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 😩

I'm with you OP, it's a nightmare.
Yes we have done the same, but all these things shut down for the 2 week christmas period, where I am anyway. Friends and family all have plans over the christmas break so getting anyone to have them is impossible.

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

One half of a high earning couple sacrificing a wage for a few days is hardly going to send them rocketing to the food bank.
Cant say the same about a child free person working in retail living in a bedsit who has to find a time and a half taxi fare there AND back to the retail park on Boxing Day because public transport wont run.

Walking is both free and good for you 👍

But not always possible.

Mmm EXACTLY So more school run parents could do this Instead of getting in their SUVs Lazy gits. Especially as people are much more likely to live near a school than an OUT OF TOWN retail park. Hoist by your own petard.

Strange tangent. Are we talking about the school run now?

If you’re in the South East, message me- I know of someone very experienced with children who is available!

For those saying they can’t believe that childminders are closed over Christmas- true, many will be available, but only to their existing families. If you usually use the nursery for the pre schoolers and school based wrap around care for the school aged child, then most childminders will say no to one off care in the Christmas holidays.

it might be worth being strategic about this and seeing if any have places for your dcs one or two days a week from October half term onwards then drop the nursery and school based wrap around care on those days, be clear when booking you’ll need care over school holidays, including Christmas.

I remember working in some jobs where the employer/staff unions used to have clubs for kids - not all day or completely free, but it meant staff could work albeit some reduced hours. A win/win for most people.

You say you don't live in a rural area.
Go to a nearby street, start knocking on doors. One will have a 16 year old delighted to earn some Christmas money.

Seriously 😂

If a stranger rang my doorbell and asked if we could help them out with Christmas childcare I would think a prank like Beadle’s About was being played on me.

Fucking hell, this thread crystallises the fact that some people totally fail to grasp that not everyone is in the same situation, and has the same options available.

It happens time and time again on here

Bottom line is if OP has no childcare she cannot work. Personally once all options are exhausted I would be phoning in sick if employers won't budge

But she does have options, they might just not be the ones that she wants. When I was a lone parent I was earning less than 25k a year, money was tight. I worked for a government service that has to be manned 24/7 so we all had to cover at least one of the key bank holiday dates over xmas. I would book an agency nanny and save throughout the year to cover it. Did I like doing this? No, of course not. But I liked having a job so I had to get on with it. When you choose to have kids, you have to make these kinds of provisions, unless you bag a term time only job. I now am not a lone parent and have more children - DH and I have different days off to cover the days between the bank holidays that the kids are home, but if we could not cover it, again I would book the agency nanny.

Yes it would seem obvious that if you use different providers it will give you more options.

I take it you're joking ?

Do you have a college near you ? I used to have a college student doing childcare but I was very part time. I did actually take her to work once when she was about 10 🙄
Can you or husband WFH at all so they are 'entertaining' the kids rather than full on care ?

Yes but you need to plan ahead for these things. I'm a lone parent so I know what it's like but if you know there's no Christmas childcare available you have to look for jobs that don't require Christmas working. That's what I had to do.

Exactly. And nurseries do not open all year. 51 weeks at most.

And childminders too. They need time off as well!

Yes but there are walks and walks. And it also depends if there's a safe walking route. Retail parks can be off dual carriageways without pavements.

Our nursery is closed for a total of 6 days - this includes the 3 bank holidays. MOST people, I say most because I know it isn't ALL, will only have to find care for the 3 working days. The nursery staff work bloody hard - often 10 hours days throughout the year - so I think they deserve a break at Christmas.

Agree.

I totally understand not wanting to give up a career because of childcare but if you both work in jobs that won't allow you to have time off at Christmas basically you need to budget for an agency nanny. Various people on this thread have suggested things like Norland but the OP doesn't seem interested

YANBU, there are never any holiday clubs on at Christmas where we live either. It's very strange, I imagine there would be plenty of demand for it.

There's very little demand for it. Even as a childminder I often work over the Christmas holiday because so few parents actually send their children in even if they're paying for it!

Same boat here OP. Nursery closed for two weeks. No childminders available and babysitters only possible for 3 or 4 hours of an evening very occasionally. Luckily my employers are flexible but it is still very stressful.