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Original poster

so, it's the Easter holidays, if you are working who is looking after your kids?

32 replies

puddle · 05/04/2006 10:08

My dp is a teacher - he's considering changing his job though and getting out of teaching altogether. We have the major advantage though of having him around to cover a lot of the school holidays though - I work too and we have no family nearby to help out. I can't think how we woukld roganise although obviously loads of people do!

How do you people in non teaching jobs manage it? I am wondering what arrangements people make, whether you go for friends/ family or paid childcare? How easy is it to find eg places on good holiday schemes, how expensive is it and do your kids like being in childcare in the holidays?

OP posts:
CountessDracula · 05/04/2006 10:08

MIL and SIL between them!

motherinferior · 05/04/2006 10:10

DP took this week off, I'm taking next week off. In the summer we'll probably use DD2's childminder a bit as DD1 is still only five. In a few years' time I'm really not sure; I work based from home but no way can I have them around, not till they're a lot more independent. It is a tough one, I'm afraid.

april74 · 05/04/2006 10:26

My parents look after ds when I have to work.

FairyMum · 05/04/2006 10:28

We share with friends. They look after our DD half the time and we look after their 2 children the other half. Works a treat!

bossykate · 05/04/2006 10:30

dd is at her nursery, ds is at a playscheme - it's great, he loves it, right decision, phew!

and thanks to the mnetters who recommended it you know who you are! Smile

Bozza · 05/04/2006 10:34

Well firstly for us it is not the Easter holidays.

But to get down to your real point. Next week DD will be at her nursery and DS will be at his CM - for the 3 days I work. Although there is a holiday club at the local Church that DS says that he would like to go to - it's 10 until 3.30 next Tuesday. So I am going to mention it to the CM to see if it would be possible for her to take him. The week after I have booked the Tuesday off but Weds/Thurs they will be at the CM/nursery. I will be paying for both on the Tuesday though because it will not fall into our holiday entitlement of half price weeks. DS will cost £26/day in the hols - £10.50/day in term time.

Original poster
puddle · 05/04/2006 10:58

That sounds complicated and expensive Bozza.

We are lucky having the holidays covered atm and it saves us money too. I feel bad pointing it out to DP though - it's not me who has to do his job.

I work at home a fair bit too MI - am here three days this week - what's great is that my dp is around too so I can get work done but I can also see quite a bit of the kids - knock off early and take them to the park etc.

OP posts:
oliveoil · 05/04/2006 11:00

Ours start next week and my lovely MIL is holding the fort.

I only realised this week that the break was for 2 weeks and not 1 Shock so I may take a few days off if she starts to look grey.

wilbur · 05/04/2006 11:05

I only work sporadically, but have something on at the moment so I am quite busy and our au pair is picking up the extra hours. On Monday however, she worked the morning and I was supposed to have a big conference call about some work first thing. They cancelled the call and rescheduled it for 3pm which lovely au pair couldn't cover. So I parked the older two in front of Cbeebies, put the baby on the floor with some toys and prayed for quiet. Part way through I could hear ds2 starting to moan but thankfully he stopped. When I went to check on him I found he had eaten through the first couple of pages of my Laura Ashley catalogue. And I was one of those pregnant women who blithley assumed I'd get back to work with the baby under the desk....

Bozza · 05/04/2006 11:20

It's not really complicated at all. DD is 1 and so the Easter holidays are irrelevent to her and presumably to your situation. She goes to a day nursery Tues-Thurs while I work. This costs £387.50 a month. The nursery is closed for a week at Christmas and I get 3 weeks at half price when she does not attend. I have booked Spring Bank and the last fortnight in August. Any other days when she is ill (yesterday) or I choose not to send her I have to pay for.

DS is 5 and in reception. He goes to a childminder for an hour in the morning and 2-2.5 hours after school Tues-Thurs. In the holidays he goes for all day. The hourly rate in termtime is £3 but in the hols it is £2.60. Because he wants to go the holiday club which is only on for one day (but only costs £2.50) I will mention it to the CM. Also I get 4 weeks at half price with the CM, these are booked as Spring Bank, last fortnight in August and Christmas like DD.

If I wished I could place DD with the CM but did not want to move her from the nursery when DS started school. They are 1 minutes drive apart. The arrangements work perfectly. The only issue I have is when the CM takes her 4 weeks of holiday entitlement.

I have a flexible package at work though and this year for the first time I have bought an extra weeks holiday so that will help.

ToujoursMarine · 05/04/2006 11:30

Not school holidays for us yet either...
I can save flexitime from my job (much busier in term-time, I work in HE) to boost my annual leave total and enable me to take much of the school hols off - but not all of them.
Ds is six at the moment and for the days when not at home with me, he either:

Goes on a treat trip up town with my sister and her partner

Lurks at home with my elderly but game parents

Goes to a local playscheme that is small-scale, run by a parent at his school, and fine for a few days. I would not be happy about putting him for weeks at a time in the summer though - he's a quietish child who would find the end-to-end jolly japes wearing long-term.

We are paying for dd to go to nursery 5 days a week, all year round, so she does tend to go to nursery when ds is on outings or playscheme - she is off when I am of course.

I foresee a worrying gap while she is in Recep/Yr One and too young IMO for our playscheme. I am cosying up to the extremely nice and popular childminder who moved into our road last Autumn...

It's a juggle. Dh gets much less a/l than I do so once emergency days off for sickness and our fortnight's summer hols are factored in, he doesn't have much else to contribute. We do try to prioritise the children's need to spend time at home pottering as their week is long and busy in term-time :)

trice · 05/04/2006 11:35

I will be attempting to work from home while looking after children and doing both badly.

Original poster
puddle · 05/04/2006 11:51

How old are your children Trice? And what do you do? I cannot imagine working from home with my kids around until they are at least...erm 10?

I laughed at Wilbur's dd eating the Laura Ashley catalogue - more roughage in it than Boden though I would imagine.

marina "We do try to prioritise the children's need to spend time at home pottering as their week is long and busy in term-time" - exactly. My ds is 6 and he really needs to chill out on the holidays he's visibly exhausted still at the end of term. He also likes to have his friends over and just, well, muck about away from the structure of playschemes and school.

OP posts:
Bozza · 05/04/2006 11:58

I agree about the chilling thing during the hols especially at the younger end of school. I have been surprised at how hard it hit DS at first. I blithely assumed that having been in day nursery for 3 long days since babyhood he would take school in his stride but it was not so. However he is only with the CM 3 days - and IMO she does a great mix of activities (baking, craft etc), outings, TV/playstation, games, just do their own thing. He has 11 days off school in total (Friday si training day) and will be with the CM for 5 of those days. I am coming at this from a part time perspective though.

ToujoursMarine · 05/04/2006 12:00

Agree totally there bozza. Ds was also a nursery veteran and loved school but it still wears him out. Sofa here we come next week :)
LOL at the Boden catalogue. I left dd tending to her bebbies last week and came back ten minutes later to find her caked in sudocrem from nostrils to navel...

motherinferior · 05/04/2006 12:02

I agree about the vegging too - I should have tried harder to let DD1 flake out in front of the telly over half-term. Mind you, she, DD2 and one of her Three Best Mates are currently watching some vile Disney DVD downstairs. Ahem.

Issyfit · 05/04/2006 12:07

Full-time, live-in nanny. A complete solution but verrrry expensive.

(Issymum)

joelalie · 05/04/2006 12:31

By dint of a great deal of organising.

I work at home 2 days a week so those days aren't a problem. DH takes a few days off (he's self-employed so it's an expensive option). I take a few days leave. Mum and dad (but they are elderly so it can't be too many days). DS#2's childminder will take all three occassionally (but another expensive option and she's not really geared up for older kids although they love going there).

My CM is retiring in the autumn and I'm not looking forward to trying to arrange nursery care as I expect there will be a lot less flexibilty - ie I'll have to pay for every week even if I don't need it ShockThat's going to hurt....

batters · 05/04/2006 12:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

rumtumtigger · 05/04/2006 12:41

My parents
i am very lucky Grin

batters · 05/04/2006 12:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bugsy2 · 05/04/2006 13:07

today & yesterday not too bad. Aupair very kindly did extra hours for me. She's off home tonight, so tomorrow & Friday, I will be trying to do the impossible which is drop daughter off at nursery and then ds at a daycare centre, dump the car in my allocated parking zone & be on the tube by 8.15am. What fun, can hardly wait. Am hoping ds won't have a complete fit about going to daycare. Costing a fortune too.

Earlybird · 05/04/2006 13:09

batters - family care not an option for me either.

Where/how do you find a good playscheme in London?

Bugsy2 · 05/04/2006 13:41

earlybird, your local authority/council is a good place to start. We usually get sent a letter through the school about holiday schemes.
The one I'm going to use for ds runs before & afterschool clubs during term time as well as the holiday cover. I heard about this one through word of mouth. It is private but not extortionate, although I couldn't afford to use it too often.

janinlondon · 05/04/2006 13:49

Earlybird, I use \link{http://www.scamps-activenture.co.uk\scamps} and have always found them great.

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