5 tips to survive the summer holidays for working parents

Schools out! Whether you’ve sent your child to a public or international school in Hong Kong, this time of year marks the long summer break that every child looks forward to and every working parent dreads. That is – if both parents have full-time jobs. Are you at your wits end regarding how to juggle work and childcare during school holidays? Worry not – this Pacific Prime Hong Kong article gives you 5 tips to keep your little ones entertained, while making sure you remain sane!

1.Don’t leave it to the last minute – speak to your employer beforehand

The school calendar is published a year in advance, so you’ve got plenty of time to make arrangements at work. The first thing to do is speak to your employer about your situation and see whether any reasonable accommodations can be made. With the increasing awareness about work-life balance, chances are your employer will already have policies in place to support working parents. If no such policies exist, you can propose a solution:

Some examples include:

• Hybrid/remote working: Working from home for part (or the entirety) of the summer holidays, deciding your own work schedule based around your child’s schedule.
• Compressed or term-time hours: Working longer hours during term time, so that you can work shorter hours/take some time off during the summer holidays.
• Job share: Sharing your work (and salary) with another employee who doesn’t have kids, so that you can work shorter hours/take some time off during the summer holidays.
• Buying extra time off: Taking entire days off during the summer holidays and, if this exceeds your annual leave entitlement, paying for these days off.
• And more!

Remember to put your request in writing and make a strong business case. That being said, be prepared for your employer to reject your claim, and have a back-up plan in place. Can you afford to take a break from work? Or do you need/want to work? Will you begin looking for a more flexible employer? Or is it more practical for you to remain with your current employer? Your decision will depend upon your career ambitions, financial situation, etc.

2.It takes a village to raise a child: Get help from your family and friends

Do your parents or parents-in-law live in Hong Kong? Grandparents are a great childcare option for working parents, as they are usually free, and love spending time with and spoiling their grandkids! Expat in Hong Kong? If so, chances are you don’t have your extended family living nearby. But worry not – your expat friends with children are likely going to be in the same boat as you, so you can suggest a ‘working parent summer childcare’ group of sorts.

Make a schedule with a group of friends to cycle the children around your houses. You can do half days, full days, or even sleepovers – depending on what’s most practical for the parents or desired by the kids. This will help the parents keep their work hours as normal as possible and rid the kids of boredom. Granted, your allocated day to supervise the kids at your house may be a bit hectic. That’s where the next tip comes in handy!

3. Kids are bursting with energy, so remember to tire them out – for your sake and theirs

It may seem impossible to have peace and quiet with energy-filled kids running around the house. So much so that you’re probably scratching your head and wondering: “What do working parents do during summer?” The key is to tire the little ones out. Spend the mornings with them running around the park or playing a sport and they’ll be spent by the afternoon, enabling you to squeeze in a couple of hours of work.

Make sure to have plenty of supplies to keep them entertained. Depending on their ages and interest, this could be things like board games, jigsaw puzzles, arts and crafts, etc. These activities don’t require much input from you and will allow you to get some work done. But if you’ve got a bit more time on hand, you can also organize a treasure/scavenger hunt or host a pub quiz – that’s guaranteed to be a hit with the kids!

4. Want to spend time with your kids? Need to meet a work deadline? Pick activities that let you do both

If you want to bond with your child, but you’ve got to do some work, why not incorporate the two together? Depending on the nature of your work and the age of your child, you can get them involved! You can also pay them a small wage at the end of the day and teach them the value of work, too! Of course, the work you assign them will vary, but here are some ideas to get you started:

• Messy office? Kids can help you organize and file your documents. This will help them with their organization skills.
• Work as a graphic designer? Get their opinion on which designs/color schemes look better and why. This will encourage their creativity.
• Need to go through an inventory list on excel? You could do with a second pair of eyes, so ask your kids to help! This will give them an opportunity to be detail oriented.
• Any other repetitive tasks you need to do? With a bit of training, your kids might be able to help. This will help with their concentration.
• And more!

If your kids aren’t able to help you with work, you can always print out worksheets from the internet and have your child do them next to you. In between work, you can help them with their problems – enabling you to bond and spend quality time with them, while having a work session together! The cherry on top? Your child will get to stimulate their intellectual capabilities over the summer holidays and get a head start for the next academic year.

5. Consider taking some time off from work to spend quality time with your kids

While the aforementioned solutions all looked at how to fit your work around the summer holidays, it may also be a good idea to take some time off entirely to focus on your kids. Ideally, going on a short family vacation would be great. That being said, COVID-19 travel restrictions and Hong Kong’s lengthy quarantine period make things harder. Regardless, even a couple of days of work-free time in the city-state would do the trick.

Kids grow up really fast and, before you know it, they’re no longer your little babies. Make the most of the time you have by creating fun memories together with your happy and healthy kids – memories that will last a lifetime! For truly worry-free moments, it’s also a good idea to secure a health insurance plan for the entire family so that whatever happens, your family will be covered in Hong Kong.

Get family health insurance for your loved ones via Pacific Prime Hong Kong

As a global health insurance brokerage, Pacific Prime Hong Kong has over 20 years of experience helping locals and expat families navigate Hong Kong’s healthcare system, and secure the most appropriate solutions for their needs and budgets. Whether you’re looking for individual or family health insurance in Hong Kong, our highly-trained advisors will give you unbiased insurance advice, a tailored plan comparison, and a no-obligation quote. What’s more, you’ll also get a host of support services throughout your insurance journey.

Contact us today to get started!

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Suphanida Thakral

Senior Content Creator at Pacific Prime Hong Kong

Suphanida is a Senior Content Creator at Pacific Prime, an award-winning global health insurance and employee benefits specialist.

With over 5 years of experience in the field, Suphanida spends the majority of her day synthesizing complex pieces of insurance-related information and translating this into easy-to-understand, engaging, and effective content across a variety of media such as articles, infographics, whitepapers, videos, and more.

Suphanida is also responsible for planning and publishing three whitepapers released annually by Pacific Prime: The State of Health Insurance Report, The Cost of Health Insurance Report, and The Global Employee Benefits Trends Report. Additionally, she handles the LinkedIn profiles of Pacific Prime’s Founder and CEO, as well as Global HR Lead.

Suphanida’s strengths lie in her strong research and analytical skills, which she has gained from her BA in Politics from the University of Warwick and Erasmus Mundus Joint MA in Journalism from Aarhus University and City, University of London.

Being of Thai-Indian origin and having lived, studied, and worked in Thailand, the UK, and Denmark, Suphanida also has a unique, multicultural perspective that helps her understand the struggles of expats and globetrotters.

Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to new places and immersing herself in different cultures.

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