Both parents working
Discussion
bmwmike said:
Not sure if this is the right sub forum and I realise this is not mumsnet either but here goes..
Wife has recently gone back to work 30hrs per week after 5 years looking after the kids. They are now both in school full time so she decided to go back to work. Not that we need the money as such but it's always handy for holidays except, that by the time we've covered the kids half terms and summer holidays there is very little time left for a family holiday.
Never thought of it before as didn't need to. It's a bit of a pain not being able to trot off for a long weekend when we need (my job is very flexible).
So just curious as to what do folks do? I assume I need to find summer camps and such things.
Thanks
Whats the actual question? Wife has recently gone back to work 30hrs per week after 5 years looking after the kids. They are now both in school full time so she decided to go back to work. Not that we need the money as such but it's always handy for holidays except, that by the time we've covered the kids half terms and summer holidays there is very little time left for a family holiday.
Never thought of it before as didn't need to. It's a bit of a pain not being able to trot off for a long weekend when we need (my job is very flexible).
So just curious as to what do folks do? I assume I need to find summer camps and such things.
Thanks
The irony is that you can now afford a holiday but cant have both parents on leave at the same time. We tried summer camps but the kids hated it. Some folks take unpaid leave or work longer hours during term time so liberating more time off during the holidays. Its never easy but thats parenthood
I guess deep down im wondering whether its worth the hassle of both parents working in the first place. Suppose work brings not just the money though but the other benefits such as security of two incomes, both parents feel like they are contributing etc. Building Nat ins stamp for whatever that's worth these days. And so on.
Irony is as said above you become cash "rich" but time poor!
This has only dawned on me after sitting down and figuring out how we are going to deploy annual leave to (barely) cover the holidays.
Unpaid time off is probably going to be needed too if the employer will allow.
It's a crazy system - why do they give kids so much time off!
Between when the twins were born and then went to school (at 3 years old) the wife didn't work. We had zero help from either set of grand parents.
We booked our time off as far in advance as our workplaces allowed, otherwise it was very hard to get the same weeks off.
School holidays we worked from home (I mostly work from home anyway, and the wife does about 2 days a week but can do more with planning), used clubs, and booked our holidays away during school time. If you combined the holidays with bank holidays you can cover a fair amount.
When the kids hit 13 it became a lot easier as we then trusted them to cook an evening meal or stay by themselves if we were out for the day. They are 16 soon so we will be able to leave them overnight once they are, that will be a massive help as at present if I have to stay away for work the wife can't and vice versa.
We were very lucky in that we both had jobs that are mostly home based. had twins so it was all at exactly the same time (rather than staggered over several years) and saved a small fortune because of this.
We booked our time off as far in advance as our workplaces allowed, otherwise it was very hard to get the same weeks off.
School holidays we worked from home (I mostly work from home anyway, and the wife does about 2 days a week but can do more with planning), used clubs, and booked our holidays away during school time. If you combined the holidays with bank holidays you can cover a fair amount.
When the kids hit 13 it became a lot easier as we then trusted them to cook an evening meal or stay by themselves if we were out for the day. They are 16 soon so we will be able to leave them overnight once they are, that will be a massive help as at present if I have to stay away for work the wife can't and vice versa.
We were very lucky in that we both had jobs that are mostly home based. had twins so it was all at exactly the same time (rather than staggered over several years) and saved a small fortune because of this.
Good call on booking leave far in advance.
I work from home too which is a big help admittedly. Wouldn't leave the kids glued to the telly for the day but could work the PM and take AM off to tyre (it's a car forum!) them out.
Not sure why I opened this thread other than to see what other people do.
On the plus side the extra salary means I can put more into a Pension to get the extra tax relief whilst the 40% lasts.
I work from home too which is a big help admittedly. Wouldn't leave the kids glued to the telly for the day but could work the PM and take AM off to tyre (it's a car forum!) them out.
Not sure why I opened this thread other than to see what other people do.
On the plus side the extra salary means I can put more into a Pension to get the extra tax relief whilst the 40% lasts.
UpTheIron said:
rm, go in holiday with them? Yes, it's expensive during school holidays.
I think he means covering childcare during the school holidays eg during the summer hols the kids are at home for 6-7 weeks, 3 at Easter, 2 at christmas, plus three half terms, comes to (roughly) 14 weeks that they need childcare - normal jobs only give 4, so thats 8 in total. If they went away on holiday as a family for a week, the situation is even worseboyse7en said:
I think he means covering childcare during the school holidays eg during the summer hols the kids are at home for 6-7 weeks, 3 at Easter, 2 at christmas, plus three half terms, comes to (roughly) 14 weeks that they need childcare - normal jobs only give 4, so thats 8 in total. If they went away on holiday as a family for a week, the situation is even worse
Thank you for summarising so well what my brain was unable to articulate!LimaDelta said:
Ours have 21 (10+4+4+1+1+1) weeks holiday a year. Absolutely no point in OH going back to work. Would never get the leave to cover that!
Are your kids in full time days? I do wonder if there is much point in OH being back even for 3 days per week if it means we get far less family time.
bmwmike said:
LimaDelta said:
Ours have 21 (10+4+4+1+1+1) weeks holiday a year. Absolutely no point in OH going back to work. Would never get the leave to cover that!
Are your kids in full time days? I do wonder if there is much point in OH being back even for 3 days per week if it means we get far less family time.
Yep, the UK education system isn't fit for purpose, it neither keep kids in school for enough time to teach them properly or prepare them for the world of work. Its set in its ways with a culture stuck to its historic failings.
Why doesn't the hours children are in school correlate better with the hours parents are in work?
Why don't they teach life skills, taxation and money, highway system and safety, first aid, nutrition, hygiene etc?
Why don't they do more sports?
Why aren't they taught job skills, basic admin, filing, excel, word, customer service, dealing with difficult people, managing people. (ie recognised industry qualifications in these areas)?
Why doesn't the hours children are in school correlate better with the hours parents are in work?
Why don't they teach life skills, taxation and money, highway system and safety, first aid, nutrition, hygiene etc?
Why don't they do more sports?
Why aren't they taught job skills, basic admin, filing, excel, word, customer service, dealing with difficult people, managing people. (ie recognised industry qualifications in these areas)?
Whatever you do will cost money, that's the fact of having young kids.
When ours were younger, the options were a week or two at an activity camp (at the local comp school, 0800-1700 every day), a week with grandparents and then the rest we would manage between us from annual leave.
While it is expensive, I'd still recommend getting the kids out and about during holiday time, whether it's football camp or adventure camp or similar. Having them at home gets boring very quickly and being active with someone else looking after them gives them social skills, keeps them fit and knackers them out.
When ours were younger, the options were a week or two at an activity camp (at the local comp school, 0800-1700 every day), a week with grandparents and then the rest we would manage between us from annual leave.
While it is expensive, I'd still recommend getting the kids out and about during holiday time, whether it's football camp or adventure camp or similar. Having them at home gets boring very quickly and being active with someone else looking after them gives them social skills, keeps them fit and knackers them out.
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