Another childcare rant - how do people do it?!

We used breakfast club and after school club, plus grandparents one day a week until they started finding it too difficult (at age 77 and 82), plus I worked part time and did the school run on my days off.

As soon as the kids club opened their books for getting a place I was there arranging the sessions and also taking leave between us.
Planning ahead, working out the cost for the year and putting money by each month to cover so that when summer came I had the funds to pay for it.

Hybrid, so I can work from home, means less days to stress about wraparound care. I do drop off, DH pick up. Then its holiday clubs, childminder. Its hard, sometimes I just have to swap to work from home, one of our children has additional needs so not all childminders can assist, it gets expensive as the childminder that can take on needs is generally more expensive due to the specialist training bit.

It is hard, especially in small schools. I also think small village schools often tend to have more of a ‘culture’ of the day ending at 330 or whenever as well. Ours has after school clubs but more there for the child’s interests than childcare. And no childminders.

When I had my elder two it was tax credits help with child care, there was no universal funding! I worked weekends and exdh worked during the week for a year or so then I trained as a childminder so I got paid whilst looking after my own kids. With my youngest he went to nursery and the nursery do an after school club.

If you’re in a small village then that’s the issue surely, not the government. There aren’t enough people to provide the services you need like childminding and businesses (not voluntary) that do afterschool clubs. That’s why people live in suburban or urban areas with facilities that families need, even if it’s not their dream location. It’s lovely to bring your kids up in a village in some ways, but these are the compromises if you don’t have relatives or nannies etc to cover the childcare.

No grandparents here just us two. I changed my hours so I’m off on a Monday and finish at 3 on two days of the week. I am very fortunate to be able to do this as I know this isn’t an option for some.

The other two days we use the wrap around at school or sports clubs at the school. Only issue was like yesterday with the snow the sports clubs were cancelled so mad panic trying to work out what to do.

Holidays I find more stressful or teacher training days. We have some clubs open for some holidays. We alternate some holidays between us. We have used a local teenager and let them look after the kids while we are in the house upstairs.

You and other parents need to be volunteering if you want it to stay open

I'm lucky my DC were rarely ill so our employers never really got narked at us leaving early for pick up or arriving late after drop off because we hardly ever left them in the lurch and always arranged cover etc.

I went part time for 15 years. Both me and ex have chosen jobs in a sector that offer flexibility with hours. Sharing a bit of after school support with other parents here and there.

We changed our hours which we were very lucky to be able to do. I start once I get home from school drop off and DH starts early to finish at 3.

Could you manage the committee if it met in the evening/on zoom/on the weekend? If so, put your name forward with whatever stipulation on time works.

We don't use wrap around care and we don't have any family nearby so we flex our hours.

DH compresses he doesn't work one day a week but longer hours the other four. I work around school, so 5-7am, during school and then after bedtimes and into the weekends to make up the hours. In my work colleagues without children regularly work 50-80 hours so I have to replicate that to keep up. The sacrifice is I have progressed more slowly at work (but getting there) and I never have any time for relaxing (I haven't watched TV in a decade without working at the same time), but we've been to every school event and DC see us all the time.

I am all for voluntary-led activity but an after-school club run by parent volunteers who de facto need after-school support sounds very tricky to run. Both practically (they are presumably at work!) and in terms of DBS checks and so on. I would direct my efforts to turning it into a paid but not profit-making exercise.

We couldn't manage. I quit my job and became a SAHM. My work could have easily agreed to letting me work different hours, but they were cunts. We need a law to make it far more difficult for employers to refuse flexible working requests.

Childminder if you can find one. Otherwise you have to move your working hours to stagger them with your partner, so someone does start of day and someone does end of day.

You also need to work out who will be the primary ‘go get the kid because they threw up’ partner.

It's great to see flexibility in the workplace. I think that's the way it should be and will be once the old fashioned folk retire. The 9-5 has gone.

We juggle a lot, argue over whose turn it is to beg for employer’s humanity or forgiveness. It’s all exhausting. As in properly exhausting. Lotto win and would be thanking work and leaving. Feck sending your child into school sick as you’ve no options (lowest point)

One day after school, I work part time so off two full days and one afternoon and DH has juggled his hours to start earlier on my days off and finish early on the other day I work. We feel exhausted with it all but can't see a better solution (we have another child in nursery on my working days).

reading your posts, you / your husband need to join the committe. Yes it’s a pain, but if its once a month that’s fine. You’re not a single parent who can’t get childcare for an evening meeting. Don’t complain if it closes when you or your husband weren’t prepared to step up. It all parents volunteer it will stay open. I’d much rather volunteer and keep the club going than have the hassle of trying to find something else (along with all the other parents).

If you don’t volunteer then you can’t complain. You chose this kind of set up which relies on parents volunteering a little of their time once a month or so.

Which costs are you seeing? I charge £15 for mine. Includes food. It cannot be cheaper than that and for 3 hours childcare that’s a bargain!

I had 3 kids and no-one to help as no family locally. I used after school clubs or childminder who picked up. Mine have grown up now, but I am sympathetic to the parents in my team and allow them to take a late lunch to collect kids and then do another hour whilst kids watch TV etc. I didn’t have that luxury and it was tough.

In the holidays we used a mix of holiday clubs and parents taking AL. After ex and I split he largely worked overseas so was all on me and it was not easy. Shame your school is thinking of closing the ASC as it’s easier if they just stay at school. I was picking up from 2 places for a few years which was a pain, but you could walk between them.

Me and dh work at the same company. I go in to work earlier d he does the drip offs, this allows me to leave earlier and do the pick ups whilst DH works later.

Pay for it!

Not sure if we are talking apples/apples here, or apples/oranges, but at one school my kids went to the before/after school care was run by a sub-committee of the school P&C/PTA (whatever you want to call it). While run by the sub-committee, who were parent volunteers, it was run professionally, had the required accreditation, paid staff members with requisite qualifications (not volunteers). The sub-committee outsourced payment of wages, HR issues to an external company. The whole point of it was that it was not for profit, to keep costs as low as possible for parents. If the sub-committee didn’t exist or didn’t have enough necessary people, President, treasurer, secretary etc then it would have had to fold, OR an external for profit corporation would have had to take over, thus increasing fees even more than the already hefty fees with not for profit.

Yes, parents work, yes, parents are busy, but as the old saying goes ‘if you need something done, give it to a busy person’.