We use a combo of flex time, PTO, and grandparents.

Now that my kids are preschool age, the week long breaks at Christmas and August are easier because I will take my kids and a neighbors kids for a full day and she will take mine another day.

For the last week of August-
Monday - I take PTO and watch 4-5 kids
Tuesday- Neighbor has my kids, I work
Wednesday- drop my kids at my parents house, work as normal
Thursday - kids still with grandparents, we pick them up for dinner
Friday - husband takes PTO

Once the kids are 5, county and YMCA school break camps are easier to find.

If your preschool breaks fall when other families are likely to be on vacation, you may be able to find a neighbor’s nanny who wants extra work that week while her employer is away.

And in response to the day camp question-- depending on the temperament of you kids, and the ages, it may or may not be an option. Those are hard to find for preschool-aged kids.

Mine have such a hard time with new people and places and transitioning, that it would never be worth it for us to put them in a new environment for a week or two. I'd rather take leave without pay than deal with the crying that would entail, AND the exposure to an entirely new classroom of germs.

This is why we left our otherwise good preschool. We couldn't swing the breaks when our sick leave was tapped out from daycare-related illness and we had to start using annual leave on a regular basis to cover the sick days. It seemed like a lot of families had one parent home or part time.

So we moved to a center that, as mentioned in this string, doesn't have major closures. We looked at sitters to cover during those times, but it was nearly impossible to find someone for breaks only.

When the kids are in school and older, we might reasonably be able to work from home when they're in the house, sometimes. Definitely not with toddlers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose a preschool that doesn't close. Except like 5 days a year (Christmas Day etc).

The teachers are resentful in these places. They may not show it, but they are. One cannot work nonstop like a robot, especially when it's in a caring role.

Our daycare only closes a few days a year and the staff all get vacation time. They get to choose when they take it instead of being told when to take it. The center shifts staff around and hires subs as needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose a preschool that doesn't close. Except like 5 days a year (Christmas Day etc).

The teachers are resentful in these places. They may not show it, but they are. One cannot work nonstop like a robot, especially when it's in a caring role.

This is not true. This must be a teacher.

Huh? If a teacher stated it and that's her situation, then it's her truth. I would be resentful too if teachers at other centers had breaks and I did not.

Awww. So life is not fair if one center has breaks and another doesn’t? Why take the job in the first place as a teacher at a center that does not give as many breaks? What about that as a solution instead of saying teachers there are resentful. You are not resentful if you voluntarily take a position knowing the parameters. If you become resentful after that then you are immature and irresponsible. You make me sick with your entitlement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose a preschool that doesn't close. Except like 5 days a year (Christmas Day etc).

The teachers are resentful in these places. They may not show it, but they are. One cannot work nonstop like a robot, especially when it's in a caring role.

This is not true. This must be a teacher.

Huh? If a teacher stated it and that's her situation, then it's her truth. I would be resentful too if teachers at other centers had breaks and I did not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose a preschool that doesn't close. Except like 5 days a year (Christmas Day etc).

The teachers are resentful in these places. They may not show it, but they are. One cannot work nonstop like a robot, especially when it's in a caring role.

This is not true. This must be a teacher.

Our entire day care closes 4th of July week, Christmas week, and the day after Thanksgiving. That's when I take my vacation time now. There are preschools that close for longer stretches and I think that would be really hard to manage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose a preschool that doesn't close. Except like 5 days a year (Christmas Day etc).

The teachers are resentful in these places. They may not show it, but they are. One cannot work nonstop like a robot, especially when it's in a caring role.

NP: not closing doesn’t mean the teachers work year round. My son’s preschool does “camp” in the summer run by the after care teachers. The classroom teachers are off for the summer. They fill in for a couple weeks so the after care teachers can vacation (and/or cover after care during the school year if they choose to take vacation then).

They do close at Christmas though—DH and I use that time to visit our families out of state anyway, so we have always used leave then, even pre kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose a preschool that doesn't close. Except like 5 days a year (Christmas Day etc).

The teachers are resentful in these places. They may not show it, but they are. One cannot work nonstop like a robot, especially when it's in a caring role.

NP. I work nonstop in healthcare. Lots of people have jobs where they don't get much time off.

Anonymous wrote:We chose a preschool that doesn't close. Except like 5 days a year (Christmas Day etc).

The teachers are resentful in these places. They may not show it, but they are. One cannot work nonstop like a robot, especially when it's in a caring role.

We chose a preschool that doesn't close. Except like 5 days a year (Christmas Day etc).

We take vacation over the holidays (when traveling, sometimes one of us takes leave and the other teleworks). Grandparents fly in for the week closure in August and care for the kids (they stay at an AirBnb as we have a tiny apt). We finally signed up for a nanny service for temporary coverage at other times.

People take vacation, have relatives come and care for their child, hire a sitter (which can be hard to find for such limited periods). Or they find preschools that don't close so often. Ours only closed for six holidays and the two days before Labor Day.

We are looking at a few NW preschools and wondering how dual working parent households, or single parent households, handle advance closures (eg one or two week end of August break, a week plus at Christmas). Do families get together and hire a sitter? That is a lot of time to take off otherwise or even ask grandparents (for those who even have the option). Are there day off camps like there are for pubic schools?