Parents struggle with holiday childcare

[Strix]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/10617865

Tell me these childcare prices were taken from the 1930s because if I could get a week of childcare for £100 I'd happily pay for the neighbors kids as well.

A week of childcare in distant suburban West London for one child is more like £300. And I am talking about a childminder. A nanny would be more.

And how can Scotland be more expensive than London? Is that true?

My problem seems to be having one child who is 13 and has 'dropped off the radar' when it comes to after-school clubs. My YS and MS (7 and 11) can go to school club [£30 pd, each!], but my ES who's 13 can't.

Similarly all the other clubs I've tried won't take ES, or only do 9.30 - 3pm [I work 8-4 and DH works 12-18 hours a day!]. Added to that I have a chest operation coming up and the recuperation [2 weeks] coincides with half-term, so I can't drive them there the club is 5M away at their school].

I am planning to try working from home but all depends on how I recover and work is not 100% happy as I've only just started as a contractor so all very political and they're building up to their re-Xmas rush in IT [it's a retail company] right at that time.

Now I know why I don't work permanently!! I'm only doing this to 'help out' and DH got me shoe-horned in as it is.

DH wants me to go back in to work and leave ES on his own all day for a week, but I'm not at all happy with that!!

How on earth do you full-timer's do it, guys?! I am full of admiration!