Working from home, can't afford camp

amother

↑ Aster

Sun, Jun 09 2024, 10:38 am

amother Jasmine wrote:

Ha.
In Israel everyone deals with this. Kids of all ages are home all July and August. Camp doesn’t exist.
(PSA something to consider before doing Aliyah)

Yes, but then they also have friends home to play with

amother

Yarrow

Sun, Jun 09 2024, 2:06 pm

I am in this boat

These are my tips:

Round robin with another family with kids the same age. I do this with a neighbor, so each of us have one day on and one day off. Its a lifesaver for both of us.

I also wake up early on the days I am on - the day before I had the kids by the neighbor so I go to sleep at a normal time. Then I wake up early (5 am) and get as much work in before dh goes out ( he usually can be home until 8), have the neighbors kids over and do camp mommy, and then I make sure to take a nap before working thru the night...

The next day the kids go to the neighbor, and I work a more normal schedule.

Food is very basic - frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, BBQ rotation and Dh takes care of it.

The day is very structured:
Breakfast
Davening
project
indoor play
Outdoor play (water usually: kiddie pool, sprinklers, waterguns, waterballoons)
lunch - usually something that is an activity to make
go somewhere with a drive ( park, beach, softplay)

I have the neighbors kids till 3, then put on some screen time until dh comes home ( usally 5ish) while getting dinner together, take an hour nap and do five hours of work (8 hour days)

The next day, I send the kids over at 8:30 and work till 3, and then finish up my last hour and a half after the kids go to sleep.

It works. Its hard on all of us, but we have a good time
We do send the older kids to daycamp, I cant keep them entertained, but this saves us thousands....

amother

Green

Sun, Jun 09 2024, 2:16 pm

amother Rainbow wrote:

Irrelevant.
Every country has its own problems due to climate, logistics, infrastructures and culture, and living necessities.

(In general, daycare in Israel is second to none. It is free.)
That being said you will never understand our difficulties unless you live it (and if course the same goes the other way around).

Daycare in Israel is not free at all. Pre-school is free. Until they hit pre-school, depending where you send, it can be pricey.

LovesHashem

Sun, Jun 09 2024, 2:34 pm

amother Rainbow wrote:

Daycare is not free. Also there's camps.

amother

↑ Tan

Sun, Jun 09 2024, 2:40 pm

amother OP wrote:

So to clarify -
- my DH is going to take care of the kids late afternoon/suppertime, while I work. It's just hard because I will be exhausted at that point.
-I have school age kids too, and they are going to camp.
-I priced a babysitter for my baby. The cheapest option is $550 per half.

So go out first thing in morning. Then come home so you can relax a little and kids can play indoors or screen time.

amother

↑ OP

Sun, Jun 09 2024, 3:26 pm

Working in the morning won't work, my kids wake up early. My DH, due to his health, cannot.
Round robin isn't worth it for me, I get triple or quadruple exhausted watching other people's kids. I'll try to see about getting a mother's helper.
I live in Lakewood.

amother

DarkKhaki

Sun, Jun 09 2024, 4:34 pm

Instead of running around after them in the heat try to make it as structurally sound to be the most successful for both of you. Schedules can really help the time pass by and give you the structure to get your work done, feel sane, and give your kids the ability to develop and focus on different things.
Maybe if you can afford to put the 5yr old in camp, that would be better. Because then you can put the 1yr old and 3yr old down for naps, do an hour of work. You can start morning with getting dressed, sing davening with them, go on a walk outside, maybe bring some bubbles, play with them indoors. Take them to the beach. Do sprinklers. Cook with them. Then bath, dinner, sleep and you can go back to work.

P3aches

Sun, Jun 09 2024, 10:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

I work from home at a part time flexible job, which I know makes me very fortunate - most of the time. This summer, we absolutely cannot afford day camp for all of our kids, so my younger kids, ages 5, 3, and 1, will be staying home most of the summer. I will need to run Mommy camp every day, then frantically cram in work in the late afternoons and evenings, when I am exhausted from a day of running after them in the heat.
We did this last summer as well, but my baby wasn't mobile yet so this year is likely to be even harder. Just the thought of it makes me want to, like, maybe jump off a bridge, or maybe quit my job which would be almost equally suicidal.

This might not be part of your comfort level, But I think the best solution is screen time.

Allow your kids to have about 45 minutes - 1 hour of screen time and use that time to decompress.

Hatzlacha!!!