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 😩

Used a neighbours dc back from university, was our babysitter before they went and were quite happy to come and hang out in our house rather than being with his parents for beer money, they were both school age though, harder to get care for under 5's as you actually have to look after them as opposed to ensuring they don't kill each other!

Sounds like you're asking to take a week each all in one block. Your employer seems like they'll help as long as it's fair to others.

You might have to do a late shift on Xmas day and your DH an early or whatever but be able to take leave on the less popular surrounding days.

It’s a moot point as neither of us are quitting, and the country really needs us not to (as a side point) but it is interesting actually - if I quit, my team are no better off, someone would still need to cover Christmas regardless- so no one actually wins! Same for dh. And then they’d struggle for the time they’d be trying to replace us, so it would be even worse for the teams.

Might be best staggering days with DH instead of a week in one go

We’re not London unfortunately 😩

I think YABU because

A) you chose the jobs/careers you have presumably? and therefore would have known those industries didn't close over Christmas.

B) you chose to have 3 children under 6 while in those jobs. Presumably looking into childcare was part of your decision was it not?

C) your childcare situation is not an employers problem. If there are no suitable childcare options then one of you needs to look at an alternative job/employer with more favourable Christmas holiday arrangements.

Actually OP if you have a 3 kids including baby plus a spare room you might be able to get a Norland trainee. A lady I know vaguely from nursery had one for a bit.

when I mentioned staggered days rather than a block I was told ‘the principle is the same, we can’t guarantee time off’. Which I get, obviously, but I still can’t make work, hence this post.

i really really appreciate everyone’s suggestions and I will be looking into them all!

What do you do? Are you able to do different hours for those weeks? (E.g. DH starts work at 6 and finishes at at 3, you start at 3 and finish at 11?). What will your employer do if you just say you have absolutely no options?

Ahh ok then. I'd still try ringing round some nanny agencies and seeing if they'll do short term care - or messaging a few nannies on childcare.co.uk who are currently not with a family.

In my experience there's a lot larger supply of nannies than childminders/nurseries - so I reckon you'll find someone (if you don't care about cost)

Nanny or childminder.

Have you spoken to every childminder in your area? Your council can give you a list.

Try Bubble and Sitters as well as local nanny agencies.

i never had a nursery who was open during the Xmas/new year time. Summer yes but Xmas. It's pretty standard for them to close.

You are definitely not being unreasonable. It's an insane situation. Like you say, the cover just isn't there.

But a lot of people who don't have kids really don't care. So here you are.

I'd be tempted, once I'd exhausted all options like flexi, unpaid leave, camps, wfh opinions, to go off sick. I await my flaming for that, but what else can you do?

I was about to mention Norland Nanny Trainees, I know they always welcome short term placements. What about asking the nursery staff? Some of them might be willing to work to supplement their income.

Do the children not have any grandparents? OK they might not live with you but could you invite them to stay with you.

It's a while since mine were in nursery, but they were never closed for 2 weeks; it was usually the week covering Xmas, Boxing Day, the bank holidays and the odd one or two days to make it a full week off.

As pp said, you can also get a list of childminders from the local council website and just email them all. But I'd try nannies first if I was you - think easier for your kids to be at home for a week than to adjust to an entirely new setting for a v short time

Your employment contract requires you to work over Christmas.

You have children and have apparently exhausted all childcare options. This is not your employers problem to solve.

You have two options, find childcare or find another job that fits with your life choices 🤷‍♀️

Unilaterally deciding you are taking a holiday because you have no childcare is not an appropriate option and something that you might/should be appropriately disciplined for, potentially leading to termination of your contract.

Could you ask other parent friends what their arrangements are? Just in case you've missed a holiday club that is open?

Try any local private schools? They often run holiday clubs as their holidays are so long!!

See, the tone of this just makes you come across as an arse. You have sprogs and can’t find a solution so everyone else has to pick up the slack, but whatever, you’re ok!
Others have said what they do, if there are no options in your area maybe you need to move.

If OP goes off sick she will loose all respect from her colleagues.

Some people have no grandparents as they are dead, decrepit or not interested.

I know it's shocking!

I always knew from your FWR posts I liked you 😉

It is a nightmare, SIL nurse, hubby in army. I have the boring 9-5 ish so run an open door policy for their brats and cats.

Given it's October would there be an opportunity to ask your colleagues, local childminders etc if they have any availability or contacts.

I know we managed to get a childcare worker who wasn't travelling home one year when we had a medical emergency.

Perhaps a Nanny would be a better all year round solution. If you have room for them to be a live in position you can recruit from outside your local area if you don't have many local nannies available.

Using a Nanny all year round would probably work better than just trying to find someone for times like Christmas.

Alternatively organisations like Sitters.com could be a way to source emergency childcare.

Good luck.