Working Parents, School Aged Kids, & Summer Routines

School is almost over.  Sadly, as a working parent, your routine doesn’t change just because summer arrives.  Instead we have to find alternate care for our kiddos who go to school (and likely after school care of some sort) so we can continue to work and support our families.

I went out into the digital world and starting asking other working parents what kids of care they rustle up for their kids.  While I didn’t get nearly the feedback I wanted, a few parents did share their summer routines with me.

I had a few moms chime in on Twitter with some summer routines that work for them.

Sarah – Digital Motherhood:

Summer camps aren’t really a thing here, it’s usually childminders or day clubs.  My daughter might be doing a gymnastics club though.  I think most people would probably just call it Holiday Club! (Sarah lives in the UK so I had to ask her what day clubs were!)

Working Parents, School Aged Kids, and Summer RoutinesShayna – Mommy Outside The Box:

We camp every chance we get in the summer so don’t sign the kiddo up for much.  I do work but tend to do a bit less blog work to fit everything in the summer!

Brett – This Mama Loves:

I work from home.  My kids will be doing a few day camps, summer team workouts for gymnastics, art and ninja warrior camp. That and getting bored!

Jen – Inspiration & Bliss

I am trying to work on unschooling my 2.5 year old daughter this summer.  In addition to blogging and life coaching, I am a Montessori teacher so technically I have the summer off. I take my daughter all around the city and whatever she is interested in is what we learn more about.  For example we went to the park and she fell in love with the ducks, so we then went to the library and took out 2 books on ducks.  It has been a fun experiment so far.

My girls are enrolled in day camps for 6 weeks this summer.  We had to choose camps that offered late pick-up as most camps here end by 4pm, but I work until either 5 or 6 so that wouldn’t really work.  Patrick has more flexibility in his schedule, but he realistically cannot get the girls every day by 4pm either.  A few of the camps offer late pick-up included, but most you have to pay extra for.

We are lucky that our families are very supportive.  My parents offer to take the girls for a week every summer.  Sometimes the kids put up resistance to it, but once the time arrives the kids are happy to go.  This option is a “ship the kids off” kind which gives me a few nights without rushed suppers and bedtimes.  I like it, the kids like it, and my parents like it (though my dad will grump about it a bit) so this is great for everyone!  Thanks Mom and Dad for doing this for us every summer!

mom confidenceEvery summer we also take a week’s vacation.  We try to spend a week at a friend’s cottage – it’s still up in the air this year, but if we don’t do that we’ll find some other fun things to do as a family.  We also fill our weekends with events around town, or short road trips.  Now that the kids are older it’s easier to make early morning decisions and just go!

I’d love to hear what you do with your kids – care wise – during the summer months.  And what you do for fun and “vacation”!  Share your summer routines with me in the comments so I can offer more options to the girls next summer.  I’d love to send them to sleep-away camps, but neither of them thought they were ready this year.  If you have a post about your kids going to overnight camps I’d love to read them and share them with my daughters.

~Jess

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19 Comments

  1. It is hard to plan meeting the needs of the kids and parents. Sounds like you have a good plan. Hope you have a happy summer. #MMBC

    1. Thanks Carol. I’m most excited about taking a week as a family and doing a cottage. We often have a ton of fun with that, even if the weather doesn’t cooperate. I actually like the fact that the routine stays much the same over the summer. We just have to remember where we drop them off to each week!
      ~Jess

  2. We are always happy to be able to spend time with our grandkids. Dad may “grump” about it but I know he enjoys it too. They are growing up so fast we need to savour our precious time with them!

    1. I know you guys love having them. I find they are more fun now that they are older. If you have some board games they may be more interested in that stuff this year. (If you have Monopoly and you don’t play it much, could we borrow it for our week at the cottage?)
      xo
      ~Jess

  3. Hi Jess, the summer is hard here as most people have to juggle summer work with having the children home for three months or more depending on their age. And it’s hard. When the children were young my husband worked night and I workd part time days, so there was always someone at home with them and evening swims were something we looked forward to.

    Thank you for linking up with the #MMBC.

    XX

    1. It’s nice you were able to schedule so someone could be home for the kids. We both work day jobs (and my husband does a fair bit of evening work with his side business) so it’s harder to really alter a schedule to fit. Working parents sometimes have a tough time with balancing the money coming in and what we have to pay out for care. In our case I make more than we would save if we didn’t put the kids in care of some sort, but not by a whole lot. It’s quite a balancing act!
      ~Jess

    1. Sure can be hard! We’ve had a few years experience now and the kids like the idea of the different camps every week. It’s going to be a job keeping straight where they are and when! Thanks for the comment Sarah!
      ~Jess

  4. I’m not at that age yet but it must be hard. That’s one of the reasons I hate that youth centres have had their funding cut, there used to be so many after school and summer activities. #FabFridayPosts

    1. It is too bad. There are a lot of options here, but location can be tough with the timing of getting off work and needing to pick kids up before a certain time. Mind you the same can be said for closing neighbourhood schools and busing kids all over. It means the kids need to be up and ready earlier than if they just had to walk a few blocks to school. Times are changing (and have changed) and we just have to try to keep up! Thanks for the comment.
      ~Jess

  5. Childcare during school holidays can prove challenging (and expensive) for UK parents if they both work full-time. Private nurseries and childminders are still available during the holidays. We stagnate our leave so our children are with us two days and in childcare three days a week. I prefer this to taking say, one or two consecutive weeks off.

    Great article!

    1. That’s a great alternative for the summer. When we were in full-time daycare, for at least my youngest, the care provider would hold a space for my older one to have during the summer as well. That system worked out well for us. Now the girls are older and “daycare” is not stimulating for them much anymore. I would keep them home on Wednesdays with me if I could, but the “camps” are full week so it’s not feasible to do that. There’s a learning curve to it, and we’re about half way along it, or so I feel! 😉
      ~Jess

  6. I’m big fan of holiday playschemes my kids have so much energy they run me ragged. These are great for burning off energy! Brilliant for my two #fabfridaypost

    1. Enrolling your kids in something fun and active is a great way to wear them out over the summer! I love hearing the different terms used to describe activities – playschemes, day camps, holiday club etc. Thanks for the comment!
      ~Jess

  7. It is rather tricky situations to be in isn’t it. I work from home too on my blog. I am lucky to have been chosen Official Blogger to some of the festivals. That will keep my little ones entertain for a little bit. E&E are no old enough to go camping and we are embarking our first family camping trip together this year. Very excited. Other than that – Ethan is enrolled on a cricket club – once a week. Then – I think – we will just chill for a bit – perhaps a blogging break? 🙂 Thank you for joining us on #FabFridayPost

    1. That sounds like a lovely summer Su! I would love to have a bit more time with the hubby and kids over the summer, but unless I can magically make some more money from my blog, that’s not going to happen. I love the idea of being able to go to some festivals as your blogger self! I bet your kids will love that. Enjoy your summer!!
      ~Jess

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