how to not use your vacation time every day the schools are not in service

[Anonymous]

I always heard parents bitching about this but I never realized until now that the f'ing schools are never in service during the school year.
is there a day care that you can jump into if there's snow day / admin? we are in DCPs. one kid in kinder

[Anonymous]

Our aftercare program is open most days when the school is closed.

[Anonymous]

Schools: not daycare.

Not that I don't sympathize, because I do. The dearth of reliable childcare is among my most pressing concerns as a politically engaged person.

[Anonymous]

Find another family and take turns. Then you will only have one in four days to use of your vacation days. If you are a single parent, find another family until there are four adults taking turns.

[Anonymous]

I don't have kids but I was wondering same thing, can u just set something up where u can waltz into a daycare on snowday or set up in advance for taeacher day?

[Anonymous]

We're in Arlington where the school extended day programs are not open on those days. A variety of organizations offer camps to cover those days, planned well in advance for scheduled teacher work days but also some manage to put them together quickly for extended snow days. In the past we've used a martial arts studio, EverWonder, and Lola's Lab.

[Anonymous]

Our school's aftercare program is open those days. We do a combo of using that and trading kids with other families. Luckily I can telecommute and typically get a few hours of work in with the kids home, or work odd hours those days, so I don't need to take quite as much time off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find another family and take turns. Then you will only have one in four days to use of your vacation days. If you are a single parent, find another family until there are four adults taking turns.

This was our solution.

[Anonymous]

I like the turn-taking suggestion with another family.

Our gym offers full-day care on days when schools are not in session (in Howard County). It's like $50 and they run it like a camp.

[Anonymous]

A lot of the martial arts studios and gymnastics places run camps when school is out. Jcc also offers camp days. You just need to call and book.

[Anonymous]

Another one who uses our before and after care for late openings and days off. It's included in the cost so I don't even get billed.

[Anonymous]

Our previous daycare offers drop in care. It's 65$ a day - not bad. I try to take off or work from home these days to save the expense.

[Anonymous]

Our after-school babysitter so far has been able to come earlier to cover the whole day. I'd be happy to consider adding another kid those days and she'd like the extra cash - I'm sure there are other families that might be in the same position. Ask around!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of the martial arts studios and gymnastics places run camps when school is out. Jcc also offers camp days. You just need to call and book.

Do places like martial arts studios and gymnastics studios take kids who are not already on the rolls there for regular classes the rest of the time? Just curious. I would think that due to liability reasons these places would do these one-day things for kids who are already enrolled there, but not kids who are totally unknown to them. I guess that registering in advance and filing whatever health forms etc. they need would make it OK but I'm not sure how they would structure their instruction for kids who were just walk-ins for one day.

I don't have a kid who needs this kind of care but am just genuinely curious how it would work at places like that. Anyone?

[Anonymous]

DH is usually able to work from home when DC's school is closed (2nd grader) but once younger DC starts K, it will be harder to do that. We've arranged playdates with people and traded off.