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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder how people manage the school holidays

150 replies

Kafri · 15/08/2015 22:34

as in, childcare wise.

DS is still in nursery but I quite often wonder how the heck I'll cover the school holidays once he gets to school.

Obviously dh and I can try to book holidays from work to cover as many as possible but what do you all do for the weeks you can't book as leave etc.

I know IABU to worry about this right now but I can't seem to help it. GrinGrin

OP posts:
Philoslothy · 15/08/2015 23:18

This was why I went into teaching, best decision I made for my family

bettyberry · 15/08/2015 23:21

Work from home, make pennies. Most of the holidays I can't work but DS's DLA keeps us ticking over and I squirrel away money from sept - july. Xmas I usually have off (no one bugs me for work at xmas) and Easter I have to pay for childcare.

I hate it. Holidays are so limiting for me. Little chance to socialise.

Cardbordeaux · 15/08/2015 23:23

I'm a childminder, one of my mindees is before/after school in term time and all day in school holidays. Obviously holidays cost more as they're here for more hours, to save the parents being hit with a big bill I spread the cost over the whole year so they pay the same each month regardless (then any additional hours here and there get added onto the monthly invoice as per contract). It works out as 39wks at £70 p/wk plus 13 weeks at £175 a week, the total for the year is £417 a month/£96 a week. It makes things easier for me as I have a set income and makes things easier for them as they have a set fee.

dixiechick1975 · 15/08/2015 23:23

Most difficult bit is when they first start school as many holiday clubs don't start until 5 or older. It is also easier to leave older kids in clubs.
I try and use a mix of clubs for variety for DD. If your DC do activities then there may be clubs attached to them - dancing in DD's case.
Alot is very much word of mouth - ask people at school, work, kids activities what they are doing. Look out for flyers and banners outside churches/sportscentres etc. Holiday Childcare in x area could be my mastermind specialist subject!
I work part time which helps - alot of childcare is 9-3
So far this summer my DD has done
1 week with us on holiday visiting family - annual leave
1 week on holiday at her grandmas
1 week dance camp £55 for the week 8.30-3.30
3 weeks of 3 days at school based childcare 8.30 to 5 but £21.50 a day. Includes day trips. Childcare swap with a mum at school - I have her DD Fri, She has mine Monday.
1 weeK ballet school £80 10-4pm
last 3 days with me annual leave

The summer holidays are the easiest to cover.Lots of childcare camps running. The other school holidays have less in my experience, none if your school is out of step with others locally.

October we go on holiday
December - grandma's house then me annual leave

dixiechick1975 · 15/08/2015 23:26

We have salary sacrifice childcare vouchers that we save monthly and use to pay a big chunk of childcare in summer. Clubs that don't take vouchers I tend to book and pay for early - May time so no bill in summer. Summer is expensive anyway - days out, holidays.

lavenderhoney · 15/08/2015 23:45

I'm a single parent. No help at all ( my parents have passed away and ex dh lives overseas. I work from home quite a bit, and the DC go to an sports club run by England coaches and subsided to £12 a day ( 9-3)

I also use an art camp. It depends on what the DC at primary age are into, tbh. I have two weeks hols now and will just take the holidays they have off thoughout the year or knock it off my holiday. I do this with their sickness too. I currently owe a few days (!) but hope to claw it back.

ThereIsIron · 15/08/2015 23:53

Who's minding him after school until you get home from work?

TheFormidableMrsC · 16/08/2015 00:14

Childminder. Hence no holidays and spent more paying her than I earned, it was just how it was. I got through....just....

TawnyPippit · 16/08/2015 00:30

How do holiday clubs work for people (genuinely interested?)

Round here they seem to operate 9.30-3.30'ish. I'm office based, central London, 50 mins commute - so that would get me in to work at 10.30am and I'd have to leave at 2.30pm.

Both DH and I work for employers who love to talk about new agile working patterns. I think that means - "by all means go to Sports Day, then time shift and cover that work later in the day from home". But not "Summer holidays? Sure, lovely to see you between 10.30 and 2.30 for the next 8 weeks".

lavenderhoney · 16/08/2015 00:49

I work mostly from home and also work for an enlightened company who don't mind I go and collect the DC and I make uo my hours. For instance, although I'm officially on vacation now til term time, I have to put together a strategy for company sale in a few years. Actually, I dont have the head space with my personal challenges atm, and when the DC have gone to bed ( late as its hols) I want to chill. Can't say no though:(

Fwiw they love the clubs, i live in quite a rural location and they have lots of friends there. I don't feel guilty because they ask to go. But I'm off now so it's going to be lovely:)

FishWithABicycle · 16/08/2015 02:27

Dh and I both work full time year-round. This summer holidays (6 weeks - 30 work days) are being covered by:

5 days at expensive (brilliant activities) holiday club held at local private school @ £44 per day

5 days at more normal holiday club (run by same people as do after school club) @ £25 per day

3 days of my annual leave, during 1 of which I am also looking after a schoolfriend.

3 days of Dh annual leave, during 2 of which he is also looking after same schoolfriend.

3 days where same schoolfriend's parents are looking after both kids.

2 days with 1 set grandparents
2 days with other set grandparents

7 days away on family holiday (excl weekend days).

The holiday clubs can be paid for with same vouchers scheme that you are currently using for nursery presumably so actual cost is significantly less.

FishWithABicycle · 16/08/2015 02:33

TawnyPippit the clubs we use have core hours 9:30 to 3:30 but have add on "wrap around care" where you can extend the care to start at 8:00 and end at 6:00 but it is understood that the dc will not be doing the cool activities in the extended time slots but just doing free play or watching videos. Any club that doesn't offer this isn't aimed at working parents.

mimishimmi · 16/08/2015 06:21

You pay for care.

Relying on friends or the parents of your children's friends to do it is just a bad idea unless it can be completely reciprocated. Which means you would want to find someone in a similar situation, not someone who you are just assuming has a totally flexible schedule. This means you'd need to have days free to reciprocate as well so full-timers are better off paying for care. Don't be one of those annoying parents who suddenly becomes extra friendly at the school gate a couple of weeks before the holidays. It's so obvious and makes it much worse when they imply you should do it because paying for fulltime holiday care is way too expensive (aka they expect you to do it for free and don't think your time is worth paying you for).

It's great if grandparents offer but many are also still working/have health issues.

jelliebelly · 16/08/2015 07:55

A mixture of annual leave for me and dh (not necessarily at the same time though), my mum and dad, friends sharing turns, holiday activity clubs and some working from home days - we manage and kids love the variety!

fourtothedozen · 16/08/2015 08:10

I gave up my career and became self employed -working from home.

shebird · 16/08/2015 08:19

2 weeks annual leave
Some days reciprocal childcare with friends
Wonderful MIL

florentina1 · 16/08/2015 08:23

My GKs are picked up by a childminder after school. They chose one who would be willing to do odd weeks/days to help out during school holidays.

It helps that she is flexible and she likes doing it because the extra money means she can do more things with her own children the she could otherwise afford.

JenniferYellowHat1980 · 16/08/2015 08:23

I'm a teacher, and although I'd like to change careers and nearly did this year, the pros just about outweigh the cons. It does mean that I never get a proper break, but that's true of all parents I think.

CMOTDibbler · 16/08/2015 08:31

No family help at all here, and as we work FT you can't swap with other parents as the time we have off is our precious holiday together time.
So its holiday club, and then two weeks off together, which is pretty much our only time off all together in the year.

The summer holidays are by far the easiest to cover as there are so many things on, half terms are much harder to cover. So we take leave for those (sometimes split, sometimes one of us has the whole week), and bits around christmas, easter, and then summer holiday.

I confess to having massive envy of those who have parents wishing to look after the children for them in the summer. My parents have carers looking after them, and the pil aren't interested - as in, they have never in 9 years had ds for the day or even a few hours.

Lightbulbon · 16/08/2015 08:39

The after school cares holiday club was great! It was only £16 pd and they did lots of activities/trips 8-6.

That was a few years ago thought I imagine the cost is more like £30+ now.

I had 6 weeks of holidays in my job so that covered bits of the holidays. Long weekends/in service days etc tend to be sent to grannies.

I've offered to do childcare swaps with other parents but most seem not to need/want it. They are either self employed or have jobs at different times of days or use extended families or don't take holidays at the same time.

Actually harder than full day holidays I found the first few weeks where they are only in 3 hours- now that was a nightmare to find childcare for!

Lightbulbon · 16/08/2015 08:39

Oh and I claimed tax credits for the childcare so it didn't cost me the full price.

Turquoisetamborine · 16/08/2015 08:41

I'm on maternity at the moment but I dropped from 4 to 3 days a week to help cope with the school holidays. We have the option of term time working but it's selfishly held onto by older workers with children who are long past needing childcare so this was the only compromise we could come up with.
My FIL has kids every Monday and the other two days my husband works alternate shifts which cover those days every other week. I also have 6 weeks holiday to take which covers some of the time.
The rest is with help from other family or holiday clubs as a last resort.

Lancelottie · 16/08/2015 08:50

Well, quite, Tawny -- round here every 'holiday camp' starts at 10 a.m. and finishes at 3 or 4 depending on activity. Worked just fine for me if it's reasonably local, as I work from home and would pick them up, drop in front of a DVD and ignore for an extra hour or two, but no use at all for those doing a full day elsewhere.

These days they just sleep till noon anyway and I look up in surprise when I realise there's a looming teenager in my office.

Lancelottie · 16/08/2015 08:53

I quite like the sound of the wrap-around care described by Fish above -- but clubs round here don't seem to offer it.

Friends down the road have used a brilliant local teacher/cub leader who rampages round the local woods with their two and his own two for hours.

neepsandtatties · 16/08/2015 08:58

I don't know how commuting parents manage either. I live in commuter belt but all holiday clubs are 9.30 til 3.30 or 10 til 4. Fine for me, as I work from home for a flexible employer so I can pop out and pick them up (in fact my employer has no idea that this is what I do!) but it would be impossible if both my husband and I commuted to London. We would have to use a childminder, which would really rack up the costs.

Holiday care is one of the reasons I dropped my hours from 4 days a week to 3 days per week, just makes the whole thing easier to manage with one less day to worry about.