a childminder/nursery holiday club?

and no I can't see your employer agreeing to you working term time only, you can try asking but I doubt they would respond positively.

[Gracie123]

If you could take 4 weeks leave and DP take 4 weeks leave, thats still only 8 weeks, which is not enough to cover school holidays!

My children are both too young for this discussion, but it seems to me like there is a fatal flaw in the way this system works...

[shanzu]

i take alot of unpaid leave and grandparents help out alot.

Up until the age of 5 your employer has to grant a total of 13 weeks (I think) parental leave. So if your child is one of the younger 1s, this may help, if they are otherwise unwilling to give you unpaid leave?

[nancy75]

contact your local council, they probably have a list of chilcare providers that operate schemes during the holidays. Be warned they are not cheap.
Could your parents do a couple of days each week , you take off a day each week and book him in for stuff the rest of the time?

[midnightexpress]

What wasabipeanut says. Most nurseries have after-school clubs which also organise holiday clubs for older children. Some will allow you to take odd days here and there, some insist on a minimum number of sessions, it varies. For example, ds1 spent last Friday and this Friday at ours so that I could finish off a job I'm working on atm (I'm freelance). They usually organise trips - cinema, parks, museums etc, and also spend some time at the 'base'. All our local nurseries do this. Local council often arrange playschemes too, but I think these tend to be a few hours rather than whole days?

Be warned though, it's not cheap - ours are about £25/day, so if you need it f/t it could work out very expensive for a whole summer holiday.

[GypsyMoth]

well we had a free easter playscheme this week....sports or arts and crafts

from 10 til 3 tho,so perhaps not much use

had it last summer for 2 weeks too.....parish council run....and did i say it was free lol!

[Firawla]

i dont work and my dc are not school age but i have seen holiday playschemes operating in quite a few places like leisure centres, community centres, adventure playground, i think some soft play do it too? seems an ok option

[nannyl]

Do you / your DC have any extra special friends where the mum works too.

Maybe you could have their DC for a day or 2 a week, (when they work) then your DC could go to them while you work.

Not ideal for whole holidays, but cant see why a day or 2 per half term / holiday could not benifit all of you.

Just an idea :)

[compo]

We have holiday club attached to the school
£20 a day, 8-6pm
grandparents have kids one week of summer holidays
me and dh take it in turns to take leave
I also changed my hours and job so I could work weekends
we don't have much family time though which is pants

[WideWebWitch]

We manage with a combination of:

Dh gets 36 days holiday (I got 35 in my last perm job but am a contractor so take what I need)

Paying a nanny

Some family help (not much, we mostly pay hundreds a week but there's the odd week where mil comes)

It is a pita, it's something like 18 weeks of holiday all together.

[Frawli]

I am planning to try and work term times once both my children are in school. If your child is under 6 or so you can ask for flexible working, I don't work in a school but so many people take leave to cover childcare at school holiday times that it would probably not be a problem in my work, you generally have to arrange things around the hols.

[rickymummy]

Holiday clubs - just about to drop DS1 at his now. He loves it.

I worried until I started to look into it, but childcare does fall inot place. Quite a few alternatives out there.

[MollieO]

I took unpaid parental leave. The fun started when Ds turned five and meant I was no longer eligible for leave. Ds goes to holiday clubs most days. Lots of his friends go too. Sometimes it is at his own school which makes me feel particularly guilty (as if he is at school even in the holidays) but he loves it. Once they get a bit older the choice of clubs grows too.

[IngridBergman]

I'm worried about this too but have a little time to figure it out. What do you do if you're single and can't afford to take unpaid leave or to pay a childminder/for playschemes etc?

I guess you have to find a job/employer that is very flexible. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be really grateful.