Just wondering what kind of childcare setup you have. LO is still 2 years off from kindergarten, but as we contemplate moving, commutes, etc., and having no family support nearby, wondering what people do for pre and post school if both adults are working full time too.
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We're not there yet, but lots of people in our neighborhood have before and/or after-school nannies (or nanny-shares). The elementary schools have before-and-after care, but the number of kids is limited and it can be really hard to get a spot. I also know some families who have flexible enough schedules that one parent goes to work really early while the other handles drop-off, and then gets home by the time school gets out. We will probably do a version of that because DH doesn't need to be to work until pretty late. We'll just need to have a back-up sitter or see if a friend's parent wouldn't mind watching her those times when one of us is traveling or our schedules cross.
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My son is beginning kindergarten this year, and what we're going to attempt is to stagger our work hours so when one parent drops off, the other picks up. It's a little silly because my husband and I currently commute together in one car, now we will have to have both cars on the road 3 days a week. Then on my long commute days when my husband does the drop off, I have to figure out how to get myself to the train station and my parents will be doing the pick up since my husband can not leave early.
I could have simplified my life and signed my son up for aftercare at school, but I truly feel the day would be too long for him at this age. He's never been in full day care and I think with all the changes going on this year, we need to iron those out before adding this element as well. I think by second grade he would be ready for aftercare at school for sure.
ETA: the aftercare program in the school/town is really well established, they also offer it on days when there is early dismissal because of snow, etc. They also have a morning option and it's reasonably priced, but spaces are limited. You can only sign up once a year, in August, a few weeks before school begins, so it's a bit of a gamble.
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The YMCA provides before and after care at the elementary school my kids will go to. My husband goes to work late enough that he can do drop off, and then she'll be in after care for only about an hour before I can get to her.
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LO will be in an after school program until about 6.
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Our school has before and after care that has an awesome reputation, so we'll likely use that. Another thought we've had is that because there are at least 3 kids on our street who will be in need of aftercare (same age as LO), we all could go in on a nanny-share for after school care.
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@yoursilverlining: I've considered this option too. Or possibly even just paying a SAHM in our neighborhood to keep her for an hour after school.
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@Truth Bombs: I think it's an awesome idea if you can swing it. Honestly, we wouldn't even be really looking for like a legit nanny - a responsible teenager would be fine; and one of littles has an older sister who is responsible and almost a teenager so we might float the idea of paying her. Between the 3 families we have enough flexibility that an adult could be on hand to cover whenever it was needed or if issues arose. We just need someone to be there to help the littles off the bus, make them a snack and make sure they get to their respective homes safely.
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@Truth Bombs: Same! We'll do the YMCA after care as well.
DH will be able to drop her off so we'll only need care after school.
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@yoursilverlining: We have tons of teenagers in the hood that I would trust... but the problem is they all have their own extra curricular activities, so they aren't reliably available. That would be the ideal option if you could find it!
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I'm not there yet (2 more years before kindergarten), but our YMCA offers before/after care, so I think we'll be utilizing that.
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My oldest isn't starting until next year, but here is my ideal scenario: Before care at school (school is only a block from our house). After school, nanny (ideally a college student or two) picks up older daughter from school and younger daughter from neighborhood day care, brings them home to play and puts dinner that we've prepped the night before into the oven. Although with this set up I'm not sure I'll be saving all that much $ having her out of daycare!
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I'm wondering about this too. Every single relative or friend we have who is in this situation has some combo of: one SAH or part-time parent or parent who is a teacher or parents working extreme flex hours, retired grandparents nearby, and/or the child's old daycare offers after-care with transportation. We will have none of these available to us.
If we stay in our current school system, we will try to get our LO into a school that offers extended hours, which I would love, because she would just stay in school a couple hours longer. In the more likely event that we will move, we will have to get a spot in an after-hours program, and most of those are hard to get into and have long wait lists.
I also have NO idea what we will do about summer. This stuff stresses me out to think about and I'm glad we have a couple more years where she will be in full-time daycare.
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Not there yet but the local schools have after-school care on site, which seems to be a popular choice for WOHPs. My coworker does this and it works for her.
In HS and early college, I did pick-up a few elem aged students from their schools to a tutoring center and their parents picked them up around 6pm. I would help with HW and such.
We are considering that I either stop working when they reach elem school, or schedule work so DH does drop offs and I go to work earlier so I can be home for pick up in time..
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E starts the nursery year at the local school in September. The school day runs from 8.45am until 3pm. When Im back at work, we will put her in the before school club (starts at 7.30am) and the after school club (finishes at 6pm). Its a bloody long day for a 3 year old but needs must.
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@yoursilverlining: Are the older kids home when the younger kids get off the bus? In our neighborhood, the elementary kids get off and are off the bus before the older kids are out of school.
DH and I will stagger our schedules. He'll go in early and be done in time to get the kids off the bus. I'll get them off to school in the morning and then be home later.
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It's my hope that I'll be able to find a job that has school hours so I can be home to put them on the bus/get them off the bus. I'm also hoping that we can move closer to my parents and they can go there after school if needed.
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We are not quite there yet but we will be deciding this winter whether or not to enroll DD in the public school pre-school next fall. When we do...we will hire a afternoon nanny for 3 hours a day.
DD1 school will end at 3pm. DD2 will be at daycare (can be picked up until 6:30pm). DD1 school is 2 miles from DH's work - he will do drop offs at 8:30. DD2 daycare is on my way to work...I will do her drop offs.
The afternoon nanny will pick them up from their respective "schools" and have them at home. I plan to ask her to leave DD2 at daycare until 4:30 2 to 3 days a week.
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Right now with just one kindergartener we will use the school after care program which goes until 6 pm. Once we have more kids in elementary we may look at a college nanny
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@kiddosc: hmmm, excellent question - I have no idea! LOL, I assumed all schools ran the same hours. Derp, well, something to investigate!
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@yoursilverlining: Around here, there aren't enough busses for elementary, middle and high school to all start/end at the same time. So the times are staggered so the busses can transport each group of kids independently.
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Our school (pre-K through 8th) has before care starting at 7 a.m. and after care going until 6 p.m. We haven't bothered with the before school care because normal drop off is at 7:50 a.m. and DH and I just take turns based on who has an early meeting, etc. We do use the after care daily, though.
Most of my co-workers who don't have before care or after care arrangements will handle the drop-offs in the morning and then just hire an afternoon babysitter to pick up the kids, bring them home, and get started on homework and dinner.
We are currently in our second year of pre-K and if we switch schools to our local public school for K, we'll probably go down the afternoon babysitter route as well.
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@Mrs. Carrot: m is starting UPK in a few weeks. Our daycare will bus from her elementary school to daycare. So DH will do drop off and then we will pick both girls up from daycare. It's very convenient until DD2 starts K. The only two who drive the bus are the director and assistant director. We can also leave a car seat in the bus!
I'm not sure what we will do when both girls are in elementary school. My hope is to be able to pick up even 2 out of 5 days. We'll see, that's 3 years away.
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LO1 starts pre-k this year. Luckily they offer before and after care so it's a non issue. Next year for K DH will drop off and we will use after care.
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I only work 2.5 days a week but I'm hoping that one of the local Mums in our neighbourhood that does home-based care will take A on my two longer days.
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I still have 2 years but have been giving this thought. If DH and I are in our current jobs we could probably stagger our work schedules, but we have 0 family here and minimal other help. So pro-days and school breaks would become an issue.
As of now I'm thinking of enrolling him in a school near daycare and he can stay there and do there before and after school program and be there for school breaks and pro days.
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our LO1 starts 1st grade this year, we're using a day care lady that will transport her to (in the morning)/from (after) school, along with a few other elem kids she watches. we thought long and hard about this, and the after school onsite care is an option and it's ok, but we really liked the personalized attention she'll get from the day care lady, who makes snacks, and helps with homework, but the big one was that she will be open during school breaks including summer, which the after school care service doesn't provide. our LO2 is still in preschool, so I'll be dropping both girls off, and husband will picking both girls up. when LO2 joins elem in 2 years, it'll be easier.
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@kiddosc: @yoursilverlining: yeah, where we live, the high school kids get on the bus at say 7 and come home by 2, the elementary kids get on later and get dismissed later. This is rather old school though, as a lot of towns are now shifting so that the younger kids go earlier and the older go later.
There's a town near me that has a campus, elementary, middle and high school are all right next to each other, so for that, bussing is done at the same time. Otherwise, all the towns around me are staggered.
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Not there yet, but hope to be next fall (trying for early enrollment for kindergarten).
We chose or new day care bad on the fact that they do school pick ups so that Dh can take LO2 to daycare, then LO1 to school, but pick up both at the same place at the end of the day
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