Looking after children and yourself whilst working

 

You might be asking yourself:

• How am I going to juggle work and childcare?
• How am I going to keep my kids entertained, active, educated and safe?
• How can I look after my own mental health to be the best parent I can be?

If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. The summer holidays can be a stressful time, with the added pressure to keep kids active, stimulated, and safe while also juggling your usual responsibilities at work.

"You can feel really torn during the summer. You want your kids to enjoy themselves but you still have work commitments and deadlines to deliver - which is hard for them to understand. I often end up feeling guilty about not spending enough time or money on them - feeling responsible for them being bored.

You can end up juggling everyone's expectations, leaving you overdrawn at the bank both emotionally and financially."

– Parent (2 children under the age of 11)

We’ve compiled the following list of ways to look after your children, and yourself, while working from home over the summer holidays.

Try not to think of everything at once.

Take each day and challenge at a time. Looking at the summer ahead and trying to plan everything at once, or trying to plan for every eventuality, is a surefire way to feel overwhelmed. Break everything down one day at a time. Think about your schedule, and build your childcare around that as best as you can while also factoring in time for rest and recuperation.

Talk to people about your concerns.

They may not be able to solve it all for you, but just listening to your issues and providing suggestions can help to take a load off your shoulders. Find out what other working parents you know are doing to cope with the additional stress over the summer holidays. You might even consider talking to your manager about your worries.

You can also use our parenting hub on Clic to connect with other parents and exchange ideas, or simply talk about what’s bothering you. Remember: you aren’t alone.

But for the immediate future, can you take a couple of days of annual leave to sort it out? And if you’re worried about pay, visit Mental Health and Money Advice for tips.

Think about a daily routine and get the children involved with creating the timetable.

Children love a list and if they’ve created it, they’re more likely to feel invested in it and stick to it more. Balance and variation is key. So perhaps, in a day, decide on a couple of activities to ensure interest and engagement. You will then be providing your child with educational activities, practical challenges, and a good dose of fun and movement. Ask how their day at school goes as a starting point. But here’s an example:

Time	Activity	Ideas
9 – 10am	Exercise time	Warm ups
10 – 11am	Hobby time	Limit electronic time
11 – 12	Creative time	Ideas below
12 – 1pm	Lunch & relax	Downtime to digest lunch
1 – 1:30pm	Exercises	Limit electronic time
1:30 – 2:30pm	Hobby time	Limit electronic time
2:30 – 3pm	Quiet time	Ideas below
3 – 4pm	Outdoor time	If the weather permits
5 – 6pm	Tea time	Come together as a family

Build in time for treats, like screen time. As much as it’s not good for them to be glued to the screen all day, it can be very useful if we’re working on a deadline. But if they know they’ve got an hour’s screen time to look forward to, they may be more amenable to finishing their chores beforehand.

Find fun summer activities for your children to take part in.

Remember that, no matter what, you don’t have to do this alone. The summertime means there are plenty of activities geared toward kids, both supervised by others (giving you a much-needed break), and ways to keep kids active and stimulated over the downtime between school terms. While this list isn’t exhaustive, it should give you a good basis.

• Museum visits: Explore local museums, aquariums, or science centres, and check if they have any summer clubs available for kids to join.
• Summer reading programs: Check if your local library has a summer reading program or kids book clubs. You can even create a cosy reading book at home, encouraging kids to read and stay busy while you work.
• Arts and crafts: Introduce kids to new arts and crafts, such as painting, drawing, model making, and even photography. Find what they’re interested in, and let them to pursue it to their heart’s content. Local arts and craft shops might also have events geared towards kids.
• Summer social clubs: Check to see which summer clubs might be active in your area. They’re a great way for kids to get out, meet new people, and stay active.
• Music: Ask your child if they’d like to learn to play a musical instrument. Even if they don’t like it or want to keep doing it, it’s great to introduce them to lots of different intruments and encourage them to practice.
• Journaling: Teach kids about journaling about what’s on their mind. Journaling is a proven way to stay mentally healthy.
• Learn a new language: Try learning a new language together. You don’t need to attend a class for this, as there are plenty of free resources online, but some apps do allow some competitive tracking which might help encourage them. If you’re going somewhere on holiday, it might help to pick a language spoken in the location you’re travelling to.
• Movie Marathons: Organise themed movie days for you, your kids, and/or their friends.
• Budgeting Games: Teach kids basic budgeting with play money or a simple allowance system. Check out our blog on spending over the holidays for more information on why this is important.
• Outdoor time: Spend time outdoors with books and music. If you work via a laptop, you can even use this time to work while your child plays outdoors.
• Mindfulness: Introduce kids to mindfulness exercises, such as deep breathing or colouring. Mindfulness is a proven technique for mental wellbeing.
• Sports: Sign up for swimming, martial arts, tennis, or other sports lessons. However, movement of any kind is important for maintaining good mental wellbeing. Any time outdoors, whether playing in the garden or going on walks, is key for our physical and mental health.

What about your child’s health and wellbeing?

With all the above in place, you’re on good solid ground but it’s still important to prioritise your kids’ mental wellbeing.

We have great resources from the young people’s programme, Bloom, on how to check in with our kids’ mental health. As part of our Your Resilience programme, we also have videos which help prepare children for challenges that they might face such as stress and social pressure. You can read this guide for more information on talking to young people about their mental health.

As you near the weeks before going back to school, it would be helpful to start to reintroduce routines again so that it isn’t a shock to go from waking up at 11 a.m. on Monday during the holidays to 7 a.m. when back at school. Sleep routines are important to your child’s wellbeing. On our sleep information page, you can find a tracker and tips on how to get a good night’s sleep.

Looking after yourself.

With all of that, it’s important that we also take care of ourselves and our own mental wellbeing. If you’re stressed, your kids will pick up on this. You could use a Stress Bucket tool helping you understand the stressors which come into your life, and how you can release some of that stress.