Christmas childcare!

I didn't say leave your profession, I said move jobs, other companies may have different rules or ethos. And it's not insane, it's parenting! All options are worth considering. You don't know how long it will be until your children can be left home alone, all children are different.

This topic comes up every year and most employers are fair to all employees and use a rota system as to who gets time off at popular periods.
If your employer has rejected your application for time off, you will have to work but as it’s still a couple of months to Christmas you and DH still have some time to work out getting temporary childcare.

🙄😂

As you are doing, you'll have to find the childcare you can, and split the rest with your husband, or perhaps grandparents.

There are really no nurseries open all year round in your area? I find that hard to believe. What on earth do people do with their kids all summer?

It seems like I'm more capable of assessing information than you to be fair, so your attempts to patronise are laughable. You seem like the worst type of parent (/person), so entitled just because you had a child, I mean 'blessing' 🙄

Sorry if this has already been mentioned OP but what about a Uni student home for the holidays?
They might be very up for earning a bit of extra money in return for childcare.

But if we all stopped having kids there would be even less Christmas childcare!

We need to find cover for two weeks. My dh can take a week, and I can take a week, so we’re lucky that we can plan to share

So if you're taking a week and your DH is taking a week isn't it sorted?

Or do you need to cover 4 weeks?

And yet, here I am with no children and fully aware of the challenges of childcare? In fact, it's a large part of the reason I don't have children.

@itwasnevermine Clearly one of the many places that isn't your work? Retail, healthcare, hospitality to name a few obvious options, but plenty of office jobs require staffing over Christmas too.

I wish I lived near you. My grandkds don't need me now and I love children.
Or the lady, temp nanny?

I didn’t vote YABU because there’s an obvious solution you’re missing, I voted it because I’m sick of having to work every single Christmas because my colleagues have kids and I don’t. Whether it’s for the magic or out of necessity, I don’t really care, if you’re unwilling to ever take turns then I find it selfish to be honest.

I think surely another part of it is that you want time off both together, so you actually get to spend the Christmas period as a family. I would be looking to move jobs to be honest, there are masses of family friendly roles out there - I can’t think of any friends of mine who work for the 2 weeks over Xmas and NY.

This is silly. Yes it's harder with 3 kids but honestly I didn't know there was a lack of Xmas childcare options either. You cant research every possibility before having kids. She had pregnancies not a crystal ball.

Where on earth do you work? My work is shut 22 December through to 6 January!

We've just been told our nursery is also closing over Christmas and New Year where it was previously open but luckily it doesn't matter for us but I imagine for families like yours it does. Apparently it isn't used enough during those 2 weeks to warrant staying open but there is no change in fees so we still need to pay for those 2 weeks.

Have you any friends to ask or friends with older children? My daughter is 16 and loves babysitting but due to family dynamics is more that capable of looking after 3 but I understand many wouldn't be. Sorry I am not more helpful. Childcare at Christmas is difficult.

Oh and another one! A temporary nanny just for the Christmas holidays. It won’t be cheap. Contact nanny agencies.

Don’t choose a nursery that’s term time only/has a xmas long break. Arrange ‘swaps’ with friends for the older ones as if there are no clubs then there will be loads of other families in the same boat. Or at least that’s how we handled it!

Yes Christmas can be tricky to cover with clubs. I'm 4 days per week and try to save some annual leave to help me get through as have very little family support. Luckily my employer is flexible.
I think your best option would be to advertising for a temporary, competent uni student to do childcare over the holidays. Pop in local shops, groups etc. Plenty of time to hire someone and see if they're someone the family can work with.
I do feel your pain though!

You had three children and didn't research this or consider it in advance? Yes, YABU.

Good for your employer. So many workplaces prioritise leave for parents, so it's nice to hear they're committed to making it fair.

theres no magic solution to this OP. All options are a bit rubbish, here’s some.

childminder - they will normally prioritise normal clients, so if you use a nursery and school based wrap around care normally, you might want to think about moving to a childminder for at least a couple of days, so you are one of the priority families.

the lower paid of you goes part time - if they work 3 days a week it’s easier for the higher paid to cover a week of your job as it’s not a full week off for them.

you hire a nanny - if you have more than one in nursery this might not cost you that much more than you are already paying.

The lower paid one looks for a job in a school /uni that’s term time only. (Or very little school holiday work.)

you look for a new job starting in January and resign finishing mid December. This is a one year only solution!

you ask family /friends.