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School Calendar-It's Madness
 Tuesday, August 12, 2008

As you dear readers know, this summer I have been struggling to find some sort of balance between my workload and childcare coverage. As I wrote last month, I have less daycare than I do work at the moment. I have been getting up early, staying up late, trying to somehow fit it all in. My kids are always catching me at my desk, tapping away on the keyboard. "Just let Mommy finish this one email" is the mantra of my summer. Some mornings, my typing wakes them up. Some nights I sit blurry eyed trying to cross things off my endless to do list. The trade off is that I am spending more "quality" time with my children. But while the dynamic has clearly shifted, the workload hasn't.

But the purpose of this post is not really to lament my summer schedule. It's to ask how other working parents deal with the crazy school schedule?

With all the juggling I've been doing this summer, I haven't given a single thought to the fall. But when the boys' day care provider alerted me to the school schedule and the number of days off and half days coming up in September and October I nearly burst a blood vessel in my brain! Since I am working out of the house again (blame it on the price of gas) I can be here in the afternoon to get my son off the bus after school. I don't need wrap around care every day. But I do need it on half days. Last year, I was able to use neighborhood day care so I didn't really think about this at all. This year, the day care is full and it's not a realistic option.

School starts on September 3. There are three full weeks of school and then there is not another full week (meaning 5 full days of school) again until December 10!

Days off: Sept. 30, October 1, 9, 13, November 4, 11, 28
Half days (early release): October 15, 22, 29 November 19, 26, December 3

Is every school district like this? If you don't use regular wrap around care, what do you do? Hire a high school kid? Get your mother-in-law or friend? Take time off from work?

by Erin * Comments (6) * Link to this entry

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Comments

As a SAHM, I don't have the same daycare dilemmas. However, my daughter started first grade today and looking at her calendar, she's got fourteen days between now and December 1 that are off or half days. Can't get a schedule going very well when it seems that we never have a real week. UGH. I must be thankful that I am a SAHM, I suppose, but please know that I feel for all the working moms.

Posted by: KbRadcliffe [TypeKey Profile Page] | August 13, 2008 09:47 AM

Hey Erin, Planning out the school & work schedule can be very tough. I work full-time and the solution that I found is a day-care that has a latch-key program. The bus picks him up at the daycare and drops him back there after school. It is very convenient and I don't know what I would do without it. If I didn't have latch-key, I would have to look for a babysitter near the school and pick him up after work. Hope you find something that will work. I know how frustrating it can be.

Posted by: Yolanda [TypeKey Profile Page] | August 13, 2008 10:48 AM

This kind of thing makes me crazy. (And, for the record, my kids start school on August 27 then don't have a full week for quite some time.)

When I started teaching at a college part-time, I thought I'd created a great schedule. Work two days a week without having to hire childcare for my three kids. I'd leave at 7:30 in the morning and my husband would see the kids off. I'd be home by 2-2:15 before they got off the bus. Perfect . . . until I saw the school schedule and realized that almosty all the half-days and many of the days off were on the two days on which I was teaching.

To deal with this, I've had to bring kids with me to work (they helped hand out papers and take attendance), my husband has worked from home, my neighbors have watched my kids and I've had to ask my retired in-laws to watch the kids.

Just another in a long line of reasons why I think schools, particularly their schedules, have become pretty working family unfriendly.

Posted by: Meredith [TypeKey Profile Page] | August 13, 2008 01:57 PM

I think the best solution, and one that I wish every school had, is to have "on-campus" care. My son's before/after care is on the grounds of his school. They simply walk back and forth, dropping off and picking up directly at his classroom door. And the care is coordinated with the school schedule, so that every school day he has off, I have the option of keeping him there all day. A life-saver! Otherwise, I would miss even more work than I already do.

I agree that schools, at least some, perhaps in better neighbourhoods, are not very working-mom-friendly. So many events planned in the middle of the day, sometimes only for a half-hour. It's an hour round trip just to drive from my work to my son's school, so I end up booking the afternoon off, if I go at all.

Posted by: Susanna [TypeKey Profile Page] | August 14, 2008 03:49 PM

I can imagine how difficult this is. I'm a full time teacher, so I deal with daycare issues in the summer when I have a class I'm taking. I've found different things that work...this summer another mom (also a friend) and I trade childcare...she'd do one day a week with our kids and I'd do one too. Could you find a parent to do this type of share? Are there any SAHM moms in your kid's class that want to make some extra cash? (seems like the easiest option) You could arrange with them for all the "odd school days". Good luck...the daycare thing is NEVER easy!!! OH and I have a giveaway going on my blog...I'd love for other manic mommy readers to enter :) (and the manic mommies themselves too, of course!)

Posted by: yaya's mom [TypeKey Profile Page] | August 14, 2008 04:31 PM

Wow, this is a tuffy for everyone involved. I am fortunate that my kids are going to a private school that has before and after school care, and care on most of the school holidays (not on the big ones though). But, an option that we considered if we used public schools is the YMCA before and after school program. In Indiana, this program works in conjunction with the school to provide active care for the kids at the school until approximately 6:00 PM. This is a great option around here. No transportation required -- kids go to the gym or the cafeteria after school, and the cost is low. Good luck!

Posted by: Erica [TypeKey Profile Page] | August 21, 2008 07:33 AM

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