What do you do about childcare...?

[Laugs]

... when your work isn't regular?

I've just gone freelance (journalist) and I spend so long trying to get work/ stressing about not having it, and then the second I get an article to do, I start worrying about what I'm going to do with DD!

I can't afford/ don't want regular childcare at the moment as my work is so infrequent and I never know when it will be. Any suggestions?

Hmm I had this in the early days after ds was born. He was too young for childcare but I was trying to get a bit of work. It's not an easy one to answer. I basically tried to fit any commissions I got into nap-times and the evenings. It was really difficult as I was tired and wanted to sleep instead but I'm glad I stuck with it.

Could you sign up for just one or two nursery sessions a week - half days not full ones? That way if you do sell some work, you know there is time to make any calls, do interviews and writing without interruptions?

I also switched to writing for magazines with longer lead times/ looser deadlines was better than sticking with e.g. national newspapers which wanted everything NOW!

Good luck!

Thanks mrshedge.

To be honest, I really need to worry more about getting work first then I can sort out the childcare. I can't believe how hard it is... haven't worked all month! Think maybe I am looking for something else to worry about rather than the glaring void of my non-career.

Find a family with a full-time nanny who isn't very busy (children at all day school). Ask whether you can "use" the nanny on a totally flexible basis, paying of course top rates when you do.

I agree with the two half days a week - and if you don't have the work you can be pitching ideas then. After all, that's as much a part of it as getting the work done when it comes in.
Alternatively it's going to be nap times and evenings, which can be very dispiriting but on the other hand is free...

Agree with MrsHedge, you need long deadlines etc and be prepared to work evenings and weekends.

I was in a similar position to you but my daughter was at nursery 2-3 mornings a week, which helped me look for work, though I still had DD2 (then a baby) at home. I now have relatively regular stuff which means I can just about afford to use my friend's nanny one day a week. Don't worry too much about the childcare yet until you get the work in - you can always squeeze extra hours out of the evening and/or naptime, exhausting though it is. Best of luck.

Thanks for all your advice.

My problem isn't really with fitting the writing in, that will always get done, even if it means an afternoon of CBeebies for my poor daughter.

The issue is really with doing the interviews - fine if it's over the phone, but what do you do when it is face-to-face? Can you get childminding on an ad hoc basis?

I just don't do that kind of work anymore tbh.
On the rare occasions where I have to actually meet a 'real' person rather than doing everything by email I have to wangle it so that we meet on my mornings where I do have childcare. It's quite awkward sometimes as it doesn't seem very professional.

If your writing involves interviewing face-to-face it's going to be really tough.

Yes

Lots of childminders do ad-hoc

Normally quite easy to find

Look on the council website for CIS & start phoning

BTW - you may not have much guarantee about your childcare but if you register with a couple you should be able to get sometime even at short notice

start networking asap
i ask friends to look after dd sometimes when things crop up, we share the childcare so sometimes i look after theirs if they need to do something
otherwise, check out your local gyms. a lot of them have creche for a few hours on a casual basis. you don't have to be a member of the gym or even using the gym. but you do have to go for a session to settle them in first

I put my son in a couple of mornings a week and because he's in the nursery on the occasions I need a full day or a meeting might over run causing a late pick up they're really good. They don't offer flexi care but because in reality it is the odd day not a couple of times a week they're happy to accommodate.

I had this issue for a while and basically had to get dh to look after dd [ds already at nursery] or my mum [who lives 100 miles away] would co-ordinate her visits with my work schedule.

Got to the point quite quickly when it became clear that if I was going to make anything happen at any sustainable level we would have to get childcare - otherwise it was just a vicious circle. We took the risk of putting her in nursery 2 days per week - and if I am not doing chargeable work in this time I am looking for new work and dealing with admin etc.

mazzystar, has it been worth it (financially) yet? At the moment I just don't think I could jusify it as, like I said, I haven't had any work for a month.

mrshedge, when I had a staff job, my work was very rarely face to face (although I actually much prefer this), for some reason it didn't occur to me that maybe it's because the freelancers are the ones who do these.

Like you say, I do worry about looking unprofessional. On several occasions I have actually had to bring DD along with me. I've only done it with people I assume would be sympathetic, but I can imagine what they're thinking.

well - yes
but as much by luck as design - i am not being very strategic - or very picky - yet
the childcare only costs relatively small proportion of the day rate that i find i can charge [to my great amazement and delight], so there's quite a lot of tolerance

I found I had to get the childcare in place - or I couldn't either go and find the work, or even consider stuff that found me iykwim

yeah I'm in a bit of a catch 22 as can't afford the childcare til I get the work, but that obviously makes looking for work (during DD's nap) much harder. DP doesn't really earn enough to pay for it.

Oh well, will keep on it! And think of your useful suggestions if when the work comes flooding in!

Off to bed in case DD pulls another 5am start on me...

I've had a few phonecalls with ds in the background which have been both deeply unprofessional and very funny....I was talking to an editor on the phone a few months ago when ds was being potty trained and he ran over and said 'mummy I need poo' loudly!

I have to say most of my current clients are very understanding and the majority work part-time due to family commitments themselves or have young children.

Mine are at nursery 3 days a week. Even at the start when I had no work on.
Yes it crippled us but I could not have got the business going otherwise.
Now if I have a day with no paid work on and its a nursery day, I just get stuff done. I earn 50% more per day than when I was an employee, and the plan is that by the time they start school (sept 09 and sept 10) I will have built it up to enough clients to work 5 days a week and finish at 3 on two days.
You have to treat being self employed/freelance as the same as being in a staff job. you wouldn't expect to take your child to the office, you get childcare. So you need childcare for when you work if you are se/fl.
On the 2 days when I am at home with the kids I only answer the phone to numbers that I know its someone who already knows I'm at home with a 3 and 2 year old on those days.
I don't think you'll be able to find interviewing over the phone 'fine', if my two are anything to go by, the minute you pick up the phone they need attention.
I had to leave ds1 sat on the loo shouting'come and wipe my bottom please' for AGES last Friday morning - they were playing quietly upstairs and I thought I was ok to make a quick business call - that turned into a longer one than planned!

Do you have room for an aupair?

Some good advice on here. Ideally, you should put aside a certain amount of time each week for your business and have childcare in place for that time. Even if you are not actually doing fee-earning stuff in that time then you can still do marketing, networking, admin etc.
It's tempting to do ad hoc childcare but it's a bit unfair on your DC: they need stability and people that they know & trust.
Does it help to think of it as an investment in your business instead of a cost?

If you are in Herts, I can help out with ad hoc childcare

Although at this time of year, I do get very busy and i do operate on a "first come - first served" basis

If booking in advance, I will also need a deposit to hold the dates and times for you.

mummy knows best