Faking it: the Working Mums' Guide to Easter Childcare

It's that time of year again - and no sooner have you dealt with one holiday childcare nightmare than another holiday rears its head. Easter is just around the corner. Workingmums has some tips on how to cover the two weeks if you are having to stretch your holiday leave.

1. Ring your local authority's Children's Information Service. They have a statutory duty to provide adequate holiday childcare so ask them about any Easter schemes they have on offer.

2. Ask at your child’s school. They may also have suggestions and often circulate information. This may be late on in the day so it is worth asking them early. Some schools run holiday schemes such as football training. Also ask leisure centres in your area for any details of sports-related Easter courses.

3. Be exceptionally nice to any relatives who live nearby and are not working, even if this requires you to bite your tongue really really hard. Avoid talking about politics or anything remotely contentious for the next decade.
4. Negotiate with your boss about working from home. Try to portray this as a win win thing for your boss by suggesting you will work harder as a result, knowing this will in effect mean you will be staying up all night to do extra hours and so be near collapse by the end of the holiday period. Ask your partner to do the same so you can spread the load somehow, even if it means you don’t have any holiday time off together.
5. Network at school. Focus on the parents who look similarly frazzled to you. They will expect pay back, but as long as they do their share of the childcare all is well.
6. Do not worry about staying in with your children’s friends’ families. This is a complete waste of time because they are bound to have fallen out with their “best” friend at least 10 times by the holidays and refuse point blank to go to their house.
7. Make friends with teachers. They have the whole Easter holidays off and would be only too pleased to spend it with a huge tribe of kids.
8. Force your child to go on the usual 10-3pm holiday scheme with a mate and alternate the picking up with their friend’s family. If necessary, drag them in kicking and screaming and prepare for the recriminations when they get to the teenage years.
9. Consider employing an au pair, childminder who can help with school pick-ups and holiday cover and any other form of childcare going. Check www.findababysitter.com for childcare in your area plus your local authority's Children's Information Service.
10. Consider setting up your own home business, escaping to another planet, becoming a teacher. As you do every week.