to wonder how people manage the school holidays

[Kafri]

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.

DD starts secondary this September, I've used a mix of clubs and paid teenagers to help out. For next year we have arranged for her to help In the holiday clubs as a paid helper, she loves younger children and I will feel happier with her being there. It's only 9am - 3pm though.

I'm luck I don't have a problem with finding holiday childcare as I can take my DC to work with me because I work at a holiday club!

Our club is open 8-6 through all the school holidays, except for the week or so between Christmas Eve until after New Year. We take children from age 3 up to 17. We take children with additional needs. The cost is £2.50 per hour, so £25 for a full day. You book the actual hours needed.

I know holiday clubs like ours are less common and there is good reason for it. It is just not cost effective. No where else nearby runs a club like ours because it would not make a profit. We are a charity. Once wages, rent, insurance etc. is paid we are lucky to break even. Anything leftover gets spent on equipment and consumables for next time, but mainly we rely on donations or fund raising for those things.

I'm actually going back to Uni so that I can get a term time job. As a single mum there simply isn't any way I'd go back to work and pay a huge portion of my wages to someone else for looking after her and having the fun times instead of me!
Sounds a little extravagant but it's either that or extortionate costs and huge guilt and loss, for me at any rate! I am lucky to be able to do this, granted. This holiday has shown me just how expensive they are for some parents - holiday camps £47 per day at the cheapest 9:30-4:30 and you have to make packed lunch/take snacks.

I think childcare for 11 plus is impossible, you are expected to leave them all day and its just wrong. They dont want to go to holiday clubs with 8 yr olds yet are too young to look after themselves. I know MN will have posters who say their 12/13 yr olds love spending all day alone but I dont know any.

I've always worked crappy paid term time jobs so I'm about during the holidays, its a hard choice, but no choice sometimes.

Yes my 12yo, who was generally quite independent didn't want to spend all summer home alone, even with his Xbox!

But he wouldn't go to any kids clubs either!

It's very tricky and not cheap! I have 3 kids aged 10, 7, 4.

Week1 = #1 & #2 @ DH's parents, #3 @ childminder
Week2 = #1 & #2 @ tennis club, #3 @ childminder
Week3 = all 3 at my parents
Week4 = #1 @ basketball camp, #2 @ football camp, #3 @ childminders
Week5 = mixture of camps, friends & childminders
Week6 = me (doing a few reciprocal playdates from previous week)
Week7 = me & DH (family holiday)

It required a spreadsheet to work out the logistics and has cost us over a grand.

We're very lucky that we have parents who are willing and able to help us out, but they are getting older so we're thinking about getting an aupair for next summer.

There are often activity type PGL camps available for older kids, some private schools also do sports/dance/drama day camps.

holiday clubs sports club activity camps.
depending where you are ad on gumtree for holiday time nanny/au pair. some teaching assistants/newly qualified teachers who work term time only are keen to do extra work in holidays.

build local babysitting circle now get to know local babysitters / childminders

ssd, short of retraining as a teacher, which I don't want to do because I'd be crap at it, we can't afford for me to work term-time only as I'm a lone parent so if there's not enough money coming in then we starve. It's all a bit shit, really.

Also, and I know I'm being really really unreasonable in this, but I get fucked off with the sahms I know who take up holiday club places for their kids. You don't fucking need them! Sure, it must be nice to get your nails done in peace for the millionth time that week, but if I don't get a place, I can't get to work. Fuckers.

Surely you just book early if you are desperate for a place? I've used holiday club while I'm not working because DC enjoy it.

Meh. I'm just grouchy because I've been paying out childcare for years and there are no easy fixes. I do think it's a bit shitty though to use a scarce amenity just because you feel like it when other people need it in order to live.

DS isn't keen on the school holiday club, and this summer his school have decided to have 9 weeks summer holidays.

This summer the pattern has been:

• First week sports club - which he liked yay, so that's on the list for next yeat
• Five weeks parental leave - fab no childcare issues, build up childcare credits with other parents
• Last week and this week - mixture of DS going to friends, couple of days at holiday club, and 17 year old nephew is here at the minute and is honing DS's x-box skills ( seriously we are very grateful)
• Next week ( week 9!!) - I have taken off work, which isn't going down brilliantly due to just returning from parental leave

Oh btw DH is a contractor so we lose a lot of money if he takes time off - part of parental leave period was family holiday.

Not sure what we're going to do next year, actually I say we but I appear to be the only one getting grey hair over this. I'm hatching a plan involving using my US cousins daughter, but will be very costly for air fares and spends.

I also switched from a good career to a crappy low paid job that fits around the kids.

Cruikshand - I'm kind of with you.

There's a really hard to get into sports camp that's run by one of the other schools, they price it competitively as they want parents to see the facilities. Ironically the only DCs that seem to go on it are those of SAHMs as you have to ring up as soon as the booking process opens which is usually 9.00am on a Monday morning.
I'm also jealous of anyone whose DC willingly goes to a holiday/sports club activity when they have the option not to.

Childminder is our plan (Ds1 starts school in 2 weeks!). He's been there since he was a baby. She'll do drop off and pick ups in term time and all day in holidays bar her 5 weeks annual leave. So we'll coordinate hols with her for the most part and alternate so we can keep a few days back for sickness etc. I've worked out what we expect to use over the year and will divide tgat by 12, pay monthly by DD so we don't get the shock of a sudden massive bill in the holidays.
I'm a big fan of childminders

We don't have family around to help, never have so we've always thrown money at it. However, we are forutnate in that where we are, there is plenty of choice of holiday clubs, DC's school have one, as does neighbouring school plus a specific childcare company who run club sessions out of several neighbouring schools. There is also Forest schools, sports clubs, gymnastics clubs etc, all with 8/8.30-6/6.30pm schedules. Like another poster, we have the luxury of mixing it up a bit so that the DC don't get bored at the same setting.

Cost wise, it's relative. Compared to nursery fees, they are far less of a strain on pockets! We bank childcare vouchers throughout the year to cover them. Some of the activities give early booking discounts if you book several months in advance. Can mean the difference between paying £30 a day and £25 a day sometimes.

Lastly, we take it in turns with our leave, DH gets a decent chunk of leave, as do I luckily so this year, it's been 2 weeks at holiday club and camp, 1 week family holiday, 1 week of DH at home, 2 weeks of me at home. We alternate for half terms and Xmas too.

It's all the random mid-morning and early afternoon invitations to schools, special assemblies, sports days etc that we find harder to accommodate. Having said that our school is better than most from what I can see. The head actively tries to accommodate the needs of working parents so for important things like plays, they try and do two three performances thereby increasing the chances of being able to attend at least one.

It's a juggling act though, but you get used to it and it becomes normal after a while. Have to say I am dreading the point when DD1 is too old for camp/holiday clubs but too young to be left alone! I remember being in charge of my younger sisters from age 12/13 when my parents went to work but this no longer the done thing....

I totally get why you'd be pissed off seeing all the SAHM's put their kids into holiday kids club so they could have even more time to piss around by themselves, as if all term wasnt enough....its a bit like I've stopped putting stuff into the charity shops round here as I know people who are well off go into them to pick up a bargain when they're bored, and I'd rather my stuff was getting used by someone who needs it.

I wouldn't make my kids miss out on a club they want to do just in case someone else didn't get round to booking a place in time.

The children that come to me (childminder) in the holidays seem to do a combination of family holiday, visit to grandparents, maybe a week at a holiday club and the rest with me. Some come for the whole holiday, others just a few days, or a couple of weeks. I do have a couple of secondary school children who come here, but they also have some days at home, alone or with a friend.

It's been said before on MN and I couldn't agree more.. When your children get to that tricky age (11 ish) when they've outgrown holiday clubs and childminders but still need some level of supervision, a local older teenager/uni student is ideal.

Even if you're not based in a university city or town, there are likely to be students home for the summer. They need the money, and it's also good for their cv, particularly if they are wanting to go into any sort of career where they'll work with children or young people.
It's also exactly what an 11 year old wants... A cool older person of around 19/20 to hang out with. We paid a student who was home for the summer and it was great. As our eldest had reached the stage of Lying in bed til late morning, the student would arrive when I set off for work, and then have several hours sitting downstairs writing her dissertation until dd1 got up! In the afternoons they'd go shopping, to the cinema or just chill at home. I can't recommend it highly enough for when the kids are at that stage of needing an adult Around but not 'looking after' them as such. Our younger ones continued in childcare until they too reached 11 or so.

When you don't have family around you have to put yourself out there and find solutions . It's not easy but tbh it's so much cheaper than all year round care

How did you find your student 32 and how did you pay her - the thought of having to set up a payroll would put me off

I was going to advertise locally, but didn't need to in the end as I found her by asking around.
I paid on the same basis as we used to pay for babysitters, so no payroll needed. We just paid her an hourly rate for the days we needed. She came to our house, so no need for her to be registered with ofsted. Think of it as how you would pay a babysitter when you go out for the evening.
Obviously you couldn't employ someone like that as a permanent arrangement, but when you take out annual leave, you're probably talking about a month or so in the summer, so that's probably 20 days.

Rookie - is 9 weeks off a private school.???? Round us there are clubs for drama, arts, swimming, tennis and all sorts - surely there is more than one by you or are you very rural?
We are urban and there must be 30-40 different camps within 3 miles at least. Costs £18-50 per day 8am-6pm

Does that mean she was self-employed 32?

Inky yes it's private - apparently the 9 week thing is a 5 year blip and next year it's back to 8 weeks.

There are a lot of summer holiday clubs however a) a lot of them run 10-2 or daft times that are of no use to a working parent and b) DS will only go if he has a friend going. Up until last year it was fine - bunged him off to holiday club, but now he's 9 he just wants to be at home relaxing which I totally get.