Tips for working parents for the summer holidays!

Although I am not a parent myself, I know from listening and speaking with to others that balancing work with spending time with their children is difficult and especially becomes more of a struggle throughout the 6 weeks summer holidays. And this emotion is not exclusive to recruiters either.

I spoke with working mums who experience the struggle every year:

Lysha Holmes @quirecruitment:

“So yesterday my children broke up from primary school. After a euphoric afternoon having a water fight in 30" sunshine, my youngest daughter asked me what the plan was for the first day of her 6 week school holiday.

Determined not to show her my guilt, I calmly replied that she would be attending her usual summer school with her older sister. The activities they have planned for the next fortnight include archery, drama, golf, gymnastics, cookery and cycling, to name a few.

She groaned and replied "oh no, I just want a lie in and to play in the garden..."

I have always been honest with my children that as a self employed recruiter, which affords me great flexibility all year round, the compromise is that I can't just take off 6 weeks for the summer.

I would love to spend the next fortnight planning picnics, trips to the seaside, leisurely mornings at home. Instead, we are up and out of the house for 830am and the reality is, I feel so guilty.

I will be strict about it. On the days I collect them I will not take calls (unless vital and those that can't wait until the next day) so at least we can do something quality after 4pm. But the other dilemma with that is that after a full on day in summer school, when they get home they just want to flop. Which means they dont want to do something exciting and inevitably they just want to watch a movie or play on their iPads”.

Jane Schofield. @WorkplaceJane

"I have stressed, worried, and had arguments with by two boys about school holiday cover especially as they like different things.

The fact can’t change that I am a working Mum and can’t take all the school

holiday’s off so they have to be somewhere other than with me during some of the holidays.

I made a conscious decision to stop stressing and get on with it but not over plan as things change and I seem to always be able to find late availability for holiday clubs, in fact the football club you don’t have to book, you can just turn up any day and pay and stay.. bliss!!!

If I do it like this they are open for play dates with friends and joining other clubs they are interested in and me or family being able to entertain them for a day.

I also use my network of Mums in the same position to cover early starts, late pickups and the occasional day cover and when I am free I offer the same service to as many people as I can so that I can pull a favour when I need one... stress free but still loaded with the full does of parental guilt!"

Danielle Bromley @urbanmediasales

"Whilst most of the mums from school dread the school holiday I seem to get ridiculously excited , with visions of gloriously long sunny days and eating Al Fresco every night.

The reality is, that I am living my life for the next 6 weeks with all activities, clubs and holidays documented on a large and complex spreadsheet which has been shared with my husband and various family members. Said spreadsheet was born back in January and has grown accordingly with a few spots still left to fill at the end of August. Volunteers welcome….

Did I mention the cost… the cost of keeping 2 children in childcare is the price of a family holiday.

Luckily this year my children are off to our caravan for a month with their cousins, my brother are working half weeks each in order to look after each others children. 

Thanks goodness I have a girls weekend in Barcelona booked for September – I think I’m going to need it."

So below are my tips towards working parents to cope with the long summer holidays:

Share the responsibility.

Delegate to spouses and support network on collection and drop off. Call in favours for alternative day cover and if you can have another family's child and they have yours for one day, this can work out a lot cheaper

Plan ahead

A lot of holiday clubs offer discounts for booking early and for more than one user, so correlate with another family and then you can also do a rota on the journey too.

Make your time count

Organise your day so that you still have a significant amount of the day set aside to do fun stuff. This could an evening picnic at the park, the cinema or even just a trip to the library or the shops. TURN YOUR PHONE OFF during this time.

Make your clients aware. 

Unless your clients are made of stone, most will totally appreciate, accept and even be in your position too so just be honest about your availability during these long weeks ahead.

So, I hope you all have a lovely summer, and don't wish it away as lets face it, as the kids get older they they may not want to spend the time with you anyway as it becomes ‘less cool’.

At Qui Recruitment, we highly support working parents and partner with clients who can offer that flexibility. If you are working within a company whereby you are having to work extensive hours and leaves you no time to spend with your kids, then please don’t hesitate and get in touch. We will help you find a role whereby you can have more control on the hours you work to be able to feel less guilt within the summer holidays.

I’d like to hear from you....

Do you have any more tips for working parents? Does your company have a policy that’s enables you to be a more flexible working parent?

Or are you worried about what to do and would like some advice from Lysha (for the North West) or from Laura (for London). Lysha = lysha@quirecruitment.co.uk / 07855778617 - Laura = Laura@quirecruitment.co.uk / 07503376421

Get in touch! - 

Shannon@quirecruitment.co.uk /07799282871