What age can you WFH with kids in the school holidays

Honestly, why are you embarrassed by it? That seems a really odd reaction.

Mine are 10 & 12, they're absolutely fine and 12 year old goes out with his friends playing football etc a lot. I try to keep it to a minimum though as it's boring for them and there's a LOT of screen time!

@Anna79ishere there are very few options for kids over 13. DS2 has just finished year 8 and it is the last year he will be allowed to the local leisure centre camp, similar for the one at a local private school which he did last year.

I think barracudas might go up to 14/year 9 summer but nothing I have seen goes to 15 or 16, apart from pgl, which of course is very expensive and covers the odd week or few days, not a whole summer.

Do you know of other camps?

Mine are 8 and 5 and have been home ALL summer long. My parents were here for a week to entertain them, they went home with my parents for a week and for the last four weeks they have been home. Both my husband and I work at home so we juggle everyone between us. They play, they have devices, they watch films etc. We go out once a day at least over lunch to walk the dog or go to the park or the library or something. Is it ideal? No. Am I still doing all my work and am available for my colleagues? Yes. I work for a flexible company and do not need to be chained to my laptop 9-5, as long as the work is done. Would I work from home with my one year old? Absolutely not. Not all of us have infrastructure of support or endless funds for this holiday club and that holiday club. I unfortunately used the majority of my annual leave for all of the other school holidays and a week when my baby had chickenpox and am saving my last few days for over Christmas when the nursery shuts. I can’t make 25 days of annual leave stretch to 13 weeks of school holiday

wow what lovely supportive colleagues you all are. sounds like it was a one off week that she couldn’t help. your workplace sounds horrible.

@Anna79ishere - no it isnt crazy. You didn’t read what I said. I said it depends on what you do and how long. My work is not computer based and can be as full on or part time as needed.
So no I wouldn’t work a full 9-5 on computer, but the question was ‘can you work with children’ and my answer was yes I do.

Mine are 9 and 5 and we typically don't plan to work from home with them around, with occasional exceptions eg teacher strikes or if they are ill. However, I know many people who rarely use childcare and just have their kids at home all holidays. I don't know how they manage.

My 9 year old would probably be fine at home but would be on the computer/TV interspersed with occasional bouts of energy in the garden and requests for snacks etc. The 5 year old - forget it, she can't manage 30seconds without needing me for something.

I tend to mix up the holidays with 2 weeks family holiday, a few days with grandparents, a few days holiday club and a few days of annual leave. I think it works ok.

Totally agree with you. She has no idea what job everyone does. Sometimes work is just an odd call or message here and there. I don't sit behind a computer from 8-5.
And saying that all under 16 year olds need to be babysat😂😂😂 Some 16 year olds live alone with their own children 😂

I think it depends on the kids. Mine are 6 & 8 and my DH has worked from home once a week with them occupying themselves the whole summer and did the same last year, and it's absolutely fine, the only time they ask for anything, is when it's nearing lunchtime... He's started taking his lunch break early, to pacify them! 😄 The difference is, they only do this once a week, (occasionally twice) and the rest of the week, they're busy out and about with grandparents and myself, and don't get that much time at home, so actually enjoy the time they're there and get to play with their toys/Nintendo. Plus they get on really well, so entertain eachother and rarely ever argue. I think if they had to do it mon-fri, they'd get bored and play up alot more. I also think they got used to having to entertain themselves during the lockdowns, when we weren't allowed out much, and school was cancelled. Both me and DH were trying to work/homeschool eldest, and they got really good at using their imaginations and making up fun games. It really does depend on the kids though, if mine argued, didn't get on, or had a larger age gap, it probably wouldn't be so easy. There's an only child over the road, who's parents WFH, and most days she comes to see if ours want to play, and asks if she can come round, as she's obviously bored out of her mind. I feel so bad when we're busy, or the girls are out with grandparents. My friend with two kids similar ages to mine, struggles to WFH, as her boys just try and kill eachother the moment her back is turned! All in all, I do think it just depends on the kids.

The WFH element of this feels quite new. As soon as we were at secondary school, my parents went to work at work for most of the holidays.

Sometimes work is just an odd call or message here and there.

It would be good to preface your response with this information then. I think the OP is asking about work which entails more than just the odd call or message. Yes, her question was broad, but it's clear that her work is more than something that takes just a few minutes.

I had my 6yo DS here with me today as holiday club had to close. I couldn't do it every day but as he has had a very busy Bank Holiday and busy day yesterday with my parents he was happy to have a chilled day playing with his pokemon cards, watching TV, doing activity books and playing on his tablet. I would say if your DC doesn't like holiday club then maybe let them stay home one day a week and see how you get on.

To add my job at the moment is fully back office, DC has SEN and inteupts all calls so he cannot be here when my work involves more calls

well it would be good if the poster in question didn't generalise all parents that work from home! Was not in response to the OP.

The WFH element of this feels quite new. As soon as we were at secondary school, my parents went to work at work for most of the holidays.

Absolutely! Childcare was nonexistent for 12+ when I was growing up 90/00s, I assume that's still predominantly the case now. The question of whether it's easy to WFH with people home is a separate one from considering the welfare of the child.

I understand not wanting to WFH with teens in the house because it's hard to work, but that's different to not doing it because they can't be left alone!

When they're old enough to take themselves out for most of the day or can entertain themselves without you. As a rule of thumb, If you'd be happy leaving them unsupervised to go to the office then it's ok to leave them to go to the home office as long as they understand you're working.

I’ve just put someone on disciplinary for this - they’ve been a nightmare since ‘hybrid working’ was given to them (yet they promised children would be out the house…)

They're now back in the office full time as they properly took the piss.
Kids that need any kind of looking after aren’t compatible with WFH - people need to treat it as if they’re physically not there.
If they’re needed in the house, that’s too much of a distraction.

We’re paid to work, we work in a demanding tech heavy office environment with a lot of incoming calls and emails.
When you’ve got one person in the team who is constantly skipping calls or not available to put calls through to or changing their breaks to accommodate their child it has a huge knock on effect on the team.
Ive had children, I know how difficult it is but I planned ahead and used childcare. WFH has only become an option since Covid lockdowns and some people are using that as an excuse to slack. It creates a lot of bad feeling when others have to pick up their work.

Well done, wish my manager was as strong as you. Mine is a rollover.

Possibly 12+. Best if you can drop off at a holiday club at 8.30-9am with a packed up lunch and collect at 5-5.30pm.

@thdskdrggs Ah, ok! The suggestion of people not WFH with kids there until they were 16 threw me, I thought that meant some people are organising childcare for 15 year olds!

I haven't got another 12 years of sorting summer childcare in me 😂

@Kitcaterpillar I'm completely agreeing with you, I don't think when people say they can't WFH with 12+ in the house they mean due to childcare, apart from that one random 16+ post(!), I'd be really worried if a 12 year old (without additional needs) didn't have the ability to entertain themselves and not understand to leave a working adult be, that would be beyond coddled..!

I only work mornings and my DC (10 and 7) are both ok separately left to their own devices for that amount of time, they will game a bit too much but also read, draw, play in the garden etc. But the 2 of them together are a nightmare, they fight like cat and dog. So I'll often book one of them into an activity whilst the other stays home, but I only have them both at home if I'm really stuck.

@CharlotteBog

DinnaeFashYersel
Mine have been fine occupying themselves since youngest was 8.

Even when you work full time all summer?
I guess if you have more than one child and they get on well it can work well

Yes

Both DH and I wfh full time. Two children and they don't not get on but don't hang out together. The eldest (now 15) is on the PlayStation and the youngest (now 11) goes out to play. Wet days she does Lego, craft, watches tv.

I haven't paid for summer holidays childcare since before the pandemic

Mine is 8 and I manage OK. Guess it depends on the intensity of your work.