To think that my 10 and 8 year olds could provide limited childcare?

[RHTawneyonabus]

I’m glad the schools are off next week, our nanny is self isolating and DH and I are trying to WFH with a two year old.

I’ve suggested it will be helpful to have the older kids around as a short of short term childcare solution. I’m envisaging they could spend and hour or so playing with the train set or just generally entertaining him while I sit nearby and power through my emails.

DH has reacted as if I’ve proposed sending them down a mine, but it doesn’t seem very unreasonable to me....

It’s fine
I spent many hours in my childhood entertaining my toddler siblings

I think you need to have a (very strong) word with yourself. You and your husband have three children and need to find a way to parent all of them. Children shouldn’t be looking after other children.

My 7yo and 3yo played for 2 hours in the next room today while I WFH. They were fine. Go for it

It's not really childcare is it, it's playing with their sibling! I've always asked my older children to entertain their younger siblings while I cook dinner/take a shower/have a cup of tea! If I started calling it babysitting I'm sure they'd suddenly start refusing.

At 10, I often played with/looked after younger relatives. Plus you're in the same house or room as them. It's not a massive responsibility.

Great idea, make a rota, an hours play with each older child in the morning, you and your dh take different lunch hours, then nap and film in the afternoon. Nothing wrong with that.

Erm it’s not childcare, it’s playing with their sibling. What could possibly be wrong with that?

If you are in the house, and able to deal with major issues, it's fine.

If its leaving them along for 8+hours while you go to work, it's not suitable,

I know you are thinking the first option, so its fine.

Nothing wrong with that. Playing with their younger sibling for a couple of hours is good for all of them.

Sounds OK. My 70's village school had top year look after other classes at wet lunchtimes & never any issues (prob not legal now)!

How is playing with a sibling even remotely like childcare?

Anyway, there's 7.5 years between my eldest and his younger sibling. He absolutely loved 'playing big brother' while I went and had a quick bath, or started dinner.

It's just what siblings do.

Laughing my head off at @Mistletorpor post

My 6 and 5 year old have been playing with their nearly two year old sibling ALL DAY LONG! I managed to do the dishes, fold some clithes and have a wee in that time! But don't worry, dear, I'll have a word with myself as to not use my children as childcare again.
Fuck the biscuit- you need cake.

I think you need to have a (very strong) word with yourself. You and your husband have three children and need to find a way to parent all of them. Children shouldn’t be looking after other children.

Utter rubbish!

Older siblings have kept an eye on the younger ones for centuries while their parents were in the next room.

For most, it's a great bonding experience and the kids love the feeling of (albeit extremely limited) responsibility.

Not to mention feeling like they've done something nice/helpful for their parents.

It’s absolutely fine. They can all play together. I love it when DD (5)’s cousins come round. They bugger off upstairs and I stare into space

It's not like you're 10 miles away. Just make sure that you and your DH take it in turns to be on alert. If he objects to having to do that and thinks you, specifically, should stop work to be fully involved, then he needs to have a word with himself.

Is your husband proposing to sit with the two-year-old on his lap, then?

I think you need to have a (very strong) word with yourself. You and your husband have three children and need to find a way to parent all of them. Children shouldn’t be looking after other children.

This is the craziest thing I have read on MN all week.

She is talking about having the older ones helping out with the little one in the general course of family life, not about the parents going off and working in the cotton mill while the oldest sibling pushes a pram full of toddlers around in the streets all day long like something out of Twopence To Cross The Mersey.

Of course that's fine, that's just normal family life regardless of working from home.

A more controversial question for this thread might be: to what extent will (should) secondary school aged teenagers provide childcare for younger children during this period? I am talking about actually keeping the kids with them while the parents are out of the house.

So your husband thinks it's not ok for siblings to play together?

I thought you were suggesting that your 10 and 8 year open a creche on their own to look after random kids! Of course they can play with their sibling while you are in the same room, that isn't childcare!

It’s possibly ok , for an hour or two to allow older siblings to entertain younger siblings , but in the long term, what are your plans? Will you be able to ensure that all your children access their distance learning packages ? Do you plan to just leave your children to look after themselves without supervision?

Of course it’s fine! It might be a bit much to ask them to entertain the two year old all day, but for an hour or two, or even longer, fine!

Of course it's fine. I loved playing and taking care of my baby brother. I was 8 when he was born and I fed and changed him when he was a bit older, at times. Mum was around and in fact all my older siblings use to fight over who got to spent time 'mothering' him. I don't know why anyone would think it's not ok for a hour or so as long as you are always on hand if the need you

My DB has a 2 year old and will often expect my DS’s to entertain/mind them. He does not understand that at 8 and 9 they’re not old enough to be responsible for a 2 year old.