to think I can get by without childcare in August because work is quiet?

[isitPeri1]

Every August, work slows down massively. It has always been this way. There is barely anything coming in, hardly any meetings or deadlines, and most of my team is off. My manager and her manager are both away for the whole of August, so it is very unlikely anything urgent will come up.

I have primary school-aged kids and I am thinking I might skip childcare this year. I usually only have about one to two hours of work a day in August, and some days there is literally nothing to do at all. Anything that does come up, I can usually fit around the kids early in the morning or after they have gone to bed. I have proper annual leave booked for September when they are back at school, so I will get a proper break then.

Has anyone else done this? Just managed without childcare when work was super quiet?

If your employer has a policy about it, then no, I wouldn’t do it.

Not necessarily everyone in the company, but everyone in particular roles within the company, yes.
I can't answer for OP, but I do recall having similar dilemmas about the absolute necessity of keeping booking holiday clubs which cost me upwards of £50 a day to cover 8-6, for the 'just in case' I am needed moments when my kids were similar age.
I work for a company with a global presence, in a global role. My hours are fully flexible all year round, according to business need.
No one blinks at me taking time out during the day, because sometimes I am on calls well into the night or very early, depending on what geography I am working with. Or like last week, when I was on leave, but had to take my laptop with me so I could sign off on something for one of my team, which was meant to be done the week before, but didn't happen and the business was not going to accept it being delayed until this week.

Yup! It's deliberately lazy. There's no way on earth I would give 100% to my employer who's investors live on yachts on Palm Beach.

I save on childcare, spend time with the kids and save my annual leave for when I have date days with DH or go out with friends. The Europeans also have quite a lot of holiday days,so it's not an apples to apples comparison - my colleagues in France get 6 weeks of leave. If that were me, then I'm sure I would take off some of Aug, but as such, I don't.

Correct, the work is building up.

My stance on that: If I have to wait for one month for the projects to move whilst everyone else swans off on holiday, they can wait for one week in Sept whilst I'm on my own break, at least it's not a month! (My manager actually said this the other day.)

This is quite sad for your kids - take a week or long weekend off & take them away!

They are away now with DH.

They will be taken out everyday during August.

Being a child of the 70s we were not entertained all summer holidays either. Just out with friends etc or entertained yourselves.

You don’t have to have a month long constructed Disney land for whole of August. It’s not a shame for the kids it’s totally ok.

People Have lost the plot.

This is why Id like to know what op does. She still hasnt told us. Pretty sure the boss wouldn’t actually be happy.

Nothing further to add, other than - it is completely irrelevant.

1. it isn't the OP's problem. It works like that now and she is in a position to use it. Not using it now wouldn't have much influence on the company's health in a few years and there is no guarantee that the OP will be still there no matter what she does now.

2. actually, this might be close to optimal solution - majority is taking the annual leave, but someone still needs to be around.
   The one person who doesn't have any annual leave is actually happy with the setup.

3. senior people should have experience with dealing with reality. Reality is never optimal and you can change only so many things in the same time.

But not everyone in the company will do the same thing. Some departments may well carry on as normal, others may be down to skeleton staff - others may even close completely. Not every single member of staff has to have the ability to do the same thing at the same time. Very few businesses work like that.

RTFT. The boss has said it's absolutely fine.

Wonder what the problem is then? Apparently the OP has been allowed to take their children out all day, her colleagues have different jobs so don't mind that they would have to book leave to do the same, the children are old enough to entertain themselves during an email or phone-call. What's the issue then? Clearly the boss does not know, it isn't typical practice, and we are all arguing amongst ourselves.😆

If asked by work, would you be lying about it? If so, then it isn't worth it.

Thread has moved on. The manager said it is ok.

Why would you take leave when they are back at school and not when they are off? No, just on principle. You’re at work. Paid to work, not go to the park.

Why not?

Manager said it is fine.

Essentially, you'll be either letting your employer or your kids down. This might be an acceptable plan for a couple of days, but not an entire month! I personally couldn't live with the guilt/stress! I'd really regret it when they returned to school too.

You have primary age children and you've booked annual leave for when they are back at school?

Is that not allowed?

Obviously.
But personally, I would book my holidays to share with my children, that's why I had them.

Good for you.

OP is going to go out with her children everyday.

It's funny how other threads encourage people to take time for themselves, but when an OP is doing just that, people are rushing to criticise

It's technically possible- but if anything goes wrong or something important comes up you might lose your job. Also every office I have ever worked in has been full of people who would make a point of telling your manager and her manager you were mostly absent.
Having 2 managers on holiday at the same time for a whole month is utterly unheard of in any business I have ever worked in.

How would I lose my job? I have asked the manager and been told it is fine. You don't have to RTFT but just the OP's posts. It helps stop you making irrelevant posts.

Then why was this even posted?

She hadn’t asked the boss at the start of the thread.

So ultimately a bit of a non-event, but good outcome for OP who can now crack on knowing she won’t get fired.