What age can you WFH with kids in the school holidays

Mine are 6 and 9 and we’ve done this 2-3 days a week during the holidays. They get along really well so have been completely happy playing together and amusing themselves.

Typically I take 10 mins mid-morning to sort them a snack and check in with them, then spend an hour with them at lunch, then my husband gets back at 3.

I only have occasional calls so am pretty much always instantly on hand if they need me.

They’ve probably had more screen time than I’d like but we’ve done plenty of days out and activities on the days that I’m not working so I’m trying not to feel guilty about that. It works for us.

Given I was supposed to work (and, at the cost of my sanity, managed it) productively at home for months at a time with three children under 7/8 during covid, wfh during the holidays doesn’t phase me as it used to. However, only a day here or there, not consistently. Now aged 4-11 and get on pretty well with each other.

@Batatahara I did when they were very small but they were happier at home. I am used to it now and happy with how it works.

Take it from me, the answer to this is not 10 and 6 🤯🤯🤯

My dd is 12 , I can let her do this for a few days at a time in the summer holidays but I also try and oversee - stop for lunch, talk to her, make sure she’s arranging to see friends or going to a club for a half day. I would not do it for an entire week, it’s too lonely and unfair at this age.

Mine are 6 and 9 and I'm now letting oldest walk home a couple of days a week which means he's around for a few hours while I work. This is absolutely fine I find so I feel like I'm entering the realms of being able to have him home for say half a day in the holidays - a lot of sports clubs local to me seem to just run for half a day which is annoying but now opens up these as a possibility from next summer. Youngest will still need full day club/childcare.

I've just trialled my 10 year old this summer with staying home and she's not been any bother and I've been able to work as normal. BUT she is the type of child who will entertain herself happily with different things like drawing, reading and crafting stuff as well as some tablet time (not like older DS who would be glued to a screen as soon as my back was turned!). Also my job involves a workload and i can do this any time of the day or night (although I've always done 9-5) so I can take longer lunch breaks if needed and have taken her out for odd afternoons or to meet friends in the park and worked in the evening or started early the next day. I've had three weeks of AL and having her home the other 3 weeks has saved me over £300 and she's happy! It's also been nice to spend that time with her when I'm taking a break.
I can imagine it would be very different with a different child or a more structured job and I'd have likely booked her in clubs like last year.

DS is 5. I work 3 days a week from 9-3.30pm. Started him in holiday club two days a week and I WFH the third. He hated holiday club, so DH and I now share those two days.

DS has been absolutely no trouble. He comes in when he wants a snack or help with something. We go out at lunchtime to the park. He has his own desk in my office, which he is happy to sit at for a couple of hours and draw. I also have a futon, which he sit/lie on and watch a movie. I don’t have Teams calls, though, but DH is on them all day long.

TBH, I think he’s just so happy to be at home and worried about having to go back to holiday club, so he knows to follow instructions on WFH days.

Dc are 10 and 8 and I've got them at home for the next 2 days. I only work short days and I'll get up early - they will sleep until 10am and then watch TV for a couple of hours. This is only happening because it is the final two days of the holidays, it is absolutely not a common occurrence!

WFH with them around gives me flashbacks to lockdown which was horrendous. They do play together nicely for a while but then inevitably fall out or someone wants a drink/snack/wants me to play a game.

It's fine as a one off or in an emergency. It is not possible for 6w straight if you are already trying to fit 45 hours work into 33 every week.

I am self employed I work full time most of the time term time but holidays I only really manage maybe 2 1/2 days per week then I usually work 1 evening too. My ds is 12. I'm lucky I can be flexible.
I could probably do a bit more really but usually just end up having a lot to catch up on every September!

My eldest is 5 and I could have been able to do this occasionally from her turning 4 I reckon. For various reasons I've only done it once so far I think, a few months ago, when she was off sick. But I don't take calls in my job or anything like that where I strictly can't be interrupted for periods of time. Barring illness I definitely wouldn't do it longer than say one day a week at this young age anyway though as she can't/doesnt like to entertain herself too well so wouldn't be able to cope with more than an odd day. I don't have any plans to actually do this anytime soon though anyway, we only need two days of childcare per week in the school hols so for October half term I've taken one day off and I'm planning to put her in holiday club for the other day.

It depends on your job and your children's temperaments.

I can see odd days WFH with 8-12 year olds working, but don't think it's fair on work or the children for 5 days WFH all holidays unless they're mature teenagers.

Oh give over. Mine have a few days over the summer when they're not at club, and I work from home and they play in the garden / have too much screen time and don't interrupt my work calls because they're well behaved. 16!! 😂😂

Mine are 6 and 9 and are absolutely fine. I'm in IT Project Management.

So. You actually can wfh with a 7 year old. In fact I did just that for the whole of bloody Covid!

Agreed. When I had my interview, I said I had a DS almost 5 and would need to mostly work from home in the holidays. My boss was fine with that as long as I do one day in the office in the longer holidays (summer & Easter). She said she didn’t mind what time of day the work got done, as long as I can answer her calls during working hours. Another woman started at the same time as me. She has a one year old who gets sent home from nursery whenever he has a high temp or is unsettled. My boss is also fine for her to WFH as long as the work gets done one time.

Not everyone is in Teams calls or has tight deadlines.

It’s worked for us sporadically from about 8 but can’t be all day every day. The odd day each week works pretty well and saves a bit of money. My younger DC moans in term time that going to school interrupts his legoing time so especially for the first week he likes to stay at home and play play play anyway.

I can quite easily work with my 7 year old at home, but it involves too much time on YouTube / Roblox.

I think companies should put in place policies that wfh is allowed only if there are no kids under 16yo.

That's ridiculous. Where are all the 11-15 year olds suppose to be when you are working? Five years ago they would have been home alone throughout the entire summer holidays. Now many of them have a parent WFH at least some of the time who will be around to chat to at lunchtime. I think that's probably better.

A lot of jobs it's perfectly possible to cope with a minor interruption (e.g. 'Mum, where's my red tshirt?' 'It's in your wardrobe with the rest of your clean clothes dear') which isn't much different to the kind of interruption you get when you are at the office (e.g. 'Hi, how was your holiday in Mexico?' 'Lovely thanks, very relaxing').

I get more done at home because there’s no chit chat from colleagues. I also save an hour in journey time too.

I think companies should put in place policies that wfh is allowed only if there are no kids under 16yo

Utterly bonkers 😂😂😂

Lets just say I don't need childcare for my 15yo because she has her own job and is out of the house most of the time anyway - I can just imagine her reaction if I said I needed childcare for her...

I had to give up my wfh job with my young kids as simply wasn't possible to do both without childcare. I woul imagine I could do it when they're all 10 and above or so, but they'd be ignored for the whole time (which is why I don't wfh).

Depends on the child but:

• 8/9 - can get away with max 2 hours eg from 3.30 to 5.30, but not every day, a couple of days in a week. This assumes you have kids who'll sit and read/draw/play a board game together for say 1hr at a time.
• 10/11 - can manage a morning or afternoon a couple of days a week, 3 max

This works best when they've done something fun, sociable and active the rest of the day and are happy to read/chill.

I don't think its ever reasonable to do it constantly and you need to prepared to catch up work in the evening if things don't go to plan.

I think companies should put in place policies that wfh is allowed only if there are no kids under 16yo

There is little/no real childcare available for secondary school pupils. You get sports camps etc but few are a full 9-5 day. A 12-15 year old should be completely fine not bothering you all day.

When I started working for my company we worked in a local office, now we have all been moved onto fully remote contracts and our closest office is 60 miles away, so I'm sure there would be many pissed off employees if we were told we had to remove teens from their own home!

Not for the 6 or 7 weeks of the summer holiday though.
That's a hard deal for a 12 year old.