Kids have huge vacation times, around 3 months, so we can't cover all that and unless we have relatives we need to pay someone to keep them. There are also other times, like this next Friday 1st August when I am still at work, but I have no one to be with them, so will I pay someone to keep them or should I take a day off work? Are bosses usually understanding facing these situations? I am earning less than what I would pay for someone to keep them in that particular day.
In this country some schools open during the holidays under the name Play Centres from 9am until 5pm and many parents send their kids there. Is it me or are children getting more and more time off school these days? When I was at school we got one week at Easter, five weeks for Summer holidays and ONE week off for Christmas, now it seems like every month is followed by a week off school.
There was talk some time back about extending school time for kids to 45 weeks in the UK. Log InThat's if the conservatives win the election. I doubt that your boss would understand you need to take the day off. Have you tried asking a neighbor to assist you if there's one who won't be working on that day? If all alternatives don't work then you'll have no option but to hire someone to look after the kid for that one day. A kid is too valuable to leave alone at home no matter what it costs.
You should always spend as much time with your child as possible. You will not just be saving daycare money, but create lasting bonds with your children. You will never regret spending time with your child, and saving some money is an added bonus.
Finally I ended up taking half a day from work and brought them here in the morning, it was not a big deal lol. This week they are with my parents and next week holidays will come so I will spend almost one month with them 24 over 24. I feel they grow more when they are with us, it's great to be able to spend all that time with them.
It sounds like you need to know your employer's policies. I get a certain amount of sick leave, family sick leave, and personal time for each year, paid, but taking unpaid time is difficult. If you have leave time you can take paid, then I would use that if you have to, since you will still be making money and not paying someone else to watch your children. If you don't have paid leave time, you should find out the policy for unpaid leave and how much advance notice is needed. If you are able to take it for things like children being off school, again, it makes more sense to take the day off than to pay someone more than you are making. Another thing you can do is find out who watches friends of your children when they are off school, perhaps you can work it out with other parents to take turns watching the kids in a group on a day they are off of school.
I used to pay someone to take care of my kids so that I can work outside the home. I eventually gave up after several frustrating and stressful situations. I gave up my day job and worked at home so I can raise the kids myself. I found it to be more economical and less stressful than worrying about the situation at home. The money saved from not hiring caregivers is like the money earned when I do the parenting myself. I am able to see how my children grow, monitor what they eat, what they watch of TV and what they learn. It is a sacrifice seeing that my career would have to be a last priority, but at the end of the day, the rewards are far greater than the monetary daily wage I get from a job that requires me to leave them with someone else.
It's a complex situation no doubt. For example, if my kids were in a private school and I had one more, it would not make any sense for my wife to work because just paying for the schools would cost more than she earns. Also, having someone we trust with the kids it's not easy to find.
