What age can you WFH with kids in the school holidays

The 14 year old will lie in bed gaming all day without a lot of badgering, and only leaves the house if I take him.

While we were away on holiday I made a conscious decision to not say a thing about screen time. We were out most of day and as soon as we got back he'd been on his phone.
I just can't bring myself to have this frame of mind for the whole summer. It makes me sad when there is a whole world out there. My work is pretty flexible and I am in a financial position to enable him to do stuff i.e I can take him places and if he showed interest in a new hobby/sport I could sign him up, but apart from the gym (which he loves and has been going to about 4 times a week), he's been on the odd day out with mates and that's it.

We did have three weeks away this summer, mainly to avoid the 6 (actually I think it's nearer 7) weeks of this.

Mine are 10 and 7 and I can do it for the odd day but it basically becomes a screen day and so because of that, I don't allow more than 3-4 'home' days across the summer holidays. The rest of the time I book them into camps of different sorts to vary things up, plus I add in some days of annual leave for a camping trip etc or day out and then we both have a full two week holiday. The advantage of us both WFH is that it means we don't require full time care and so can opt for camps that run 10-3 for example but also mix it up with some 8.30-5 if required.

I Wfh 2 days a week and my daughter has no childcare on a Friday during the holidays so she’s been home with me. She’s 5. Wouldn’t have done it before. She’s much more independent now and easy to have around whilst I’m working she can occupy herself. I have a nearly 2 year old and my day is hell wfh if the childminder is I’ll or on holiday

Mine sat in my office from around 10 (at work, but they had all the buildings and grounds to roam, a church) they did get a bit bored but prefers it to holiday clubs and if they got really "lucky" they would be put to work cleaning, arranging flowers or helping with the elderly- didn't do them any harm

You can not wfh with a 7yo. It is not acceptable and very unprofessional. And not fair for the colleagues and everybody who pays for summer camps and get organised. I am surprised you did not flag this after the second week. I think companies should put in place policies that wfh is allowed only if there are no kids under 16yo. It is also not fair for the kids. They can not be dumped in front of a screen the whole day for 6 weeks, they need attention, being stimulated and socialise. I have a 8 and 5 yo and I took parental leave to stay with them. Otherwise I send them to summer camps. When they are sick I take days off.

No kids under 16! That's ridiculous.
Please come back here and let us know how it's going when your children are 11 and 15.
Not everyone is in a position to take extended parental leave.

I think it depends if you have more than one who will entertain each other. I only have one and she would get very bored after probably half a day. She is 8 and has either been on camps or on holiday with us this summer. I worry about what will happen when she gets too old for camps, the idea of her hanging round at home for 4 weeks on her own (grandparents (also other family) are not near and are getting on a bit) is quite sad. Might have to take parental leave, I think.

It is crazy, not unusual. A 3 yo needs constant attention and people who relate with them as a real person. Kids deserve respect. Trying to work at the same time means that the kid is either neglected (for 10 weeks!!!) or the person does not do their job, which I have seen so many times. I had a colleague who would “wfh” on Fridays with her toddler, she would do nothing. It was a burden for the whole team to cover for her. We complained and she got asked to come to the office on Fridays. And with her the whole team who worked from home. She gave a very bad reputation to working mums which is terrible.

There are summer camps.
I know kids at 14-15 yo all day in front of their screen for 7 weeks because their parents can wfh. Parents in less high paying professions (nurses, bar tenders, shop assistant) organise summer camps or activities with relatives or other kids. As a society we need to really protect these teenagers from bad parenting. The effects on continuous screen time for teenagers are all well known.

My teenagers are fine but
a) we have a big enough house that I can shut myself away and they can have friends over
b) we live in a town where they can easily walk into town or to their friend's houses
c) my teenagers are the same sex and only 18 months apart so often do stuff together without us.

We also have a 10yo. He doesn't disturb us but he spends on day on the computer and so I like him to go to our local holiday sports club (at my DDs secondary school) regularly during the holidays when we are working so he does regular exercise and plays with kids his own age.

My ds is 9 and this summer we’ve had some weeks he’s done a 3h sport session first thing then been at home with me wfh. This is the first year I’ve not insisted he’s out all day. It’s been ok but he mostly games so I wouldn’t want him doing it without the daily sport. Even then it was only one of the weeks.

Summer holiday clubs here stop at age 13. Tax free childcare ends at age 12 so presumably the government think 12 year olds don’t need childcare!

I agree. I am interested in your potential solutions.

Mine are 13, 17 and 20. Whilst they can obviously entertain themselves I don't love it. The 13 year old is the least of my worries as he's pretty good at entertaining himself and making plans with his friends. The other 2 like to loll about on the sofa in my office asking me inane questions until I get cross and tell them to find something to do when they just reply "well you're nice aren't you"

caveat: older ones have worked and travelled this summer, they haven't just been sitting on the sofa even if it feels like it sometimes.

Mine are 9 and 5, both boys. My DH occasionally WFH with them but not easily. Very distracting

Depends on the children and also on the requirements of the job. I have WFH for many years but have very flexible hours. Other than occasional meetings which I usually bribe the children to stay quiet for, I try and work when they sleep. They have some holiday activities and play dates, and I work from my phone when out and about. Other than that I do the mundane stuff while they are around. There is no way I could have managed with a 9-5 set-hours job where I am often on the phone/in meetings. I appreciate I am very lucky but on the other hand the sort of job I have means that during school holidays I rarely switch off as I use every available minute to dash off an email or answer an inquiry, and also work late at night and get up early in the mornings and again on weekends to make sure that everything is done.

However during term time they leave the house at just after 7 and return early evening leaving me plenty of time to work and term time is when I usually do more complicated projects that need big blocks of focused time.

Depends on the child and your job I guess. Over this holiday we’ve had 2 days where we were WFH with our 6yo around as childcare arrangements had fallen through (due to illness) She was ok for some of it but we still got interrupted a lot and I think she just got bored. I guess older primary or secondary is when it gets easier especially if you’ve got siblings who will just play together or a friend can come around to keep
them company. Harder for only children I think.

@MissCordeliaPreston - why not pay for some childcare? That sounds pretty stressful

Mine are 7 and 8. Over the 6 week holiday I have had them at home with me for 2 days due to failed childcare arrangements. For this they were fine, but agree with others, it was reliant on a lot of TV/ipad time, despite playing for a few hours both days with toys and games together. I also have a job where i can attend to their needs for snacks and drinks, or help out with a game/craft for short periods if required. I wouldn't be comfortable having them at home with me for full weeks until they are old enough to go out on their own and meet friends/go to the park/swimming etc i.e. age 12/13

My eldest - 7 - stays at home whilst the youngers go to nursery. I have a reasonably flexible job, so can explain that "mummy can play with you for 20 minutes then I have to work, then you need to play by yourself/watch cartoons/read". It doesn't work for everyone, and definitely wouldn't with a younger one. We spend 10 mins in the morning deciding what the solo activities will be: that really helps.

If you have more than one it also depends how well they get on! Individually my 14 and 11 yr old would each be fine, and do things other than screens. Together they would wind each other up and expect me to referee!

Mine were 8 and 11 when i started doing it. The 11 year old keeps the 8 year old occupied. We don't leave them on their own for days. It'll be only a day a week at most. They quite enjoy a day playing video games and watching TV.

Have to add neither bother us at all when we work from home. It really is that we don't hear from them as long as there is food and drinks in the house.

Tell my 12 year old she needs to go to a summer camp lol. She point blank refuses. Non of her friends go to childcare.

@Anna79ishere you do also know that 11 year olds (Year 7s) are picking up primary aged siblings from primary schools? Year 7s are allowed to leave school at the end of the day without any parents picking them up, making their way home on their own. 14 and 15 year olds also baby sit. They really don't need babysitters.