Working Moms
I have a ? for all your working Moms! Please help.
So my twin girls at 8 months and have been at an in-home since they were 3 months. We have been on a waiting list at a church daycare here in our town that is supposed to be the best of the best since I was 6 weeks pregnant. We didn't think there was any way we would get in before the girls were 2. They just called and they have TWO spots. What!!!???
My question for y'all is this: The daycare that they will be going to, starting August 1st. I just received the daycares calendar of days off and it seems to be a LOT. What do you do with your child when the daycare is closed? They take off one week at Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas and many more days in between. I can't take off TWO weeks. Suggestions?
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Re: I have a ? for all your working Moms! Please help.
ditto. I didn't want to stress over add'l time off so I went w/ a DC that has the major holidays off consistent w/ my employer. I would look into back-up care (sitter, family, neighbor) to help out.
Our daycare is closed all gov't holidays, the week between christmas and new years, and a couple days here and there for teachers days. It's kind of a tradeoff. DH and I just make it work. Sometimes we'll have family come up to watch DD, other times, we just adjust our schedules so that we each take a half day or try and work extra to make up the hours, or one of us just takes off and has a fun day of hookey with DD.
Ours is usually only closed on actual holidays, but they do take 1 week of "summer break" the first week of June. This year we were able to have my FIL come down and watch him for the week. Ironically 2 weeks around Christmas would actually work great for us, we both work for colleges and usually take a lot of time off then. Anyway, it's definitely something to consider.
Some of the daycare employees actually might want to babysit, though of course you'd have to pay them above what you already pay the daycare.
I sure hope a DC who is closing for 2 full weeks in addition to all those other hoildays & breaks is not charging parents for those 2 weeks. Paying for a holiday here & there is one thing to cover their costs and staff costs but 2 weeks is excessive. I think if you don't have family nearby who can help, you could either ask the staff like pp said (though I bet the ones who want to probably get a LOT of requests), find a local temporary sitter (tough at the holidays though maybe a college student or someone with an open schedule looking for some holiday $!) or have family visit if that is a possibility...
GL in your decision. that is a tough one.
Daycare charges are already based on the calendar they provide, it's in essence a yearly charge that you get to pay in monthly increments. An in-home provider might charge differently, but most centers will give you the same cost each month. Some months have more "school days" than others, some have more holidays, it all evens out in the end. I wouldn't expect to pay half price in December if they take two weeks off unless they specify that in the contract.
OP- we have two in preschool and there are a lot of days off as well (they follow the school calendar, and start two weeks after school starts in September and end two weeks earlier in June). I also have a flexible job, but would not be able to take off for every holiday (not to mention sick days) so we have an au pair as well (obviously not a budget wise decision for someone with two kids, but it works well for 5!)