Single parents of Britain - how do you make it work?

It is really hard, some possibilities: \- trying to make connections with other paretn in a similar situation so you can help each other out (this is probably more workable for wrap around care after school than for holidays, but could mean that your daughter could go to a breakfast club at school then spend a few hours at a freinds house after school, and then on a day when you were not working / WFH the other child could come home with you until their paretn finishes work. \- au pair or baby sitter - you might be able to sind a student or older teen who would be open to some babysitting - it might be quite appealing as an 11-12 year old doesn't need as much care as younger child, and steady income 2-3 days a week during holidays might be quite appealing to a student , especailyl as it would leave their evenings free \- residential trips - things like scout / guide camp , oliday camps (there are some designed for the 11-13 age group - often with options for a range of physical activities like kayaking, archery, riding etc) There are also summer courss for kids interested in dance or other performing arts \- family - I know you don't want to 'palm her off' but she might actually enjoy spending a week on her own with a grandparent or cousins even if they don't live loally to you - I remember at that sort of age spening time with my grnadparetns, and with each of my godmothers, and really enjoying it . Obviously it does depend on the availability of family members and what their relationships with your and with your daughter are like, but it's worth considering (especially as, given your daughter's age, you are probably onlygoing to ned it for another year or so) Would it be possible for your daughter to travel with you on days you need to go to work and do one day activities? Or bring a book / tablet and spend time either in your workplace (not aleways possible) o in a nearby place such as a library , so that she is close to you, you can ave lunch with her and can get to her if ned be at short notice. Are you able to request flexible working from your employer? For instnace, working in office every day in a week your daughter was away and WFH all days the following / other week when she wasn't? Or working cmpressed hours so you were in the office / working for longer days but fewer of them. You do have a statutory entitlement to (Unpaid) parental leave [https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave](https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave) \- you can take up to a totla of 18 weeks over the period up to the child's 18 borthday with up to 4 weeks a year per child (unless more is agreed by your employer) Assuming you haven't already used this up, this may be the way to go for the current year. Dependng on the individual child and teir level of maturity, you may also be able to lave her by herself, provided that she has a safety net - this might be a local friend's parent who she can call in an emergency , it might be your dad if he is local - basically someone who can go to her if anything comes up that really needs an adult.