Juggling work and parenting on school holidays is tough. Here's how three families manage
Sam Alderton-Johnson focuses on "quality over quantity" on school holidays — both for family and work. (Supplied)
School holidays can be a tricky time for working parents.
It's not always possible to take leave or find school holiday care, which leaves some parents wondering how they'll possibly juggle their responsibilities at work while looking after their kids.
For other parents, such as those with children in boarding schools, school holidays are a wonderful time where the family is together.
We spoke to three different parents about how they juggle parenting and work during school holidays.
'You can't do anything perfect': Sam Alderton-Johnson
Sam Alderton-Johnson, 37, is the founder of an Indigenous social policy consultancy firm and father to five kids from four to 20 years old.
Sam lives and works across Gadigal and Bidjigal country in Sydney. His role means he can work from home, and he has some flexibility in terms of his work hours.
Nevertheless, school holidays are still a tricky time.
"The biggest thing is to be prepared that you can't do anything perfect," he says.
"That means recognising that sometimes quality time is better than quantity of time. That message cuts both ways as well — professionally and personally."
This was the view from Sam Alderton-Johnson's desk while working on school holidays recently. (Supplied)
As a leader, he's also thinking about his staff, who are affected by child care affordability and availability over school holiday periods.
On Mondays, Sam cares for his four-year-old daughter, but he also tries to get work done when he can. He's found a local creche that provides occasional care for young children for up to a few hours and it's been a huge help.
It means he can drop off his daughter and get some work done, and it's more affordable than regular day care. It's something he's recommended to his staff with kids, too.
"The reality is that day care … is so expensive," he says.
"We can put our kids in [the creche] for an hour and a half, and we sit down, have a coffee, do some work and have a bit of sanity."
'I write all the things I have to do on the whiteboard': Mandy McCracken
Mandy McCracken, 50, lives in Kilmore in central Victoria on the traditional lands of the Taungurung people. She has three teenage daughters, aged 15 to 20.
Sharing daily tasks on a whiteboard helps Mandy's family understand her workload. (Supplied)
In her role as founder and chairperson of Get Started Disability Support, she's often working from home with her kids on school holidays.
"My life has now turned into Zoom meetings with kids in the background who wander around in dressing gowns.
"It's quite embarrassing, but I don't blur them out, because honestly, that's what life is [like] at the moment if you're working from home."
One strategy she has found helpful is to write her to-do list up on a whiteboard next to her desk.
"The beauty of that is that your family can see all the stuff you have on your plate. Otherwise, you're just sitting at your desk, and they don't know what you're doing," she says.
Another issue for parents is managing screen time over the school holidays. Mandy uses a strategy she found on the internet.
"It was basically [a list of] 10 things that a kid had to do before they were allowed to turn on a screen," she says.
"It started off with everything from 'have breakfast', 'make your bed', 'brush your teeth', 'get dressed' through to 'spend an hour doing something creative', 'spend an hour outside' and 'spend an hour reading something'.
"More often than not, they got to about 2:00pm in the afternoon before they ticked all the boxes and were allowed to turn a screen on. It was life-changing."
'I really dread when they have to get back to school': Amanda Murphy
Amanda Murphy, 41, lives on a remote cattle station south of Katherine in the Northern Territory. She has four kids, aged 10 to 16.
Her three eldest children attend a boarding school in Charters Towers, Queensland. Each school holidays, the children fly to Darwin, where they're picked up by their mum to drive another 850 kilometres home to the station.
"It's a long way, and flights are very expensive … but that ticket is going to be booked, no matter the price. I'll find a way to pay for it," Amanda says.
Three of Amanda Murphy's kids go to boarding school in Queensland, so she's always looking forward to school holidays. (Supplied)
There's plenty to do on a 100,000-hectare station with about 6,000 cattle, so Amanda's kids spend much of their time at home working.
"You've got a lot more free time and we're pretty much doing mustering, cattle work or fencing … and the kids help us," she says.
"Because we're all back together, I just love it."
Amanda's kids started in boarding school when they were 11 or 12. Her youngest, 10, is currently doing distance education but will start boarding next year.
While Amanda is proud of what her kids are achieving at school and values the education they are getting, dropping them off at the end of school holidays is always a challenge.
"I really dread when they have to go back to school, because part of your family network is missing," she says.