family flexibility as M-F NP

Specialties NP

Published

Hello!

Just seeking advice as we are trying to think ahead with family planning. Both my and my husband's family are full of moms who work in the school system, or SAHM. When I was an RN I had a lot more flexible work options, like traveling, weekend option or prn. In the NP world I'm M-F, which I love, but a part of me is thinking ahead to when we have school-age kids.

If both parents work full time, what do you do with your kids in the summer? Is it difficult to afford summer activities, and do you think kids suffer from their summer being so structured? I love my career and can't see myself giving up my specialty to do, say, Minute Clinic. We also don't have family nearby. How do you manage this? I guess school holidays fall into the same category.

Thanks

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Specializes in Emergency, Cardiac, PAT/SPU, Urgent Care.

I worked PT this past summer, M-F, 7am - 11am. It was nice because I had a local teacher from the elementary school baby sit for me. She would take the kids to the park, to the pool, to the playground, etc. until I came home around 12:30. Have you thought about going through a nanny service? Check your local yellow pages and see what is listed. I will soon have a new job that is FT hours and this it what we did. Good luck!

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We usually do two-three different weeks of summer camp, a week with each set of grandparents, take some vacation in the summer, and use a college age girl who can take them to movies, pool, etc. My youngest is 10 and this past summer was the first summer we had to do all of this. It worked out well. The trick is a very reliable late-teen or college helper.

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I work Monday, Tuesday all day and then Weds mornings and am off for the rest of the week. This is my first summer working regularly because I just graduated last December. I thought summer would be hard but it wasn't bad at all. If I worked full-time it would be more difficult I think. My daughter ended up doing the same things she used to do when I was home in the summers: she has a local day camp that she just LOVES to go to so she did that twice, a week of church camp and then a week of orchestra camp....all were weeks she wanted to do and would've done regardless of my working status. Day camps around here run 200.00 a week.

For the weeks in between the camp we had her stay with her grandma for a few days; my husband took some days off, I took a few days off and then we had a high school girl come over and stay a few of the days too. It worked out really well.

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Is it difficult to afford summer activities, and do you think kids suffer from their summer being so structured?

I also wanted to add that my main goal was to make sure she wasn't in a camp every week ! I made sure there was at least one lazy week at home in between the camps she attended. She stayed with grandparents for a few days one of those weeks and then we had a grandma come here to stay with her a few days while I was working.

I thoroughly believe kids need lots of unstructured lazy days in the summer.

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