Working Parents - how do you handle summers?

[Anonymous]

Before everyone starts in, yes, I realize that you can hire a nanny, a summer sitter, etc etc etc....

But in reality: how do you handle summer break as a working parent? Even the best camps end earlier than the standard workday and many require alternative transportation, then you add in early evening swim team practices and the desire to just be outside and not at work...

Do you seek extra flexibilities? Does your office have special schedules in the summer? Do you take more leave? Do you hire a sitter/nanny for the afternoons?

I have late ES kids and have done many of the above but I am generally just over the fact that summer is the enemy of working parents and I am curious how others handle? (Would be helpful to know how old your kids are and what type of org you work in).

[Anonymous]

I gave up on swim team but both my kids played 2 travel sports so it was not a big deal.

We do 2 weeks of sleepaway camp and if I had issues with drop off/pick up i'd do 4.
Local camps had early drop off and late pick up. The kids are just playing so staying late is not big deal.

My kids loved camp and had so many incredible experiences.

Grandparents do 1 week in August.
We do our vacation in August when camps are done but school has not started.

[Anonymous]

This the main reason we're sticking with au pairs. I'm a Fed with plenty of flexibility and leave, but it's still madness trying to figure out camp and after care coverage, plus all the driving.

[Anonymous]

Camps with extended care. The only people whom I know whose kids did swim team had a SAHP or a sitter.

[Anonymous]

We have a year round nanny. In the summer, the kids go to day camp.

[Anonymous]

Ill be hotspotting my computer while dropping and picking up some of the weeks.

Some camps that are set up not unlike school hours (ex. 9-3) and less than 15 minutes drive I just will work 630am until I have to leave for drop off, come back and work, leave for pickup, come back and do remaining time. Somehow cobbling 8 hours together and calling my pickup "lunch". Like I do everyday Pinky.

For camps that are longer drives, 30-40 minutes each way I will be "working" from my car on the way to/from if they arent full day ex. 9-4 or 9-330. There are a few weeks that are 830-530 so basically working 915-445 at home and add 30-45minutes in before we leave for drop off.

I dont know its a mess and my spouse is basically unavailable through the end of July so he cant pickup or dropoff because he has to commute into DC as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I gave up on swim team but both my kids played 2 travel sports so it was not a big deal.

We do 2 weeks of sleepaway camp and if I had issues with drop off/pick up i'd do 4.
Local camps had early drop off and late pick up. The kids are just playing so staying late is not big deal.

My kids loved camp and had so many incredible experiences.

Grandparents do 1 week in August.
We do our vacation in August when camps are done but school has not started.

So you handle it by scheduling sleep away camp and using extended day for day camps?

[Anonymous]

Sleep away camps and ones with extended hours plus trade off with spouse regarding pick up and drop off. Send kids to grandparents if possible. Or trade off with another family in similar position. Try to save leave for the summer.

[Anonymous]

I found it so hard. My kids hated day camp by week 4 or 5. They just wanted a consistent routine with the same kids and teachers.

We had some luck with summer sitters and half day camps, but the sitters went back to college in August and then it was tough.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had luck asking for more flex from employers during the summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found it so hard. My kids hated day camp by week 4 or 5. They just wanted a consistent routine with the same kids and teachers. We had some luck with summer sitters and half day camps, but the sitters went back to college in August and then it was tough.

There are 8 week camps. That's what my kids do. They don't switch camps every week. That seems insane to me.

[Anonymous]

Camps plus extended hours, plus family vacations.

[Anonymous]

Literally switched careers so I could accommodate summers with school aged kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had luck asking for more flex from employers during the summer?

Not officially. But my supervisors have always been women with kids and always understood when I wasn’t available from 3-4pm in the summer bc I was doing camp pickup.

Kids are late ES. When they were younger, I only used camps that had aftercare until 5.

[Anonymous]

My office is not flexible at all. I have to be in the office 9-5, 7 days a week. I plan my vacation time so that I can take a a week off in the summer for a family vacation. Otherwise, my kids go to summer camp. It's certainly not the best summer camp (not bad, just not great), but it's the only full-day option in our area. I would love to sign them up for cooking camp or dance camp or one of those specialty camps, but 9-12 is just unmanageable. Swim team would be great too, but the only kids on the swim team are kids with a stay-at-home parent or a teacher parent.