When the child care plan is no plan
Child care for kids at the “in-between” age can be hard when both parents work.
Sometimes kids are too old for daycare, but, they’re not really old enough to be at home alone on a regular basis, either.
I know there are various solutions to this dilemma, but, they usually involve some sort of planning ahead.
However, recently, I have encountered 2 different people I know who simply have no plan at all for their kids for after school, and, in the summer.
The first friend works until early evening, and, her husband’s hours are variable. She has a middle schooler, and, an 8 year old. For several years, during the school year, the kids went to after school care, but, apparently, the expense was too much for them.
So, instead of after school care, now, she simply hits up different people at school (our kids don’t go to the same school) each week to take her kids home with them until one of them can get there to pick them up. People hate to see her coming now, the kids are rowdy, and, it’s a stretch to ask the same people to do this for the entire year.
The kids may or may not be OK left alone, but, there’s no way for them to get home from school, so, people keep stepping up, but, they’re getting tired of it.
Another friend has a 3rd grader, and, a 5th grader. Both parents work a lot, and, the kids are in before and after school care every day.
In the summer, the boys usually go to day camp, but, for some reason, the older one isn’t going this summer. The plan for him is no plan. He stays home alone each day.
We figured it out recently, and, I get the feeling now that my husband (a teacher who is home in the summer) will be caring for him from now on. They’d never ask us, but, he’s a friend of my son’s, and, there’s no way he should be home alone each day.
Child care can be very complicated for working parents, and, money is often tight, we all have to make some sacrifices. Even though my husband is a teacher, and, we have a nearly 13 year old daughter, there are times we have to make elaborate child care plans.
I have trouble understanding why otherwise normal people of reasonably adequate income leave something like this to chance.
Tags: Career and Kids, Child-Care, home-aloneRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Childcare
3 opinions for When the child care plan is no plan
lcreekmo
Jun 19, 2007 at 7:53 am
Yowza. Those people scare me.
I, too, find child care challenging on a daily basis. My 8yo goes to various day camps all summer, and for the past three years, her friends’ parents and I have gotten together one night in January to map out the summer and try to set it up so that each girl has at least one friend at the camps she attends.
Camp is not cheap, at least not good camps. One nice thing about camp: I always pay for it in the spring, so I feel like I get a raise every summer. I don’t eat out much in the spring. :)
I also recently switched the toddler to a different day care. It is a great, great school and I love it, but the old day care stayed open til 6:30 and this one closes at 5:30.
I have to say, it never occurred to me to just round-robin the kids out to various friends and acquaintances. Heh.
RB
Jun 19, 2007 at 8:09 am
Wow, I can NOT imagine not having a plan! I am really hopeful that in those years I can work a little less and hire a college student to fill in the gaps. As it is now, I generally go in late and Mr. B takes off early, so the kids generally are only in daycare 9:30-4 unless we have a busy day. I hope (and I can still dream and be naive about this) that in summers when they are older, I can take them to a camp or morning activity and college student can get them home until Mr. B. arrives.
Where did I get this plan? Why, I was THAT college student.
Supervision and structure for teens in the summer
Jun 22, 2007 at 6:06 am
[…] still thinking about the summer child care issue for the in-between kids, those around ages 13-15, too old for daycare, too young for […]
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