Are there a lot of stay at home parents in NoVa? (sale, coupons)

[Yankeesfan]

Parents employed full-time with preschool children will be using a daycare center, so they wouldn't be using another program. Or they'll have an in-home daycare provider or a nanny, who would be free to choose whether to bring the child to a program.

School-age children with full-time employed parents would be staying at school for childcare; or going to a center that picks up the children by van from school; or going to a home-based provider; or going to a nanny; or going home alone and unable to drive themselves to an activity. Again, the center would be providing the activities, or the individual provider could take the child to the activities.

In the summer there are also a multitude of all-day camps. A lot of them run a regular program from 9:00 to 3:00 but they add on 7:00 to 9:00 am and 3:00 to 6:00 pm for an extra charge. That way people can take their pick of the length of time that works for them and their children. Plus there are the daycare centers and school SACC programs. They may fill up early but they exist.

As for events being held during the school day, that's because they're school events. When they're held in the evening (and many are), teachers and administrators have to work the extra time and take time away from their own families.

As for the Girl Scouts and soccer, that's up to the parents to decide. Any parent can volunteer to be a leader, and create a troop that meets at night. Or ask the existing group if they would like to change the meeting time. Some of our GS troops met after school because the mothers who volunteered were available then and it saved the parents the need to get their children home from school and then back again and home again. We did have a troop leader mom who was employed full-time and scheduled the meetings in the evening. But then some parents complained that they had worked all day and needed the evening for spending time with the children they hadn't seen, dinner together, homework, etc., and were too tired to do the driving back and forth. (All understandable.) One of our Cub Scout troops met after school because moms were the leaders. But the others met at night because the leaders were dads who were employed full-time and that's when they could do it.

Likewise, anyone is welcome to organize a mom's group that meets in the evenings and/or weekends. If they're meeting in the daytime it means someone available during the daytime took the initiative to set it up then, and enough people were available then to attend. That doesn't mean someone else can't take the initiative to set up a group that meets at night and find members who prefer that time as well.

Soccer and other outdoor sports need to be done in daylight. Not a problem in June, but with a season that might run from March to June or September to November, that needs to be taken into consideration. Some fields are lit but most aren't and there aren't enough fields to go around anyhow so scheduling is tight. I personally would rather have team practices right after school to free up the evening but I understand that a lot of parents wouldn't be home to bring their children then so I accept that very few will begin before 6:00 pm.

[michgc]

Since I am a SAHM, I generally meet mostly other SAHMs, so my take on it is probably skewed. It seems to me that most families with young children have one stay-at-home parent. AS the kids enter elementary school, more moms seem to go back to work. Most families where both parents work have kids stay after school for SACC or some other child-care program. So when the activities are after school, it seems to work better for working parents as Yankeesfan said. When the activity is done, the child goes back to SACC.

Our school also alternates PTA meetings. I think they try to make it convenient for everyone to be able to attend at least some of the meetings. That's my take on it anyway. But I have noticed that the school sometimes holds meetings during the day - our school did when they had a meeting for parents whose kids got into the GT program. I think they should at least try to do those types of meetings early in the day or late in the day so someone who works far away can go into work late or come home early rather than leave in the middle of the day.

I find soccer practice to be hit or miss. My daughter's team practices at 6 PM which is convenient for my husband (who works full-time) to take her. On the other hand, my friend's daughter's team meets at 4:30 PM. That's very inconvenient for two-working parent families. Generally, though, you can switch teams if practice times don't work for you.

In our school, we have two Girl Scout troops for my older daughter's grade. One meets right after school, and one meets at night (my troop). The one that meets right after school has more working moms. I liked the night time troop because I don't want to have to take my younger kids to all of the meetings. That was the only way I would commit to being one of the troop leaders. Anyway, whether you work full-time or stay-at-home full time, I find it difficult to keep up with all the activities. Kids these days are in many more activities than I was when I was younger.

ETA: I find most camps to be from 9 am until 3:00 or 4:00 PM. Many have before care or after care. There are some morning camps that are 9:00 until noon or from 1:00-4:00. I guess few households with two full-time working parents would take advantage of half-day camps.

[shamrock847]

From what I have seen, there are not that many "full time" stay at home parents, but a large number of people who either work part-time, telecommute, or have very flexible schedules. This may explain some people's ability to do activities right after school or to send their kids to camp for a few hours in the middle of the day.

My impression is that as you get closer to DC, the percentage of stay at home parents decreases. This makes sense since presumably these two income families would be better able to afford the real estate prices and a shorter commute would be more important if both parents are working full time and paying someone else by the hour to watch their kids.

It would be interesting if anyone has statistics for the numbers of stay at home parents in NoVA vs other areas.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by shamrock847

From what I have seen, there are not that many "full time" stay at home parents, but a large number of people who either work part-time, telecommute, or have very flexible schedules. This may explain some people's ability to do activities right after school or to send their kids to camp for a few hours in the middle of the day.

My impression is that as you get closer to DC, the percentage of stay at home parents decreases. This makes sense since presumably these two income families would be better able to afford the real estate prices and a shorter commute would be more important if both parents are working full time and paying someone else by the hour to watch their kids.

It would be interesting if anyone has statistics for the numbers of stay at home parents in NoVA vs other areas.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I live 15 miles from the Capitol and our neighborhood is full of stay at home parents (moms and dads). The closer in communities tend to have older parents (most in my neighborhood even with small kids are in their 40s) who've figured out how to arrange things so a parent is around most or all of the time.

[HereinVA]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I don't think that's necessarily true. I live 15 miles from the Capitol and our neighborhood is full of stay at home parents (moms and dads). The closer in communities tend to have older parents (most in my neighborhood even with small kids are in their 40s) who've figured out how to arrange things so a parent is around most or all of the time.

So does that mean that a parent is a true "stay at home parent", or just that they have flexible schedules (one works 6 am- 2 pm, other works noon-8 pm) or works from home? I've never really considered anyone who "works part time", "works from home" or just works a schedule opposite of their spouse to be a "stay at home parent".

[Alltheusernamesaretaken]

The term "stay at home mom" always irked me.
As if I were chained to our four walls all day!

[KathyR]

Originally Posted by jillabean

I have to wonder who exactly is buying those 3-4 hour camps in the middle of a summer afternoon. Must be the folks that have nannies and can afford them. They aren't convenient at all for working parents and from what I am reading here they are cost prohibitive for families with a stay-at-home-parent. I have seen the camps and such with before and after care--I like those. But there seem to just be a lot more without that option. Then again, the grass is always greener, right?

I've got my kids signed up for several weeks of those half-day camps this summer. I am a non-working parent/spouse and don't have a nanny. Not sure what is considered cost prohibitive to most folks, but the prices range from $100/week for art (1/2 day), to $185 for soccer (1/2 day). I also have an 2 week all-day theater camp scheduled and a sleep-away camp (one week) scheduled for my older child.

I have two kids who would go nuts being off from school for 10 weeks straight. Throw a week-long family vacation in there and hopefully we'll survive the summer!

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by HereinVA

So does that mean that a parent is a true "stay at home parent", or just that they have flexible schedules (one works 6 am- 2 pm, other works noon-8 pm) or works from home? I've never really considered anyone who "works part time", "works from home" or just works a schedule opposite of their spouse to be a "stay at home parent".

Does it matter what the labels are?

[Alltheusernamesaretaken]

Isn't "parent who stays at home with the children" self-explanatory?

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by HereinVA

So does that mean that a parent is a true "stay at home parent", or just that they have flexible schedules (one works 6 am- 2 pm, other works noon-8 pm) or works from home? I've never really considered anyone who "works part time", "works from home" or just works a schedule opposite of their spouse to be a "stay at home parent".

Is there such thing as a true "stay at home parent"? Most go various places during the day, sometimes involving work related activities. What's with the labels? It's not black and white but a spectrum of work/home arrangements. A lot of people only go into an office once in awhile.