If you WAH, how old were your kids when you no longer needed after school care?

[Anonymous]

If you WAH and have older elementary/middle school aged kids, at what age did you stop paying for after care at school so that you could have the kids come home (at say 3:30/4:00pm) and still have ability to work until 5:00/5:30pm to get your work done? I can still pick them up and drive them home so they don't need to be old enough to walk home by themselves. I'm just wondering at what age they were old enough to come home and entertain themselves for an hour or so while I finish up my day.

[Anonymous]

I don't WAH most of the time but my kids are 6 and 8 and I could do this with them now. I think it would have been much harder last year and will be even easier next year.

[Anonymous]

Second grade regularly. First grade too, but not on a regular basis - more like once a week or so.

[Anonymous]

I only have one kid and not many other kids the same age in the neighborhood - so for me I need an outlet besides the TV to keep him busy. Closer to 8 for us as a result.

[Anonymous]

Youngest in K.

I try to get all work done before they get home at 4pm.

It's a full day. Not having a commute or having to get ready means I can be at my desk with my coffee when I get up. DH used to get them ready to go in the morning now at 2nd and 4th they do everything themselves.

[Anonymous]

I can with my 6 year old, he gets home at 2:45, we talk a minute and do his homework if he has any, then he plays with neighbors, at our house, their house, or outside. If the neighbors aren't around, he asks for screen time or plays by himself. He could do this in K, too. My 3 year old stays at pre-school until 4. I can't do it with her without screen time.

[Anonymous]

My kids are 11 and 8 and I could do this, although they would probably bicker some. But I work in an office so I haven't tried often.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the kids and depends on the job ( is your job OK with kids yelling in the background or realizing there are days you may be distracted. If the job is low key, you can probably do this fairly young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can with my 6 year old, he gets home at 2:45, we talk a minute and do his homework if he has any, then he plays with neighbors, at our house, their house, or outside. If the neighbors aren't around, he asks for screen time or plays by himself. He could do this in K, too. My 3 year old stays at pre-school until 4. I can't do it with her without screen time.

I should add that we (above PP) do this most days and I work on my computer and occasionally make client calls to clients who know I WAH. However, if I have important conference calls where I cannot be interrupted (for an emergency or for a snack), I have DS stay at aftercare.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who has done this since her older child was in K. She works while her child is there. I never asked what she did with her kid. Now she has a 1st and 3rd grader and I know she does not have childcare for them while she works for that last 1-1.5 hrs.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the responses. I have my own small business so I don't have any corporate rules regarding childcare to follow--I just can't always get everything done by the time school lets out. I feel like if I can set them up with a snack and something to do for an hour, they would be fine but they are a little young still (3 and 5) so I think I have a few more years to go.

[Anonymous]

I could do this easily with my eight-year-old.