Childcare for school holidays?!

[ChicagoBears]

Lone parent here with very limited support and a demanding job. My DC starts school in September, I’ll luckily be able to use breakfast club and after school provision but what do people do in the school holidays - all 13 weeks of them?!

Our private nursery offers holiday club but I feel like utter shit putting my DC in over the school hols because surely they need a break and what kind of break is holiday club giving them?

I’ll take all my leave over the school holidays but I still have 9 weeks to cover, how do other people manage? ExH isn’t involved so we can’t split childcare unfortunately.

I guess I just feel like a rubbish mum placing my DC in holiday club for the majority of the school hols, is it really as bad as I feel it is?! I’ve got major mum guilt about this.

Summer camps! They are fun and kids love them. You should be able to find some your DC are really interested in as there all different types e.g. Multi sports, football, rugby, art, gymnastics, tennis, drama, dance, coding, netball, basketball, gaming, animals, gardening. It will be fine.

Don't have mum guilt. Reframe it. Dc are having a lovely time playing And making friends. Presumably you get holidays together.

Mine go to clubs in the summer. Mix of camp , grandma's, clubs and family holidays. Never a dull moment.

I think kids that spend the whole summer mooching round with their families are hard done to! Each to their own but it's nice to have variety.

Next year you can do allsorts: music, sports, dance, craft, climbing, drama, forest school (is great). Mix it up with mummy time off and it'll be great.

Summer clubs are not the same as school as it’s more fun based though saying that make sure to put them in one they like as I sent my son to one and he hated it!!

My kids have always loved the summer clubs, I used a mix of school run clubs which are run by the same folk that do breakfast club/after school and camps run by the local council, gymnastics, dance, multi sports. I can use my childcare vouchers for them all. I still take leave through the holidays too.

We use holiday clubs.

In reception DD went back to her previous nursery.

In Y1 she started going to the holiday club run b6 the Outdoor pursuits centre.

DH and I coordinate our annual leave so we can have a week off together during the summer holidays, then he covers some of the half term/end of term holidays and I do some of the others. That leaves us with about 6 weeks a year that we need holiday clubs. We try to break it up a bit when scheduling it all in so this summer the holiday is 7 weeks long.

Week 1 - all of us off
Week 2-6 - holiday club. We have managed to get a couple of days where family/friends will have DD so 2 of these weeks she's only doing 4 days.
Week 7 - I'm off with DD

It's not ideal no. You can take parental leave unpaid for four weeks a year.

Try get to know other parents, to maybe share a student or nanny for holidays
Mine did holiday clubs
They are not school
Shated a holiday auipair student type person with another family

Thanks for the feedback everyone, you’re right, DC will be happy with other DC doing activities etc. and I’ll of course take my leave to alleviate them being in for too many weeks.

Mixture of holiday clubs, grandparents and annual leave here
I find clubs and activities great for developing their confidence my kids will go to anything and mix with new people. Friends kids either sit home while parents wfh or go to grandparents have never needed to show any independence and shy away from all opportunities to do things away from family.
Only problem im finding this year is all day cover i.e 8.30/9-5/6 they all seem to be up to 3-4 which is tough to work round

Summer camps plus grandparents plus annual leave as me EXDP refuses to have them for any more than a weekend. I don't factor him now, and just fit him around the DC arrangements.

My summer holiday plans for DC look like this:

Week 1 - No arranged activities, grandparents Monday-Friday
Week 2 - Summer Activity Camp
Week 3 - Summer Activity Camp
Week 4 - Specialist Football Camp
Week 5 - Annual leave
Week 6 - Summer Activity Camp
Week 7 - Annual leave

I've only been able to take 2 weeks of annual leave across summer as I need to save some for the other holidays. Camps have cost me the best part of £1k, so it's not a cheap option.

I would have liked to have taken the DC on a little holiday, but I'm in the middle of buying a new house, and need every spare penny I can get!