The Working Parent’s Guide to Surviving School Holidays

family Jan 18, 2019

School holidays are upon us again, and for many this creates deep angst of how on earth to survive the weeks of break in routine and the extra challenges (not to mention expectation) that comes with the turf of being a “good parent” in the holidays.

Work can’t simply “slow down” to accommodate our extra demands, in fact murphy’s law dictates that that’s when you’ll have major projects due, new staff starting or a new office opening – or in my case, multiple marketing campaigns kicking off around the globe.

But regardless of how crucial a work project is, as a parent you also know how much it means to your kids to have time with you doing their school break.

As a parent to five young children I've learned some good lessons over the years – often the hard way.

As a result, I’ve found that there are a few fairly simple things that go a long way in relieving the overwhelming feeling of maintaining work commitments while ensuring your kids have some decent things to write about when they go back to school and are asked to journal about what they did in their break. And beyond that actually enjoying your time with them as well!

 1. Plan, plan, plan!

Get your calendar out and make a hard copy of your week. PDFcalendar.com is a great place to do this and you can print of monthly calendars just the way you like them and you can see your entire week/month at a glance (and it's easier to carry around than a whiteboard).

Write in all your fixed appointments, meetings, commitments and mark them with a highlighter. Then from there, work out when you can block out family time, and schedule one “highlighted event” with your children every couple of days so that there’s always something for them to look forward to. You may just relax with them at home as you can on the other days, but this way, they’ll feel like they’ve been officially included in the planning.

If you don’t put it the calendar, chances are you’ll probably be too tired to think about what to do at the last minute, the kids may be having a bad day, and things turn to custard. It doesn’t have to be over the top. It could even be a meal at your favourite family-friendly restaurant, ten-pin bowling, or even a movie night at home. Some microwave popcorn and special treat like a fancy brand of ice-cream instead of the standard Neapolitan family tub goes a long way with kids (including having you present and not on your phone checking emails during the movie!).

Then at least once a week, (or on the weekend if you don’t have any other option), plan a few “big ticket” events, such as a trip into town, the zoo, a theme park, or even a picnic in the park. Something they will recall weeks and months later as something they “did” during the break.

 

 2. Change up a few of your needs to meet theirs.

Don’t take this out of context. Your needs are important, and as a matter of priority you need to look after yourself. But think about how you can do this differently during the holidays. Especially if you work outside of the home, you are going to have to maximise your after-hours time with the kids.

You can survive without a social life for a few weeks. Invest that in your kids instead. Your friends and colleagues will still be there when the children go back to school.

Exercise? Yes it’s important and if you can still fit it in great, but if foregoing that means that you get to see your kids for an extra hour then think of it as an investment into your (and their) emotional health instead of your physical health for a few weeks. Its only short-term.

Or better still, get them involved in your exercise program. Do up a short routine that you can do together at home. If you’re stuck for ideas google "TABATA" and you’ll find some great ideas for interval training you can do with your kids inside or outside and they’ll love it. Even a 3 year old can take part, they’ll love it and if you do it properly it’s an awesome work out for you too.

3. Explore options to work remotely.

If your workplace is not already offering flexible working options now would be a great time to raise it with your employer. It’s gaining huge momentum in the marketplace and your colleagues who are also parents will thank you for it. Your employer will too, once they see that it actually boosts your productivity, loyalty, and hence their bottom line. 

In fact there are 4 times as many people working remotely now than there were in 1999. What’s more, as much as 90% of the workforce wish to work remotely at least part time. So you’re not alone, and unless you’re in a job where face to face presence is crucial it’s something your employer will need to consider at some stage. Business Communication is transforming rapidly. You can read more about trends in business communication and the mobile workforce in this infographic.

 4. Modify your work hours.

If you normally work “standard hours", look at how you might do things differently as an experiment for a week or two. For example you may get an early start at home and put in an hour's work before the kids wake. Then after breakfast while the kids are generally in a good mood you could schedule a few hours of work.

Talk to a friend and arrange a playdate to co-incide with that time, or get some assistance from family. People are more willing to help if they know it’s only a few hours and not a full day.

If you’re able to work from home and don’t have someone to watch your kids, you could allow them to watch a movie or two as a holiday treat while you work. I get that TV is not ideal but if it mean they get several hours of quality time with their MUM or DAD later in the day vs being in childcare all day while parents do a normal day’s work, then it’s worth considering.

Then spend the afternoon with the kids. Create memories for your family. Do something special around dinner – let your kids cook it one night, have a picnic in the yard, eat on the trampoline, go out for dessert, your kids will love it.

Then after dinner get stuck into your work. The kids will be greatful to have spent much of the day with you and you’ll find you’ll probably be quite productive as the evening goes on. Try not to work too late, if you work from 6:30pm-10:30pm, add that to your early morning, and then your mid-morning time and you’ve done an 8-hour day – or you may well find you get really productive then and go later – but that’s not ideal.

 There is a lot of emphasis around getting more sleep (and I subscribe to that whole heartedly) but right now in this limited phase of life when your children are young it may be worth giving up an hour or two if it means you can shift around your workdays to spend blocks of time with them. Once they grow older there will be plenty of time to do standard work days if that’s what you choose to do then.

 Talk about it with your employer and ensure they are on board, and talk about the infrastructure required to support this. With Zoom and Skype you can still participate in meetings and be available on video so in many ways it’s like being there.

The evidence supporting the benefits of flexible working hours is growing on a daily. (If your employer is not yet convinced there are some things you can do, but that’s the subject of another article). 

 5. Get creative!

If you have multiple children, finding time to give them meaningful one-on-one time can be one of the biggest hurdles. Balancing the individual needs of my five children with a demanding (but hugely exciting) professional role means I need to be very intentional about how I interact with them to ensure that each one gets regular quality time with me. Holidays seem to amplify that challenge for me.

For the older children, you could use it as an opportunity to bring them into work for half a day (if your employer is ok for that – and you think your children will enjoy it). 

Or think about other ways you can incorporate them into your work day doing things that wouldn’t normally be possible when they’re at school. If you work in an office take them into town with you and have an early breakfast near your office then have a friend or relative meet you to take the child home again. Or have someone bring them in to have a special lunch with you. This is something that goes a long way for an individual child in larger families as they feel special coming in to see you on their own.

For example, last night I took my eldest son along to a “Women in Digital” event I attend regularly (that's where the image accompanying this blog post came from). He got to do some quiet activities while taking in the city view from a high-rise in Southbank – having said that the snacks were probably more of interest to him (and I did check with the organiser of the event prior, but you’ll find lots of organisations running events after hours are very supportive of working parents these days - I mentioned he was coming and they even included Smarties in the catering!).

Afterwards we had a stroll through town, ate pizza by the river, and went to a chocolate café. Think of it as a spin on the old saying “work hard, play hard”, or a creative “date night”. I got to go to my work event, he gets a glimpse into my professional life, we both get to make some great memories afterwards. Win/Win.

These are just a few suggestions, maybe you’ve got more and if you’ve found things that work for you and help you in the quest for work/life/family balance I’d love to hear them!

Connect with me here - www.Instagram.com/ninachristian17