Be honest. Who worked from home while also having their DC their over Easter hols?

[Whatsgoingonwithmyhead]

Less of DC’s classmates at camps and a lot of the parents very vague about their plans.

Just wondering how common it is for people to WFH whilst also looking after their kids in the school hols these days ?

Did you do this? How old are your DC and did you get a proper days work done?

I used a mixture of camps & grandparents. Appreciate I’m fortunate to have local, helpful grandparents and I earn enough to pay for camps. I also took some annual leave. My DC is 5 and super active so no way could I work with her there!

Just interested. Not judging anyone. School holidays are long, money is tight and not everyone has family help so appreciate covering school holidays is a huge headache for lots of families

Edited to say I note the typo in the title before someone leaps on me about it!

Mine are 9 and 11 and I do this - not every day but certainly no problem for a few days here and there. Will adjust my hours some days and start early so I can finish early and take them out

Yep, but I’m a carer for my disabled child and my managers are aware that there is no suitable childcare provision that can meet his needs and they are super supportive, so I work very flexibly during the school holidays (still full time, and he’s very happy to just sit with screens for large chunks of the day - which isn’t ideal but needs must). I worked 3 days one week and 2 days the next week over Easter, using annual leave for the rest.

If DP is working I can't take mine out anyway if I am off due to disability. They can play out if they choose, or do whatever they see fit to fill their time.

My 10 year old makes things so spends loads of time crafting in the holidays and my 12 year old likes playing footie, going out with mates etc.

LOVE the people getting riled up about this. 😂
Keep moaning, and the rest of us will keep doing it.

We took Easter off work but survied covid working at home with children.

Why are you laughing at people who are annoyed at colleagues getting away with not working properly?

Me!

But mine are 7 and nearly 11 and can very much do their own thing, they can get their own drinks, wipe their own bums etc I just needed to throw food at them now and again.
They went to holiday clubs for two days though.

Below the age of 5/6 I wouldn’t do it.

My tweens/ teen refuses to go to camp (even those designed for older children) so I book the little one in and WFH.

They get too much screen time and I don't like it so I try to take half days and book most of my leave at holiday time. I ask them to make plans with friends but it seems this is too much effort.

Can't work with the little one around (not so little, age 6) as she just wants to be in the same room as me.

I mean nothing surprises me after reading the thread about people that wfh for literally 30 mins a day then put their feet up. I mainly wfh but am flat out all day so there are likely a lot of differences in terms of how ‘present’ you need to be when wfh.

Also some of us are more concerned about the children.

It's different with older ones but IRL the only people I know who do this with younger children just have their kids on screens the whole day. Ofc on here, everyone has young children who can occupy themselves all day with improving activities 🤔

If you really can't afford childcare, I guess you do what you have to do but I don't think it's a good thing

Sounds like you've got a setup that works pretty well with your disability. I'm sure your DC have a fab time crafting etc,

@CharlotteBog laughing at the ones who are assuming many people can't do their job properly. Well they do, and they save on childcare. 😆

Oh right.
I think I'll skip off then, as those people (especially if they are laughing at me) make me feeling even worse for struggling over the school holidays.

I’d say over 8 is fine for the occasional day (i’d tell my kids its a chill out/movie day) but by occasional I mean maybe once a week or twice at maximum. Its abit sad to think of a primary school child not being out and about in the fresh air in the Summer holidays. If its part-time and the parent finishes in the afternoon or just has to work a few hours, no problem at all. A primary school child inside all day in the holidays (especially the Summer) isnt ideal. If they are secondary school age, its also not a problem as they can be out with friends.

We cant work from home as dont have the option with either of our jobs, so our kids are in holiday clubs when we’re working (although we take as much annual leave as possible to cover the holidays between us). The holiday clubs we use also offer free places to low income families so hopefully those places are snapped up by people who need them.

My ds 12 had an inset day today and he's helped strip his bed. Hoover round. Prep tea and then he went out with his friend in the back yard with a ball and the dog!

@CharlotteBog Then maybe stop trying to make people feel bad for managing it. It works both ways. We all have struggles.

“I knew someone who claimed she and her husband, at the same time, did 10 hour wfh shifts all of lockdown with two children at home. At the start of the first lockdown they were just turned 1 and coming up to 3.”

@AmyandPhilipfan pretty close to what we did and it nearly killed us. We took it in turns to do 2 hours work/2 hours childcare starting from 5am every day. It was impossible to work with a 1 and 3 year old without neglecting them quite frankly. The few times we tried it, it always was a disaster which is how the hideous shift system came into being.

Yep that's what DH and I had to do. Furlough wasn't offered, we weren't considered essential so couldn't use a school space and had a 5yo at the time.
We were also in an extended lockdown area so when the rest of the country re-opened schools we didn't.

No choice but to work while also homeschooling. It was utterly crap, we were exhausted constantly. One of us would start work at 6am and work till 10am, the other would start at 10am and work till 2pm then we'd swap again so we were basically working across the hours of 6am - 10pm in 4 hr shifts and in between those shifts we were trying to do school work or find something interesting to do in the house/garden or sorting dinner, bath, bed etc

Yes I did. Mine are 11 and 14 and don't need me to do anything for them other than make their breakfast and lunch when I do mine on my break. Doesn't interfere with my work day at all, pretty sure my bosses know we all do it as our kids are older.

I have my one year old every Friday while I work. I feel zero guilt - I fit meetings around her nap and lunch.

I think most kids given the choice would rather be at home than at a camp anyway.

Dp wfh with dd (4) for 1 day the rest of the time she was with a combo of grandparents or myself. Dd is pretty good for her age she can get prepared or packaged food out of the fridge, bottled waters are easily accessible for her, she played in her room or watched tv only really asking do for help if she couldn’t open something, or she wanted a different show on. She even helped dp tidy up during his lunch break.

I did with my 6 year old but I only wfh 2 days a week. She can keep herself occupied and play on her own so I get my job done and spend my lunch break with her. My 2 year old went to the childminders I couldn’t work with him here. I’m surprised you can’t work with your 5 year old around

Primary school age I usually made sure they in camps, you can still use the child care vouchers. Attended a mix of drama, cooking, coding, active and the (cheap) council run type ones at sports centres. I tried to always do a mix from a financial aspect.

They are good children and used to us WFH but the boredom, and our jobs aren’t set you can WFH these days we may need to go into the office with short notice. It was easiest and fairer on all that they went to holiday clubs! (not financially) Also tried to flex as much as often the camps finished at 3.

Now they teenagers each of us try to at least take a day of a week and be around - otherwise they get lost into Tech and behaviour drops!

I did for a couple of days, the rest they were out and about with me /their dad or in holiday clubs. I don't tend to post their movements on social media though

I am upfront with my boss about when they are at home and she's fine with it (she does the same!), my main reason for not doing it loads is that it would be rubbish for the children. But I can easily afford holiday clubs, I would probably feel quite differently if they were a real expense.

And tbh given I kept performing and delivering during COVID I would be pissed off if work changed their tune got all dramatic about it!

For me, at the age mine are (9-14) the bigger consideration is making sure they enjoy their holidays. A few days mooching around at home is fine but i want a good balance for them