What do you do with your kids ....

[MissWooWoo]

... in the school holidays if you (and your partner) work?

I'm currently a SAHM but have started thinking about the future and the possibility of going back to work ... maybe ... at some point. But what to do with my dd during holiday time (I do not want to work in education)? Even if you and your partner used all holiday seperately to cover holidays it surely wouldn't be enough?

For those with family unable to help, what do you do?

Interested to hear from people across the board from those with toddlers to those with early teens.

I book dd into her childminders for a few weeks, take a family holiday, and then me and dh use our leave. Also swap childcare with friends with the same age children.

I worked nights as a care assistant whilst doing my nurse training.

That way, I'd be at home to look after them whilst the hubby was at work and not have to worry about childcare during holidays and sickness. On the days I needed to be somewhere on placement, I had either my Mum or MIL look after them for a few hours.

I guess a lot depends on what type of work you'd be doing.

I was hoping for something involving shopping some nice cushy number in an office!

What about a clerical post that involves shifts? Some hospital departments are often crying out for admin staff to work unsociable hours and tend to pay quite well.

My sister in law had an admin post in A & E on nights.... for a short while.

That job requires you to be quite "thick skinned" shall we say.

I use holiday clubs for dd(age 5) things like a gymnastics course and local playscheme (check government website for local things) My ds(aged 2) remains with the childminder he normally goes to. Sometimes I ask her to have dd too. Or MIL/SIL and sometimes friends have her for me. Its alot of juggling and remember where they are supposed to be that day is quite hardwork! dh and I also take some holidays, esp when the childminder is off as that means finding someone willing to have both dc which is harder!

We live in a city so have access to various holiday clubs, and rotate the kids round these to give them a bit of variety. They have done: after-school club based in school (runs half-terms, Easter and Summer); a local out-of-school club (open all year except Xmas, useful for bank holidays etc when I don't get the same as the kids'); Kings Camps (Easter/Summer); council leisure-centre based clubs (Easter/Summer/Oct half term); a week at the local zoo (Summer only, always popular, that one).

I sometimes feel sorry for them having to get up and do things in the holidays, but they generally love it.

Now I'm wondering what to do for the early years of secondary, for which there is almost no provision. (Do people really leave 11/12 year olds alone all day for days on end??!!)

You'll need childcare for before and after the school day during term time anyway, so many people just extend that, eg use your childminder for full days

We use playschemes but we had to try out a few to find one that dc were really happy with. I'm fortunate that I'm allowed to take a certain number of weeks unpaid leave each year in addition to holiday so they are only in playscheme a couple of weeks or so each year.
MLx

I work term-time only so am off for the school holidays.

Are there any local colleges/schools you could work for?

Arrgghh all sounds too hard!

thanks to everyone for posting, looks like I have some serious thinking to do.

We used Camp Beaumont Day Camps (in & around London and the home counties) for two weeks every summer for eleven years from when our DS started Reception and were very happy with the outdoor, sporty set up & care. Also, great that many of the staff are teachers, student teachers or university students so as your child gets older they act as good role models - seeing the same staff come back, progressing through university etc.

Hello Woo Woo

I had this worry too. I left my job to move cities in the middle of mat leave.

When I looked for a job with was with the long haul in mind and the school hols worried me as a single mum.

So I started my own business which I fit around ds, working when and how much I want. Also I organise lots of stuff I can take him to, so I have no childcare costs.

There's lots of work available and I want to expand my team, so let me know if you'd like info!

I used to send my son to a Fit Kidz session at the local gym. Was mornings, or all day sessions. He loved it and didn't cost too much £12 per full day.