Christmas childcare!

[Christmaschildcare]

Before I had children, I thought parents wanted Christmas off because of the ‘magic’ of Christmas with children. I’m sure some do but I now realise it’s mostly because THERE’S NO FLIPPING CHILDCARE OPTIONS AVAILABLE

I have three children under six. Their school is (naturally) closed, their nursery is closed. There are no holiday clubs in our area open whatsoever. We have no one to ask - everyone either works or is in same boat as us so cannot look after THREE CHILDREN for us.

We need to find cover for two weeks. My dh can take a week, and I can take a week, so we’re lucky that we can plan to share.

but even that has been an issue for both employees. We’ve both been told we ‘need to do our part’ and ‘can’t expect to be off just because you’ve got kids’ and ‘well it needs to be fair to everyone’ etc etc.

while I agree with this in theory - in practice, what on Earth am I supposed to do for childcare? If my employer says I can’t take the week off - well, unfortunately, I will be, as I can’t leave three children at home. I’m not being difficult, I genuinely have nowhere and no one to send them to. I wish I did.

is there some magical Christmas childcare solution I’m missing? Please enlighten me 😩

It's something i would really advise people to consider before they have multiple kids

You probably should have a nanny

Some jobs offer term time, where you can have 2 - 10 weeks off per year in the hols and they pro rata pay over the year so wage is consistent. Maybe look for work somewhere that offers this.

It’s a nightmare OP. I have no idea how parents working two careers outside of the home manage with small children. I take it flexible working isn’t an option for you.
However, as somebody at the end of my career and as an employer, I’d say you probably have a lot more power than you think. (I say this to many women who struggle with this work/ life imbalance). Valued, trained employees are hard to come by. You can’t leave the kids alone. So someone has to give something. If you were sick or in hospital they’d cope. I’d approach the most senior boss I have access to, offer the best compromise I could ( WFH a couple of days over Christmas doing CPD work or paperwork if you can’t do client facing work) and if that is rejected ask what he would do in the circumstances. Christmas is meant to be about families.
Most bosses know how expensive and difficult it is to recruit good people. They’ll find a way. BTW is your husband as worried as you are about this?

🤦‍♀️

I very much appreciate the solidarity and sympathy and understanding (mostly) shown on this thread. Mumsnet can be a fab place. Thank you

I would look on a babysitting app and try to find eg a Muslim uni student or ask the nursery /school if any (especially Muslim) staff want to babysit while the nursery is closed over the holidays

Knowing when Christmas is doesn't help if your employer says you can't book it off because you had it booked off last year. A lot of workplaces don't let you just slap first dibs on the December calendar!

It could be worth speaking to teaching assistants or people that work at your child's nursery as they may well be looking to earn a bit more money while their regular employment is closed.

@Christmaschildcare

Have you had any luck with your search for a solution, OP?

If you're in London I know many childminders who work on Christmas. I'm surprised you can't find any.

It’s not unreasonable to ask for suggestions but what is unreasonable is that this wasn’t resolved months ago.
When my kids were of childcare age I knew who was looking after them for at least a year in advance, it needed to be that way so we could book our annual leave. That’s how it is for most families with young children, annual leave is often taken at different times so mum and dad can look after the kids separately on their own. If Christmas is a real problem you need to negotiate it in to your contract that you don’t work over Christmas due to childcare needs.
Also, I’ve never heard of a nursery closing for the whole Christmas period, maybe a childminder, but not every single nursery, childminder, babysitter and nanny in the WHOLE area. And no I don’t live in London.
TBH this sounds like BS, it’s more of a grumble that you’re not allowed to always take Christmas off, not a grumble that there’s no childcare over Christmas, because that’s simply not true.

Not yet but will keep going

i’m not in London.

I’d point you towards the numerous posters highlighting how what you’ve said simply isn’t true but I can sense it would be a waste of time 😊

@Christmaschildcare

Did the Norland Agency reply to your enquiry?

I was hopeful that they might be able to help you.

https://www.norland.ac.uk/register-a-vacancy/

Well at least you’ve got this year sorted, probably best you start planning for next Christmas now then.
Serious suggestion here - try working towards a promotion, the more senior you are the more your employer will want to keep you happy. I’ve not had a leave request denied since becoming part of the senior leadership team.

Have you tied asking if any of the nursery nurses at DC's nursery who are not working at nursery if they could babysit? We did this lots when my two were little. I'm sure one of them would be grateful for the extra money around Christmas.

In my experience these tend to be jobs associated with schooling/education/ children where the school holidays are quiet and so having fewer workers is not a problem and benefits the employer too.

My guess would be that OP is a medic, although equally well she and her partner might be managers of superstores etc which are never going to shut over Christmas or agree to leave for senior management. It sounds too that they are willing to work at least some of the week but need childcare to do so. It would be ridiculous for a high earning couple to sacrifice one high earning wage and presumably years of training in the sector for the rest of the year just because they can't find childcare.

For all those people saying they should have thought about it years before, a lot can happen in six years. My own dc went from having three healthy grandparents to having one terminally ill, one with dementia and one in a wheelchair. For all we know @Christmaschildcare might have had childcare lined up before having children but that is no longer available.

You’re a member of slt who can’t understand from what I’ve said that being a member of slt (which we both are) doesn’t mitigate any of the reasons why booking Christmas leave is hard?

I’ve made some subtle enquiries with nursery staff, no luck so far

@Christmaschildcare I hope you get something sorted, I understand your employers view but with kids myself I understand that you have no option but to take it off if you have no other childcare. To the people saying about your “network” really should think about possible reasons you don’t have childcare because my network consists of my MIL and that’s it as my parents and FIL are sadly no longer with us. When my oldest child was 1 I went back to work and handed in my notice and now I just do bank/agency to ensure I can take all the school holidays off, is that an option in your profession to become a contractor? If there is no solution found and they insist you can’t take it off then you have no option but to take your children with you 🤣 I’d love to see their reaction if you did that. Is there many people at work with children that require childcare? If so is it something your employer could help source? For 2 weeks over Christmas could they source childcare options for all the kids of your peers that need it even if it’s a group and hire out a local hall/facility for the 2 weeks? Hope you get a solution.

You find childcare that suits your needs & choose the school/nursery that suits the childcare. My 3 went to a school 6 miles away but their childminder served that school & I needed that childminder due to my hours. It was inconvenient as heck but needs must. Nothing has had a more positive impact on my life than my kids outgrowning the need for childcare. It shouldn't be that way.

You're coming across like a real charmer.

Have you tried any of the many suggestions from PP, like the Norland nannies? People have asked multiple times.

Just because you’ve never heard of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen! My kids are grown but ours closed for at least a week (in London) And if yours does close, you can’t simply enrol a kid into a new nursery just for Christmas!

I haven’t read the full thread. I the past I have approached the nursery staff directly. They were often happy to earn extra money babysitting. I had three of them on a 24 hour rota when I once had an emergency hospital admission.

I work in an industry where a lot of work is done over the Christmas shutdown. Pre-children I often volunteered for the Xmas and new year shifts. Partly because I didn’t need to worry about anyone else, and partly because of the extra money. Does your company offer extra cash for working unsociable shifts?

Now I see you have already approached the staff. Apologies. I’m out of ideas for this year.

Maybe you could offer to babysit a colleague’s children. It won’t help for this year, but means you could ask them to repay the favour next year!