PhD and childcare

[DescribeTheRuckus]

Hi all,

Sorry if this has been covered before!

If all goes well, I should have a draft of my thesis completed this July, with an aim to submit in September. I have two DCs, 7 and 6, and have always had childcare during the summer holidays because my year end reports were always due at the end of September, but this summer, I am considering trying to do any editing of the thesis while they are at home to save money on childcare costs.

My DH is quite supportive, and will have some days off with them so that I can get into uni a day or two a week if I need to, but I'll mostly be trying to work around the children while they are at home.

So, I am just asking you all if that works for you...if you have school aged DCs do you get them into childcare during summer hols, or do you manage to get stuff done as and when while they're around? Any experiences are much appreciated!

thesiswhisperer.com/2014/03/12/parenting-your-way-to-a-phd/

Your post reminded me of this article I just read.

I'm not at the thesis editing stage by a long way, but I find it almost impossible to do long spells of concentrated work with the DCs around. I might get an hour or so whilst they watch a film, but there are inevitable squabbles or requests for things like drinks etc that distract me. The only quiet concentrating time I get is in the evenings and DH wants to see me occasionally! I save reading of simpler books/papers for when they are around and save the tricker stuff for when they are out or asleep.

DH is pretty good and gives me blocks of hours when he is home, earlier evenings, an hour in the morning if he does the school run and several hours at the weekend.