10 Solutions For Daycare Issues

I’m sorry when someone is getting divorced. He or she is going through a hard time at the moment. I believe you all have to be understood a little bit more in that situation.

I understand how it is irritating you when someone is bringing the children to work, it affects you on your concentration. It could be a lot irritating you when you try to work and you can’t concentrate because there are children around you — chatting to you and jumping around you. I can imagine you don’t get work done that has to get done. You want to fully concentrate when you want these duties to get done. When there are children around, it wouldn’t be pleasant.

I also can understand why someone takes the children into the office. Your boss doesn’t get any daycare as he should get one when he gets to work. There is a legible reason for it. Sometimes it is really difficult to get your children into daycare. Daycare could be very expensive, the groups are full and there will be no place four his children, or maybe the daycare is too far from his home and not on the route to his work. Sometimes it is just really difficult to find a good daycare for your children.

You will never know what happens within a relationship, divorced couples with children. There could be tons of reasons why there are issues within these relationships. First of all, you must work it out with your former spouse.

Here are some solutions you could do:

1. Talk about this issue
2. Daycare at the company
3. Search online for daycares in the neighbourhood
4. Let him work at home for one day
5. Elderly people and neighbours are willing to help
6. Other parents want to take care for a few hours
7. A student who wants to earn money
8. Hire an au pair
9. Grandparents are willing to help very often
10. Try to schedule with your colleagues

Talk about this issue

That is the best solution for this situation. Maybe you can — together with your colleagues — talk to about it. Ask these kinds of questions before accusing somebody:

Why is it difficult to use daycare? Is there no daycare in the neighbourhood? Or is there no place at the one near him? What about the mother of his children? Is she available for taking care of the children?

There were some reasons there are some difficulties with getting daycare for his children.

Ask for the reason(s). Then you will know. Sometimes it will be difficult to talk about this issue with somebody. It is very personal, but sometimes it is a miracle when someone opens up to you. You see someone struggling with the situation and you want to help.

First of all, as said, try to talk to him in person. That is what he appreciates the most. If it doesn’t work out then, maybe every employee needs to talk to him, separately. In most cases, it will work out because he notices that a lot of his employees are dealing with and can’t get the work done. If talking, by each one of you, doesn’t work out, then you have to schedule it for a meeting with the team.

In both cases, you have to start with your concern towards him and you that you understand the situation very much. But you also have to say that you’re seeing him struggling with the situation he got in. You should tell your boss that you are willing to help him, but you are setting boundaries towards him bringing his children to work. Because work needs to be done as well. He probably will understand that too, because that is the main goal for him too.

Daycare at the company

Some companies, at least here in The Netherlands, have daycare for little children. So, the parents can go to work and pick their children up after work or after a special time. Some companies have stated in their contract to provide that for their employees. No, matter where you are from, you can ask your boss if there is some at your company. If so, maybe this could be the solution. I don’t know what is for children at company daycare in other countries, but asking is always good, I believe.

Search online for daycares in the neighbourhood

Probably there will be different daycares in your neighbourhood. Only, you have to search for it and most of them have a website these days. All the information will be online. You can ask if it is possible for your child(en) to be at the daycare for one day, so the child can see what it is like and what you think of that particular daycare.

Daycare won’t be cheap, but they are reliable for children. They learn your children things, you maybe can’t learn them. It could be a win-win for both.

There are many companies in different kind of styles. There are departments for children who love sports, departments with children who love being creative, but also normal kindergarten departments that have all a little bit. Here we have many options.

Let him work at home for one day

In The Netherlands there are possibilities parents can work from home one day a week. This gives us — parents — the possibility to be with our children and still doing some work at home.

It is fine because when you talk to your children about the work you do, they eventually will understand how, why and when you need to get work done.

I always work from home as a writer, but there are tools to let your children understand your work. Sometimes they can interact with you too. When you work behind the computer, you can let them write something in a word document on a tablet. They feel they are doing “important” work too. You also can give your child a piece of paper and let your child draw something for you while you are working.

When you’re working from home, you’ll be distracted and disrupted a lot. So, count on that with what kind of work you’re taking home with you.

Elderly people and neighbours are willing to help

Perhaps there are elderly people across the street and have less to do than you have to do. Maybe, for money in exchange, you can ask them to babysit for a few hours. Most elderly people love small children. They have a purpose again and fill their days with joy.

Other parents want to take care for a few hours

Another option is to find other parents in the neighbourhood who are willing to take care of your children, in exchange for a day you are willing to take care of their children. And then your children are making friends as well, it goes that way most of the time. Maybe they will be friends forever between the children.

A student who wants to earn money

When you live in a neighbourhood with students, you can take some advantage of them. A lot of students are willing to help out, of course, in exchange for a salary. They can practise with your children when they become parents. And especially for those who are studying for being a daycarer at daycare (or something like that). Be sure they are with an organization who is certified.

Hire an au pair

Au pairs are amazing as they can give your children a different culture. They have different values because most of them are from a foreign country. So, they can bring in some different methods to handle situations. It could be a challenge as they have to adapt in your country, which some of them have difficulties with that, but most of the time is going very well. You only have to give a room in your house for him or her.

Grandparents are willing to help very often

In The Netherlands, grandparent lives not far from their grandchildren. It is easier to take care of them for a few hours. There are grandparents living in the north of Ther Netherlands, like my children’s grandparents (I’m living in the middle of The Netherlands, which is two hours driving, four hours by train). They only can babysit when we have asked them to during the weekends and far beyond agreed on the date.

As my parents live nearby, they had been babysitting a few months once every week. They loved to do it. So, maybe you can suggest that too. Some grandparents are really tired, but some of them still have the energy to babysit for a while. That is still a solution when your parents live in town.

Try to schedule with your colleagues

When none of the above solutions is working for a certain period, or part of it, maybe you can agree that every employee in the department needs to babysit for an hour (or a period that suits all of you). You can make a schedule when everyone needs to babysit. But this is only an option when your boss hasn’t found anything within a term of let’s say a month. Your boss has to find a solution for the child care issue within a certain period you both agreed on. It is hard, but it will be damaging work. Otherwise, you can tell it to his boss. Then there will be some consequences.

Remember, not all options work for everyone. You always have to try everything before knowing what works for the parent as for the child as well. It takes time, for sure, but as a parent, you have to be willing trying everything that works, because your children notice every issue you’re dealing with.

This story has been published earlier on Quora.

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Agnes Laurens is a writer. She writes for the local newspaper. Agnes lives in Bunnik, The Netherlands, with her husband and three daughters. Writing is — aside from playing the violin — one of her passions since childhood. She is on Twitter and Instagram.

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