What do your high-school age DC do in the holidays...

[MegBusset]

...if you (and your partner if relevant) both work FT?

I've worked PT since the youngest DC started primary school. He's now about to start high school (older one will be Y9) and I'm in the process of applying for a FT job. It's a really good job opportunity for me and a great chance to put my career back on track which has been sacrificed for the kids.

BUT I am having a wobble about the impact on the DC. My commute would be very short so in term time it would be fine as I'd be home only an hour after them most days.

But what about the holidays? I know they no longer need childcare but in the summer it would mean weeks of entertaining themselves which realistically would be dawn until dusk in front of a screen without an adult here to tell them otherwise!

This just makes me a bit sad, at the moment on days I'm not working I take them out to the park, beach, zoo etc. Though tbh they'd rather stay home in front of screens most days! They both hate holiday clubs and there's hardly any provision for that age here anyway.

So anyway what do other families do in the same situation? Accept the kids will fester in their rooms all summer? Or do I stay PT until they've done with school altogether? (DH going PT is not an option.)

Hmmm, does this new job not have annual leave ? Do you have a DP ? Any scope to WFH ? Year 7/8 are tricky, it's a good idea to try and sort them out with something to do each day even if it's hanging with washing out or buying a couple of things from the supermarket. They are usually exhausted by the holidays so sleep till 11/12 if you can shift your working day earlier then you can do something together in the late afternoon

I would take 2 weeks annual leave during the summer holidays, to break it up a bit for them.

Or are there any teenagers holiday clubs nearby?

Mixture of leaving home they are basically nocturnal now which helps, they sleep in and I start work earlier in the hols so I'm back by 4.30pm. We try and go out and do something in the evening, either I force them for a walk/beach or we go to a carnival /event (obviously not this year )
I encourage them to have friends round and find that a promise of pizza delivery encourages DS and DS friends to think it's a good idea. As I think in general him and his friends would rather interact online but I think they need to see each other.
DD is easier and tends to be at friends or friends here. I do make all the parents aware that I am not at home.

At that age I would leave them to it. They'll arrange to meet up with friends etc. You can always book time off to make sure they do something for a little bit of the holidays. I loved being left on my own in the holidays.

There's only so much you can do at that age in any case. A lot of teens go off wanting days out with their parents even if you have the time off. I'm a miserable old cow who thinks the summer holidays are too long.

I will have AL and we always go away for a week in the summer. I could take another full week or possibly work a four-day week for the other weeks.

Not sure what the working hours would be but hopefully if flexible I would be able to start and finish work early. That's a good idea to take them out when I got home from work.

Yes SnuggyBuggy I think I'm partly in mourning for the time when they actively enjoyed coming for a day out with me, whatever my working situation. Now everywhere is "boring" apart from McDonald's and Pizza Express

Probably a good time to get a FT job to occupy my time rather than sit around at home feeling rejected

Usually I'm off due to being (mostly) term time however when I do have to work and DS11 is left alone he mostly...
Goes out with friends near to our home
Goes to football clubs (I arrange my breaks/use lunch time to ferry him back)
Plays on PS4
Watches sport on TV

@MegBusset

Yes SnuggyBuggy I think I'm partly in mourning for the time when they actively enjoyed coming for a day out with me, whatever my working situation. Now everywhere is "boring" apart from McDonald's and Pizza Express

Probably a good time to get a FT job to occupy my time rather than sit around at home feeling rejected

I think there's definitely an element of having to accept that summer holidays aren't going to be ideal at this age. I was at a school where most were bussed in so I couldn't even walk to a friends house. It was mostly weeks of computer games.

I don't know how respondible/reliable your two are but putting clear boundaries in at the start helps - can they catch the bus with friends, will they have cash to spend/waste on drinks and sweets, are there any groups of friends you don't want them to hang out with, how strict will they be on social distancing, etc, etc.? My daughter used to arrange a couple of checking-in phone calls each day from her yr7 and heaven help him if they didn't happen! It's important that they know you still care even though they have their freedom. I also agree with having them do a couple of chores each day - it will lighten your load when you get in and make you a team.

Thankfully at the moment there are no concerns about what they'll get up to and with whom - all their friends are gamers like them and no trouble at all apart from emptying the food cupboards at an alarming rate

It's easy to get the bus into town from where we live, but again neither has any real interest yet. I'm sure this will change over time and once Covid restrictions are lifted (whenever that may be )

Single parent, work full time. Leave kids alone for the 7 weeks. They entertain themselves cycling, gaming, playing football with friends. I usually take about 3 weeks annual leave split over the holidays.