Alice is coming to the end of year two at school, which means that I’ve been a school mum for nearly three years and with Holly joining her last September this has been my first year with both my girls at school. I’ve been really fortunate that my blog that started as a hobby became a part time job for me whilst having the girls at home and when Holly started school we decided that I would give it ago at making it my full time job around the school hours.
During term time it works well, I have enough hours during the time they are at school to get most of my work done and I work in the evenings to finish any urgent work. But since Holly started school I’ve been able to work less in the evenings which has been nice.
The difficult time comes when its the school holidays and now that this is my job, I have to still work during these weeks. I try and do what I can leading up to the school holidays, but when a job comes in that needs to be done that week, then I can’t afford to turn it down. It can be a real juggle.
Whilst I’m not complaining, I know that I am extremely lucky to have a job that can fit around the girls. But it is a job, just like any other occupation and I have to get the work done. It has meant many very late evenings working while the girls are asleep and when we get home from a day out, they are exhausted and will have some quiet time watching television, I will get a few emails done. We make it work.
With the summer holidays coming, this will be my first time of having them home for 6 weeks since this has become my actual job. It feels a bit daunting and I know that I need to put a plan in place to make sure that the girls have an amazing summer, that I get to enjoy having them home and my job doesn’t suffer.
Something that I’ve been looking into is activity day camps, where the girls could go for the odd day throughout the holidays. If I know that I have certain days booked in that I can work, then that not only means I can get the work done, but I’m not worried and panicking about when I can work. Which helps everyone.
I’ve been looking at Barracudas Activity Day Camps, they seem to tick a lot of what I would be looking for. The activities are split by age range and for this year my girls would be in the same group which will be lovely. You can drop them off between 8.30-9.30am, so if you need an early drop off its available and for us we could have a more less frantic start to the day. The day is split into 6 activities and looking at the timetable, my girls would be begging to go everyday. It looks great fun. They have regular breaks and lunch, with pick up between 4.30-5.30, and an option for a later pick up if required.
Having the girls booked into an activity for a day each week, will not only mean that I can work. It will also give them something fun to do, an opportunity to do activities that they wouldn’t otherwise do and make friends. Alice in particular has a low boredom threshold and I think she would thrive at an activity camp for the day.
Juggling the school holidays is hard for parents and the parent guilt can get you. But knowing that they are having fun, and doing something that they want to do can make all the difference.
How do you manage the school holidays if you’re a working parent?
Disclosure: This is a paid partnership with Barracudas. All views, opinions and photos are my own.
