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Working parents - how do you do it?

98 replies

itsserendipity · 14/02/2023 08:58

Looking for some advice from you other full time working parents.

My son is about to start school in September, and we have chosen the local state Ofsted 'good' primary. It has an after school club (though, absolutely no info on what they do in it), so I hoped that would help us as we both work full time and have no family to help us out.

However now I'm having a wobble - mainly about the extracurricular activities. His school won't provide things like music lessons or any real competitive sports (doesn't have the facilities or the space), and we won't be able to ferry him around to that after school.

How do you other working parents tackle this? Do you do all extracurricular stuff at the weekend? Did one of you go part time? Ignore extracurricular stuff now and let them pick it up at secondary? Go private? After school nanny?

Grateful for any experiences, as you can tell, this is my first rodeo.

OP posts:
Secnarf · 14/02/2023 19:54

I went part time. I work 80% FTE, but I start early, and spread my hours so I have 3 short days (when I am available for school pick up and extra-curricular activities) and 2 long days, when we use after-school club. My colleague works compressed hours, so has 2 days off per week, which is an opposite, but equally effective approach to flexing hours, if you are lucky enough to be able to do so.

My husband drops off at breakfast club on his way to work each day. However, we are lucky to live within a stone's throw of school, so it doesn't take him off his normal commute.

Over time, a couple of the breakfast and after-school sessions have been replaced by extra-curricular things at school. However, I would counsel against relying on these as a replacement for wraparound care, as if they are cancelled, then you are stuck.

Emergency leave is covered by whichever parent has the less urgent commitment that day.

For school holidays, we have a couple of family holidays each year, and then we take turns to cover whatever we can until our leave runs out. We've joined together with local friends to share ferrying children to summer camps for the remaining weeks. No family support available. There is an entitlement for unpaid parental leave, which is something like 1 week per child per year up to the age of 18 and must be taken in 1 week blocks. I am thinking about asking to use this from this year onwards, which will help, as currently it feels we have so little time to actually spend together as a family.

It's tight, but it works as long as we are both around. The ability for my husband to WFH when needed has helped a lot.

Other friends use a nanny, which takes time pressures off a little as you can agree with them hours longer than wraparound care at school, and solves the need for ferrying around to an after-school club. We went for nursery then breakfast/after-school club as they tend not to get cancelled if one member of staff is unwell or has an emergency, so less risky in this way than a nanny (as everyone gets sick now and then).

I would echo all the comments above about letting your little one have time to settle in at school before worrying about introducing new extra-curricular activities. My daughter was at nursery from 9 months old, and would be out of the house for over 12 hours every day. I thought she would therefore be fine with the relatively short school days. I was surprised to hear that she took herself off for an afternoon nap every day until just before the October half term in her Foundation year. They do find the new environment and learning tiring!

Also have boundaries around extra-curriculars. My daughter knows that nothing else can be taken up now unless something else is dropped...unless it happens at school at a time that she would be at breakfast club or after-school club anyway.

And don't feel guilty about school special events. If it is possible to move things around so I can attend, I will do so, but we are all in the mindset that it is a lucky treat if Mummy or Daddy can be at the Nativity or Sports Day. From little clips that friends have sent me, I can see that my daughter isn't anxiously looking expectantly into the sea of parents, and then crying when she can't see us.

The biggest bit of advice that I can give is that good enough is good enough. I often feel that I am not doing the best possible job I can do at work, or as a parent, or running the household. But doing a good job for all of these is better than doing the best job at one of them.

Fleabigg · 14/02/2023 20:04

I wouldn’t worry too much about wraparound/after school club reliability. I’ve never known it to be cancelled at short notice or for a spurious reason. Using after school extra curricular clubs as childcare is the risky strategy as they do get cancelled.

My DD is in reception and only does 1 extra curricular activity in the week, the others are at weekends. I wanted to make sure we had time to work on phonics etc before bedtime. As she gets older and has a later bedtime there will be time in the evenings for more activities. Her school runs a lot of extra curricular clubs, both before and after school, the majority aren’t open to reception, only the older year groups.

PettsWoodParadise · 14/02/2023 21:52

I couldn’t afford a nanny and i worked in a corporate and pressured job who wouldn’t let me leave in time for nursery end times and also didn’t like the lack of flexibility if I were needed to work late. Flexible working request let me leave a few days a fortnight slightly early but that was it. This was 18 years ago mind.

I ended up getting a sole care childminder who just flexed as DD moved from full time care as a baby to after school and holiday care. Twice the rate of a childminder but less than a nanny. She was a new grandma, had all the qualifications and would have her grandchild the odd day during the holidays which we knew about. It was fantastic, she would take our daughter swimming, drop her off to Brownies etc and then I could pick up.

When DD got chicken pox the childminder was fine with still looking after DD but friends who had children in a nursery or childminder with other children used up weeks of leave.

when DH got made redundant after DD had been in primary school for a few years he fell into being a SAHD and the childminder stayed in touch and did outings and babysitting. She is now like a grandma and money is no longer involved, which seeing as DD has no grandparents is rather lovely.

Lily7050 · 15/02/2023 10:29

GiltEdges · 14/02/2023 10:32

We chose independent for this reason, the after school provision which runs until 5:30 each day includes a raft of different extra curricular options, but for children who don’t want to take up a sport/instrument/drama then there’s also a homework club/crafts type provision offered in the school library. We also fit in swimming on Sunday mornings.

@GiltEdges : would you mind to share which school you chose or where it is located?
We are going independent but our afterschool clubs end at 4:30pm. The school is my DH's choice. It is not academic, the fees are among highest fees in SW London, and after school clubs finish early. I suspect DH might reconsider his choice and we might have been looking to move DS to another school midway during Reception year. I have visited quite a few independent primaries in SW London and do not remember any of them offering afterschool clubs/care till 5:30 for reception children.
I am in the same boat with OP now, frantically looking for afterschool care options for September.

Lily7050 · 15/02/2023 10:54

@itsserendipity : I would suggest to find families with children in the same school and find out how they manage(d). I am trying to do this myself but without much success because the school DH chose is a small one and over 1 mile from our house so not many families around send children there.

Legoninjago1 · 15/02/2023 11:40

Lily7050 · 15/02/2023 10:54

@itsserendipity : I would suggest to find families with children in the same school and find out how they manage(d). I am trying to do this myself but without much success because the school DH chose is a small one and over 1 mile from our house so not many families around send children there.

My boys are at a prep and their day is 8am - 5:15 and all sports and activities are done in school. It won't help you now, sorry, but if you're open to looking at country preps in Berks / Surrey etc from Y3, they're pretty much all like that and lots run school minibuses from SW London.

user1471592953 · 15/02/2023 20:18

Two FT-working parents here. We have zero help and so we’ve come to the view that private - with activities plus homework built into the day - is the best option.

SE London state primary offers reliable ASC - but offers any specific school clubs like football or athletics to ASC members and everyone else at the school on an equal basis, so they’re oversubscribed and DC doesn’t often get a space. I think ASC kids should get priority but the school doesn’t agree. We also know of older kids who just don’t like ASC because they’ve grown out of it - there’s not enough to do and specific clubs aren’t a certainty.

In the meantime, we’ve done swimming at the weekends and one other at school - but it’s on a termly basis & DC is not able to do something every day so it isn’t enough. DC is bored and generally not doing anything active during the time after school.

BiddyPop · 15/02/2023 20:29

Dd had swimming and Gaelic football when younger and Cub scouts when older on Saturday morning. (Our Scout group has a Wednesday night pack at 7:30 and a Saturday morning pack).

She did sailing on Saturday afternoon.

She did hockey on Sunday mornings. Later sailing moved to Sundays (she's taking a break as doing a lot of hockey this year) and now her hockey is on Saturday and Sunday.

She kept up Scouts (which moved to Thursday nights) until 2nd year in secondary school.

So it's possible to do plenty just at weekends.

BiddyPop · 15/02/2023 20:30

Dh and I both work FT and no family locally to support us.

Thingshavechanged · 15/02/2023 20:43

It’s definitely doable - we did it with no family support and working full time with no WFH. I’d focus on the childcare element rather than extra curricular at that age, during the school week. Clubs can come later. If you want to, fit some in on Saturday/Sunday mornings and summer camps. We did mix of childminder/nanny /local teens and students to pick up and bring home after school. We didn’t do after school club as it finished too early, but used the holiday club at their school in the holidays. If you have local parents who you can trade off with you can try and juggle after school clubs but I’d keep it simple for a couple of years…

twotoedsloth · 16/02/2023 01:06

I work FT and so does DH. We have DC 8 and 5 who both do extracurricular stuff. The way it works is

  1. Several clubs done before or after school, or during the school day (eg. triathlon, choir, dance, music). If after school, then the after school club (childcare) will pick them up though it's expensive as I still have to pay for the whole session.
  2. Swimming, cubs, Rainbows and football are evenings and weekends. Evening clubs are at 5pm (Rainbows) and 6.30pm (cubs) so are manageable if you can work flexibly to finish work at eg 4pm. In my case I negotiated even more flexibility to pick up at 3.30pm on Rainbows days to give us a bit more time. I make the time up evenings/lunchtime or whenever.

If your school aren't offering extracurricular clubs you could have a chat to them as many outside providers often want to offer after school activities so all the school has to do is allow them to use the space. My DC wouldn't do half of what they currently do if it wasn't offered at school, and it massively reduces the stress of rushing them to activities, even for parents who don't work FT.

I find doing clubs at weekends manageable and is nice to break up the day sometimes, and also is a cheap way of keeping them entertained! I'd probably restrict it to one per day though.

Finally I wouldn't stress about doing too much, especially in the first year or two of school. Mine were happy doing swimming and maybe one other club max at that age. As they get older they stay up later and the evening clubs become later so there are more possibilities. Even so, mine would likely be perfectly happy doing much less than they currently are.

twotoedsloth · 16/02/2023 01:12

I should say that there are some clubs which we just can't do as they are at eg. 4pm in a a different location. For example, I would have quite liked them to try ballet and tennis. But, FWIW, I don't necessarily think this is such a bad thing as it naturally restricts which is good as DC already have enough on. Also facilitating these types of clubs requires getting kids from school to club, often dragging another sibling along with them. This is one reason why I don't necessarily think it's easier to work FT or be a SAHP as all the afterschool stuff is just as tiring as working!

voxnihili · 16/02/2023 07:41

We use school breakfast and after-school club for our reception DD as I felt it better for her to be in the same place all day, and is what she was used to at nursery. She loves it and it’s not been too much even though she’s an August baby.

The hardest bit has definitely been feeling like the class outcast as I’m never at the gates. 6 months in and she’s not had a single playdate which I find sad. I don’t know parents to ask and anytime I’ve put something out on the class WhatsApp to meet at the park in the holidays it’s just been ignored.

skramblin · 16/02/2023 21:37

I worked part time, to be there at pick-up time, which wasn't great career wise but had its benefits. There was an after-school club at school, but they only had a few places and prioritised them for people needing 5 days a week. I saw some kids being picked up by other after school clubs, and they always looked a bit unhappy about being marched down the street in yellow safety bibs while their friends got to go home or on playdates or to the park. What did seem to work quite well was childminding - the child minders would pick up a handful of kids then they would often play in the park for a while before going home for food. Then there were the nannies - good and bad. They were flexible enough to take the children to various after school activities, but not all of them dealt well with emotional meltdowns..In some cases the parents wanted the child to go to a certain activity, which rhe child obviously didn"t want to go to, and that was stressful for both child and nanny.

Lily7050 · 18/03/2023 10:29

It seems I will be able to drop my DS to school (Reception) at around 8am. Clubs are available Monday-Thursday and they finish at 4:30pm.
My work is computer-based, and wfh 3 days a week. I think 3 days a week I might be able to work in a cafe near school from 8:10am till 4:20pm and pick up DS after the club myself so won't need to pay additionally for a childcare.
Obviously I will buy drinks/food in the cafe while I am working there.
I now do half-days in a cafe. It is a bit noisy for meetings but bearable. Connection via mobile personal hotspot is not very strong but it is ok for almost everything apart from one system that I do not need to use regularly.
Has anyone tried working full days from a cafe and how did it work for you?

SweetSakura · 18/03/2023 10:34

How flexible are your work patterns?

I do 9.15 ish - 2.30
Take lunch and do the school run
Then DH/I juggle after school drop offs to sports clubs around meetings etc and work until 5.30 ish then do dinner.
Any extra work I do in the evenings.

I found the after-school clubs at school totally unimpressive so prefer this crazy juggle instead. I am lucky to have flexible working, it's harder sometimes as DH and I are both quite senior and some meetings can't be moved, but it's rare that we can't find a solution between us

MonkeyMindAllOverAround · 18/03/2023 10:44

At 5 your child will be exhausted after school, they do not need so many activities at that age and they won’t make much out of them anyway.

I have never had an afterschool club that was unavailable, but ours was an extension of an established nursery so they always had enough qualified staff to run it at school.

The afterschool included activities, play and sitting for a light dinner at 5. They didn’t do homework or took piano classes but that play time was, in my view, much preferable for a young child than being sitting at home with the iPad. I added activities in the evenings and weekends.

From time to time the school would run music or sports classes in the afternoon. DS would go to them and staff from the afterschool club picked him up to go to the club as soon as he finished.

Start with the afterschool club, a term later try to add an activity, then keep adding as they get older.

user1477391263 · 18/03/2023 11:55

I would really think hard about how much money, time and mental energy you want to spend on activities which most kids quit sooner or later anyway.

We blitzed swimming during holidays by booking DD in for 1-1 intensive sessions over several weeks - each session is expensive but you don’t need many of them, so they get through the swimming quickly and it is better than dragging back and forth to the pool all year round. Learning to swim is the only thing that they really should do, IMO.

Everything else? Most kids quit the musical instruments and so on before long anyway. Exercise is important, but they can get that at a good afterschool club and by doing lots of active stuff as a family at the weekend. Don’t run yourself ragged lugging kids round to all these activities.

user1477391263 · 18/03/2023 11:57

( re chickenpox, you can get the vaccine at Boots. I strongly recommend this, esp if you work full time).

BlueSoul · 18/03/2023 12:19

DS attends an independent school and they have lots of club options after school until 6pm. He can do various sports, computing, art, mindfulness, coding, lego etc. Luckily I can finish work in time to pick him up at 4.30pm so the day isn't too long for him. I don't tend to work in the school holidays so that works well.

DH commutes to London and leaves at 5am and gets home at 6.30pm so most of it is on me!

Out of school he has swimming lessons at the weekend and he has just joined Beavers on a Friday night.

BelindaBears · 18/03/2023 12:19

I second the chickenpox vaccination! It’s been round DD’s nursery and school a few times and she’s dodged it. After the stress of lockdown and covid isolations I couldn’t cope with staying inside for days on end again.

NotableSilences · 19/03/2023 19:29

user1477391263 · 18/03/2023 11:57

( re chickenpox, you can get the vaccine at Boots. I strongly recommend this, esp if you work full time).

I did this too, after DS had dodged it multiple times at school, but had seen classmates and neighbours become really unwell -- especially as neither DH nor I had it as children. We all got vaccinated.

MomFromSE · 20/03/2023 22:55

We are at private school but also have help and do additional out of school activities on the weekends.

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