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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask those of you with school age kids

76 replies

IceAndLemonPlease · 06/11/2023 17:55

Primary aged, what do you do for before and after school care?
DD’s grandma will take care of her beginning of the week then DH the latter.

OP posts:

ReadyForPumpkins · 06/11/2023 20:09

Childminder before covid. None after because we WFH and the children are older. Secondary DC1 is our backup for pick up if we both have meetings. I’m so glad the days of rushing home to pick up is over. Childminder was better than nursery because she’s more flexible over traffic problems on the motorways.

Glittertwins · 06/11/2023 20:12

I rearranged my starting time at work to do drop offs and used after school club in the evenings.

IWasFunBeforeMum · 06/11/2023 20:17

2 days either partner gets them or my parents if he's working (on call job so no routine!) and I do the other 3.

lavenderlou · 06/11/2023 20:18

When mine first started primary there was no on-site provision at school. I worked part time and covered the other 3 days with a mix of an off-site provider and a childminder. School then opened on-site wraparound, operated by a private provider. I went back to work full-time when DC2 was in Year 2 and they went to breakfast and after school club every day.

Zelda93 · 06/11/2023 20:18

I do drop off as work from home and then have a childminder for pick ups and school holidays .. couldn't do what I do without her!!

BitofaStramash · 06/11/2023 20:19

Pre pandemic and early primary I paid for breakfast and after school club.

Post pandemic (age 8 and above) they got the bus to and from school and we wfh.

Heatherbell1978 · 06/11/2023 20:20

Breakfast and after school clubs although DS is 9 now and walks home a few days by himself. Every now and again DH or I take them or collect depending on our work schedules. We're lucky our wrap around provider is quite flexible.

RedCoffeeCup · 06/11/2023 20:21

Mine are secondary now, but when they were at primary I picked them up two days (I was working part time), my parents did one day and they went to after school club two days.

Marmite27 · 06/11/2023 20:23

I start work at 6am, DH at 9am, we live 5 minutes walk from school.

I finish at 2:30pm, DH finished at 5:30pm.

DH does drop off, I do pick up. They have school clubs twice a week, but they’re more for enrichment than child care, and they only extend the school day by an hour. Cost of £1.50 per child per club.

There is a breakfast club, from 8am, which is £2 per day. They go occasionally, when we can’t stand the begging any longer.

LeedsZebra90 · 06/11/2023 20:23

My dh and I both work part time so do all drop offs and pick ups bar one. the one day we both work til 5 they go to my mums for tea straight from school.

Occasionally we use ad hoc after school/breakfast club.

Marmite27 · 06/11/2023 20:24

DH works from home, I do hybrid, but my office is only 10 minutes drive from school for office days.

Mumof2teens79 · 06/11/2023 20:24

We had a childminder who did the school run ( same child minder had DD2 from being 18 months) until they were both in juniors. Then we switched to breakfast and after school club run by the school because it worked better with any extra curricular sports and activities and they liked to spend the extra time with their school friends.

Chickenkeev · 06/11/2023 20:29

Used to use afterschool cub. I'm at home now so don't need it anymore. Found it a bit tough, as the homework wasn't easy with a tired 5/6 year old when they got home, but on the whole, it was a good solution where there are no other available options.

PurpleFlower1983 · 06/11/2023 20:29

Husband works freelance/part time
so he is there most of the time, we use breakfast club/grandparents/after school club occasionally when necessary.

raven0007 · 06/11/2023 20:31

Single parent, I drop 3yo off at 7:30 to private childcare, 10yo to breakfast club at 8am, I run to catch the 8:17 train to make it to work to start at 9. My 16yo finishes work and picks 10yo up from after school club, I run to catch the train to get to 3yo nursery before closing.

Yuja · 06/11/2023 20:35

DH and I both wfh for 3-4 days a week and have enough flexibility to do the school runs between us.

SockQueen · 06/11/2023 20:42

I do compressed hours so work FT in 4 days, so I do one day of school runs.

PiL pick up one afternoon a week and look after DC in our house.

DH does the rest - he works very flexibly so morning drop off never a problem, and he has reduced his hours so he can collect after school on the remaining 3 days a week.

mindutopia · 06/11/2023 20:44

Dh and I both work flexibly and do it all. We do actually have breakfast and after school club at our current school, but when dd started (different school, different area), there was nothing, not even a childminder who collected from her school. We have no family help, so it’s always been just us. I work 4 days a week/5 short days, Dh is self employed, and we just juggle the school runs between us depending on who is most busy.

SayYesToTheWrapDress · 06/11/2023 20:46

I work part time. So on my "days off" I drop and collect at normal times. Three days a week they go to breakfast and afterschool club. Only issue with this is the school don't have enough wraparound places for all the parents who need to use it, so it's a termly scramble to return the booking forms as fast as humanly possible. Not sure what I will do if we ever don't get the slots we need...

TheStoryof10 · 06/11/2023 20:59

I work 9.30am - 2.30pm so I drop off and collect. I often look for a new job with the plan to use breakfast and after school club but for now this works too well to change it I think.

TheMoth · 06/11/2023 21:07

Childminder and after school club, as breakfast club didn't open until 8.

Kids were made up once they got to high school, in spite of having to walk a fair old distance in all weathers, because they got to be home by 4 and chill, instead of by 6.

Sartre · 06/11/2023 21:09

Breakfast and after school club. It was a precursor when choosing the school, if it didn’t have wraparound care he would have had to go to another even though it’s on our street. We’d be stuck without it, we don’t have grandparents on hand to help out.

Fairospop22 · 06/11/2023 21:12

After school club in a couple of days. then husband and I share pick up drop
pffs. No grandparents help from us sadly despite both sets helping our siblings with childcare

boomtickhouse · 06/11/2023 21:14

Usually juggle it. I'm default drop off, if I travel for work then DH may be able to do it. Or friends or ad hoc breakfast club.

After school we have 1 grandparent night, 1 after school club night and juggle the others between us / going to friends for tea (we reciprocate other weeks)

OuiOuiMonAmiJeMappelleLafayette · 07/11/2023 01:14

When we had just one, we both worked 5 days but had a different day off during the week so only needed nursery 3 days and we worked opposite weekend days so no childcare needed at weekends. At school age, we used wraparound for 3 days. Then when we had the younger 2 it was cheaper for me not to work. Also meant we didn't have to worry if the children were ill and they always had someone to attend plays or school events during the day. H changed his job to weekdays only so we had the weekend together which was lovely. Now the kids are older I work part time with flexible hours and he works full time with a bit of WFH. We've never had family to help out with childcare, so just had to make it work between us.

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