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?

So when you’re supposed to be working, you actually won’t be, you’ll be looking after your kids?

Or else you’ll have the kids being bored around the house whilst you work?

Then, when the kids are back at school and work starts up again, you’ll take time off to have a “proper break”?

To me it sounds like you’ll either be short changing your kids or your work here, so that you basically get double time off. Why doesn’t your work just close in August if there’s “nothing to do”?

Mine are the same ages and since last year I have started sometimes WFH with them at home (and I do have a full day of work to do). They get on well and are good at entertaining each other so basically I just sort them out lunch at lunchtime and will typically spend a few minutes checking in on them in the middle of the morning and in the middle of the afternoon. If anything I am more productive as I work the time I’d be ferrying them to and from clubs.

However I don’t think it is fair on them just to be at home all day every day.

So for a typical week in the summer I might do 1-2 days at home, 2-3 days in a holiday club and take one day of leave to take them out somewhere.

Agreed... this might work for half term week, but six weeks? I'd be booking a few days off over that period so that you can have a Big Day Out with them... and relax from thinking about work all the time.. It will break things up from being stuck at home and make things a bit more fun for all of you. I guess you will have the weekends too.

All depends on work flow.. but if its quiet and you think you can make it work...
I'd have a back up plan tho if things are likely to blow up... could you have a babysitter lined up ?

My son is ten and can be left with dh for a few hours. It does end up being screen heavy though so I wouldn’t do it every day.
it’s a risk for 6 whole weeks but if you think you can make it work why not.

What I think is odd is that you’re booking leave for when the kids are at school so you can have “a break”. And yet you’re taking the whole of August off to the the kids out and about. You’re taking the piss op.

Having them.at home with you is one thing, but taking them out and about when u being paid to work is not good. This is the sort of infringement that costs people the privilege of being able to wrh

And she is caring for her children during those less busy times when she is not on annual leave

Spot on

I agree with those who have said you need to get your boss's explicit permission for this. Otherwise you are blatantly skiving when you are contracted to work.

Am also intrigued to know what industry you work in where they can find literally nothing useful for you to do within your paid hours.

Nope I think you’re being unfair to both children and work.

Also shocked at your taking annual leave in September, do you never holiday with your children?

And? It's not like they're toddlers - they're 8 and 10, old enough to amuse themselves while she works.

Not everyone has jobs where they have to be switched on for 8 hours straight. Lots of us can dip in and out of work, take time off as/when we need it and do other things at the same time as doing our jobs.

Lots of bitter people on here

If they are as flexible as you say then there is no reason why you can’t be honest with them and tell them what your plans are rather than be sneaky about it?

What were they up to at that age that meant you couldn’t finish a cup of tea?

@tumblingdowntherabbithole If she really does have the kind of job where this is fully accepted, she can be honest with her boss about it and get permission.

Otherwise it is just skiving.

Please let me know where I can get a job like this. I don't currently have young children who need looking after but would give me a great opportunity to catch up on the decorating, gardening, reading a few books, getting my hair and nails done instead of traveling in to work and doing a job each day

I am honestly staggered by some of the middle-class-WFH privileged entitlement on these threads. Would you be okay if your GP or nurse or your kids' teacher or the builder who you were paying to do your house adopted the same work ethic shown here of 'I'll do literally as little as I can get away with?'

Yep, I agree she should let her boss know.

But lots of people on here seem to completely lack imagination when it comes to work - we don't all have to work a set period of 8 hours a day with no breaks or down-time.

But she’s not expecting them to amuse themselves while she works. She’s planning on taking them out and about on holiday, checking emails on her phone once per hour.

Yep agree @tumblingdowntherabbithole but there's a difference between 'some flexibility' and basically doing childcare for the entire summer.

Why are you not taking your annual leave and instead having it in September?

Yawn.

Not everyone has a job where they need to be present and actively working all the time. There are definitely lots of bitter, jealous people on here sometimes!

I was prepared to say YANBU if you were working and they were going to entertain themselves and it was just a case of being present for snacks and emergencies, but if you're planning on going out I think it depends on their ethos as a company to an extent. It sounds like these quiet times are frequent so what has been the expectation of management in, for example, January, when presumably management were also present?

If the expectation when work is quiet is that you get ahead on what is due tomorrow, update plans/notes/procedures/whatever, train other team members, do e learning etc and it's a case of while there's nothing time critical, but there's other stuff that could be done in the downtime, YABU. If when it's been quiet before they have said "don't bother coming in because theres nothing to do, keep an eye on your emails and make sure you action anything that comes up but otherwise we'll see you next week/tomorrow, then I don't see the harm.

I have had jobs that would have fallen into both categories so without knowing what you do it's hard to answer, but I suspect the fact you're asking us, and aren't able to ask them/extrapolate from previous quiet periods speaks volumes tbh.

If you were planning on taking annual leave when they were back at school, could you not take half now, (one day a week for 5 weeks, for example) to do something big with the kids and let them entertain themselves 2 days a week and then 2 days work from a bench in the park/soft play/wherever as a compromise, and then use the other half of your planned annual leave in September for a "break" ?

Just this.

no wonder people get pissed off with people who WFH who are completely taking the piss.

Yep, sounds fine to me. We don't all work jobs where there are time limits and where things have to be done immediately.

If she can do her job when the kids are in bed, and just check her e-mails during the day, why on earth would she waste her money on childcare?