State schools break up this week. Across the country, children are celebrating.
The exams are over. Six glorious weeks stretch out ahead of them.
If you’re eight years old, that’s basically Christmas, your birthday and Disneyland rolled into one.
If you’re a working parent, it’s, ahem, a little different.
Because while the students are finishing their exams, many employers are just about to sit theirs.
If your organisation proudly describes itself as family-friendly then July and August are when that gets tested.
I remember those years well.
The excitement of the final day of term would barely have faded before Matthew and I were sat at the kitchen table with calendars, trying to work out who was where, when, and with which child. (If either of us had had strong Honeybee traits, we’d probably have had the whole summer planned by Easter. But no.)
Could Nana help on Tuesday?
Would a holiday club take all three, and would it make financial sense anyway?
Could I move that client call?
Could Matthew shoot that job a day later?
Would anyone notice if I did some work after everyone had gone to bed?
We were lucky.
Being self-employed meant we had flexibility. We could juggle. We could shift work into evenings if we needed to.
It wasn’t easy, but I know plenty of people don’t have that option.
So, going back to those organisations who proudly describe themselves as family-friendly…. When six weeks of school holidays arrive, reality asks a rather awkward question:
What does family-friendly actually mean?
Does it mean extra flexibility?
Reduced expectations?
Summer hours?
Managers who actively encourage parents to adjust their working day?
Or does it simply mean nobody minds if there’s the occasional small face wandering into a Teams meeting, moaning that they’re bored/hungry/got their finger stuck in a bottle.
Because there’s quite a big difference between saying families matter and making it genuinely easier to have one.
It’s one of the reasons I think values are so fascinating. Creating them is the easy bit.
The real test is whether they survive contact with real life.
School holidays.
Caring responsibilities.
Redundancy.
Conflict.
Pressure.
That’s when you discover whether they’re values or just nicely designed posters in reception.
So I’m genuinely curious, if you’re navigating the summer holidays this year, what’s it actually like where you work?
What are the creative ways you’ve made it work?
Has your organisation made life any easier?
Or are you becoming an Olympic-level juggler while desperately trying to look like you’ve got everything under control every time you unmute yourself on Teams?
Because the students may have finished their exams.
For employers, they’re only just beginning.
Rock on,
Jo
P.S. If your organisation has found a brilliant way of supporting working parents over the summer, please do let me know. I’d love to steal, sorry, share the best ideas.