*sigh* this may take a while

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone's in the same boat at work.  My department don't open on weekends either 
You're right, it's a few weeks away, I'm hoping lockdown will ease in the meantime as then play schemes might open or I might actually get to take some annual leave. 
Other options I've thought of are either employing a nanny, but then I'd be virtually working for free or ask my 16 year old to babysit.  I wouldn't want her doing 3 days a week, but maybe if I could take 1 day a week AL, my husband takes a different 1 day a week AL and then she does the third day each week.  She'd probably expect to be paid though and that would irritate me, but needs must.

XSpender

I understand your worry about what childcare will be available over the summer.  I work full time in a field role and was panicking about how to cover 1st July (expected return date for me) until 4th September.  We were planning to take 2 weeks off each to cover August but didn't have a clue what to do about the rest.  My employer has now decided that come 1st July I will either be redundant or in a role that has changed to being 100% home based until October so it is no longer an issue.

I had a part time nanny before lock down at £9.50/hour for after after-school club and the occasional early morning. 

Skibunny40

Could you advertise for a Childcare Student ( or any student really) via your local college/uni? A lot of students have lost their bar / waiter jobs and are looking for something for summer?

ohdearhowdidthathappen

XSpender said:

I understand your worry about what childcare will be available over the summer.  I work full time in a field role and was panicking about how to cover 1st July (expected return date for me) until 4th September.  We were planning to take 2 weeks off each to cover August but didn't have a clue what to do about the rest.  My employer has now decided that come 1st July I will either be redundant or in a role that has changed to being 100% home based until October so it is no longer an issue.

I had a part time nanny before lock down at £9.50/hour for after after-school club and the occasional early morning. 

Round here, nannies charge £15ph  If they were £9.50ph I'd jump at it, actually that would be cheaper than the after school club I usually use as that's £5ph per child.
I hope you get the result you want at work, would 100% home based be preferable for you?

Drawingaline

My 16yr old has been my holiday childcare for the past year! I work school hours though, so not long days, and the little two are sooooo easy if they are allowed to basically sit in their pants watching tele. I pay her £5 a day, as that's what I can afford, and I am able to come home with no notice if there is an issue. My mum and sister are also local so she can call them if needed. But if you have someone you trust locally who she can call in an emergency it might be worth a try. 

My problem will be September. My yr3 has one to one the entire school day, and if that can't be accommodated in September and hubby is back in the office I won't be able to work. My sister is a teacher and will be back full time and my parents can't cope with him on their own except in an emergency/one off.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Skibunny40 said:

Could you advertise for a Childcare Student ( or any student really) via your local college/uni? A lot of students have lost their bar / waiter jobs and are looking for something for summer?

Strangely enough, on FB today I saw a post from a uni student looking for childcare work.  OH reckons he can work from home on the 3 days I work all summer - he'd be working and on calls etc, so couldn't do childcare, but I'd be more comfortable having someone different in the house if he was here too.  Might explore this option further, thanks

sarahsays

If your DH is going to be there anyway, I would ask your eldest to do it for £10 per day, with an extra £5 per day if she cleans up a bit after them, with the proviso that she doesn't bother your DH unless it's an emergency.  I know you said it would irritate you for her to ask for payment, but you'd probably find that she asks you to buy her less if she has her own money buy things.  Also, will give her extra responsibility and work experience.

daisyfrau

I second asking your eldest to do it one day a week. With advice not to disturb Dad unless necessary. I’d be more generous and pay her £50 a day - you’re still saving loads and she’ll feel it’s worth it. Over 6 weeks it would only cost you £300 all summer. It’s a lot of kids to watch so she would be spending most of day at home with them but maybe on her days on duty they could be allowed to do extra fun things they don’t always get to eg a movie session on TV with microwave popcorn, play video games for 2h, Frozen pizza for tea, etc,  to give her some breathing room/less stress.

XSpender

The job would be 100% home based until October then about 60% after that and would give me a much better work life balance.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed it all works out.

I live in the north and £10 ish is the average rate for a nanny, a little more if they are looking after babies.

That is a good suggestion to pay your daughter to watch the younger ones.  I would be wanting a bit of tidying, clothes washing and dish washing for my money though 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

sarahsays said:

If your DH is going to be there anyway, I would ask your eldest to do it for £10 per day, with an extra £5 per day if she cleans up a bit after them, with the proviso that she doesn't bother your DH unless it's an emergency.  I know you said it would irritate you for her to ask for payment, but you'd probably find that she asks you to buy her less if she has her own money buy things.  Also, will give her extra responsibility and work experience.

£15 a day wouldn't irritate too much :-:smile: Good plan