What age can you WFH with kids in the school holidays

I've just trialled my 10 year old this summer with staying home and she's not been any bother and I've been able to work as normal. BUT she is the type of child who will entertain herself happily with different things like drawing, reading and crafting stuff as well as some tablet time (not like older DS who would be glued to a screen as soon as my back was turned!). Also my job involves a workload and i can do this any time of the day or night (although I've always done 9-5) so I can take longer lunch breaks if needed and have taken her out for odd afternoons or to meet friends in the park and worked in the evening or started early the next day. I've had three weeks of AL and having her home the other 3 weeks has saved me over £300 and she's happy! It's also been nice to spend that time with her when I'm taking a break.
I can imagine it would be very different with a different child or a more structured job and I'd have likely booked her in clubs like last year.

Mine are 6 and 9 and I'm now letting oldest walk home a couple of days a week which means he's around for a few hours while I work. This is absolutely fine I find so I feel like I'm entering the realms of being able to have him home for say half a day in the holidays - a lot of sports clubs local to me seem to just run for half a day which is annoying but now opens up these as a possibility from next summer. Youngest will still need full day club/childcare.

My dd is 12 , I can let her do this for a few days at a time in the summer holidays but I also try and oversee - stop for lunch, talk to her, make sure she’s arranging to see friends or going to a club for a half day. I would not do it for an entire week, it’s too lonely and unfair at this age.

Take it from me, the answer to this is not 10 and 6 🤯🤯🤯

@Batatahara I did when they were very small but they were happier at home. I am used to it now and happy with how it works.

Given I was supposed to work (and, at the cost of my sanity, managed it) productively at home for months at a time with three children under 7/8 during covid, wfh during the holidays doesn’t phase me as it used to. However, only a day here or there, not consistently. Now aged 4-11 and get on pretty well with each other.

Mine are 6 and 9 and we’ve done this 2-3 days a week during the holidays. They get along really well so have been completely happy playing together and amusing themselves.

Typically I take 10 mins mid-morning to sort them a snack and check in with them, then spend an hour with them at lunch, then my husband gets back at 3.

I only have occasional calls so am pretty much always instantly on hand if they need me.

They’ve probably had more screen time than I’d like but we’ve done plenty of days out and activities on the days that I’m not working so I’m trying not to feel guilty about that. It works for us.

Mine is 8 and I manage OK. Guess it depends on the intensity of your work.

@CharlotteBog

DinnaeFashYersel
Mine have been fine occupying themselves since youngest was 8.

Even when you work full time all summer?
I guess if you have more than one child and they get on well it can work well

Yes

Both DH and I wfh full time. Two children and they don't not get on but don't hang out together. The eldest (now 15) is on the PlayStation and the youngest (now 11) goes out to play. Wet days she does Lego, craft, watches tv.

I haven't paid for summer holidays childcare since before the pandemic

I only work mornings and my DC (10 and 7) are both ok separately left to their own devices for that amount of time, they will game a bit too much but also read, draw, play in the garden etc. But the 2 of them together are a nightmare, they fight like cat and dog. So I'll often book one of them into an activity whilst the other stays home, but I only have them both at home if I'm really stuck.

@Kitcaterpillar I'm completely agreeing with you, I don't think when people say they can't WFH with 12+ in the house they mean due to childcare, apart from that one random 16+ post(!), I'd be really worried if a 12 year old (without additional needs) didn't have the ability to entertain themselves and not understand to leave a working adult be, that would be beyond coddled..!

@thdskdrggs Ah, ok! The suggestion of people not WFH with kids there until they were 16 threw me, I thought that meant some people are organising childcare for 15 year olds!

I haven't got another 12 years of sorting summer childcare in me 😂

Possibly 12+. Best if you can drop off at a holiday club at 8.30-9am with a packed up lunch and collect at 5-5.30pm.

Well done, wish my manager was as strong as you. Mine is a rollover.

We’re paid to work, we work in a demanding tech heavy office environment with a lot of incoming calls and emails.
When you’ve got one person in the team who is constantly skipping calls or not available to put calls through to or changing their breaks to accommodate their child it has a huge knock on effect on the team.
Ive had children, I know how difficult it is but I planned ahead and used childcare. WFH has only become an option since Covid lockdowns and some people are using that as an excuse to slack. It creates a lot of bad feeling when others have to pick up their work.

I’ve just put someone on disciplinary for this - they’ve been a nightmare since ‘hybrid working’ was given to them (yet they promised children would be out the house…)

They're now back in the office full time as they properly took the piss.
Kids that need any kind of looking after aren’t compatible with WFH - people need to treat it as if they’re physically not there.
If they’re needed in the house, that’s too much of a distraction.

When they're old enough to take themselves out for most of the day or can entertain themselves without you. As a rule of thumb, If you'd be happy leaving them unsupervised to go to the office then it's ok to leave them to go to the home office as long as they understand you're working.

The WFH element of this feels quite new. As soon as we were at secondary school, my parents went to work at work for most of the holidays.

Absolutely! Childcare was nonexistent for 12+ when I was growing up 90/00s, I assume that's still predominantly the case now. The question of whether it's easy to WFH with people home is a separate one from considering the welfare of the child.

I understand not wanting to WFH with teens in the house because it's hard to work, but that's different to not doing it because they can't be left alone!

well it would be good if the poster in question didn't generalise all parents that work from home! Was not in response to the OP.

To add my job at the moment is fully back office, DC has SEN and inteupts all calls so he cannot be here when my work involves more calls

I had my 6yo DS here with me today as holiday club had to close. I couldn't do it every day but as he has had a very busy Bank Holiday and busy day yesterday with my parents he was happy to have a chilled day playing with his pokemon cards, watching TV, doing activity books and playing on his tablet. I would say if your DC doesn't like holiday club then maybe let them stay home one day a week and see how you get on.

Sometimes work is just an odd call or message here and there.

It would be good to preface your response with this information then. I think the OP is asking about work which entails more than just the odd call or message. Yes, her question was broad, but it's clear that her work is more than something that takes just a few minutes.

The WFH element of this feels quite new. As soon as we were at secondary school, my parents went to work at work for most of the holidays.

I think it depends on the kids. Mine are 6 & 8 and my DH has worked from home once a week with them occupying themselves the whole summer and did the same last year, and it's absolutely fine, the only time they ask for anything, is when it's nearing lunchtime... He's started taking his lunch break early, to pacify them! 😄 The difference is, they only do this once a week, (occasionally twice) and the rest of the week, they're busy out and about with grandparents and myself, and don't get that much time at home, so actually enjoy the time they're there and get to play with their toys/Nintendo. Plus they get on really well, so entertain eachother and rarely ever argue. I think if they had to do it mon-fri, they'd get bored and play up alot more. I also think they got used to having to entertain themselves during the lockdowns, when we weren't allowed out much, and school was cancelled. Both me and DH were trying to work/homeschool eldest, and they got really good at using their imaginations and making up fun games. It really does depend on the kids though, if mine argued, didn't get on, or had a larger age gap, it probably wouldn't be so easy. There's an only child over the road, who's parents WFH, and most days she comes to see if ours want to play, and asks if she can come round, as she's obviously bored out of her mind. I feel so bad when we're busy, or the girls are out with grandparents. My friend with two kids similar ages to mine, struggles to WFH, as her boys just try and kill eachother the moment her back is turned! All in all, I do think it just depends on the kids.

Totally agree with you. She has no idea what job everyone does. Sometimes work is just an odd call or message here and there. I don't sit behind a computer from 8-5.
And saying that all under 16 year olds need to be babysat😂😂😂 Some 16 year olds live alone with their own children 😂