Have you thought about working 4/5 (part time). In the winter I go skiing with my son and in the summer we hit the parks and swimming pools.

Maybe I was not clear in my question so I will rephrase it and be more precize:

Any one had advice to share on solutions for Wednesday when kids are not going to school and parents HAVE to work full time?

Thanks in advance 

Dear Careena,

I have heard this, but Petit Saconnex has no maison de cartier..as part of Geneva town it is difficult for me to find those places, or at least the ones which are near.

There is similar place in Grand Saconnex, but there they told me it only starts after 2P and they dont accept kides from 1P.

I am continuing my research..

There are A LOT of activities on Wednesdays.  You should register your children with the Centre d'Accueil pour enfants who have coverage for before school, lunch, afterschool and Wednesdays.

Also, get yourself a copy of the book The Know-it-All Passport Guidebook to Geneva, Vaud and France Voisine www.knowitall.ch.  

And to find other mothers google the AIWC, bumpsnbubs.com, moms-in-vaud.com, expat-moms-in-switzerland, etc.

Much as parents WANT to take Wednesdays off, it's not doable for most Reltz666, so thanks for the post making all the hardworking parents feel even more guilty for spending time away from them.

where dose ppl find nannies who just but kids front of the tv?? You must be ignorant parent who dont care what is your kid doing while with nanny but what matters is.. at least he/she is with someone.  If any of you ever is looking for nanny let me know, I will help you to find someone who will be great and so far all the families I have helped out, have never complained. One thing is to trust professionals other thing is to take some asian 40 years old lady who dont care about your kid. Ps. nanny for just one day is not so expencive she would cost you about 20 chf per h. And trust me there are nannies out there who are looking for a job and love kids at the same time.

This is what I have found so far, closest to us is Maison de Quartier Jonction:

http://www.mqj.ch/mqj/index.php/fre/ENFANTS/Dernieres-infos  

There is one in Paquis and one in Grand Saconnex but they take kids from 2P onwards...Havent checked yet for Planpalais..

Problem is, as always, long waiting list. Wish me luck 

So, if I work 8 hours (at least) and need 1 hour (at least)  to go pick up my kid/come back from work, it will cost me "not so expencive" 720 chf (9 x 20 x 4 Wednesdays per month). If I had 720 chf to spare only for this (in addition to Creche for the second kid), trust me I would have not worked on Wednesdays but would have used that money to enjoy with my kid - an take her skiing or elsewhere as some people suggested.

I know that nanny is an option, but I have never guessed that this costs same as ocasional 2 hours baby sitting in the evening to go out once in while...

Creche where my daughter went since age of 3 monthso is 1000 per month, 5 days a week, 7h to 19h, including all meals and the education that is beyond compare.

And here is what Maison de quartier is proposing for 13chf per day on Wednesday:

"En effet, nous proposons aux enfants, matins comme après-midis, un choix d’activités varié. Qu’il s’agisse d’aller à la piscine, au cinéma, d’aller voir un spectacle de marionnettes, il est plus confortable de se retrouver à 10-12 personnes. Nous avons toujours à disposition aussi une salle de gym de l’école du Mail, ce qui nous permet d’avoir un grand espace pour pouvoir proposer des jeux et du sport aux enfants. Sinon, nous leur proposons aussi toujours la confection de divers bricolages qui varient à la guise des saisons, des événements particuliers (fêtes de quartier, Noël, fête des mères, etc) et de leurs envies ainsi que des jeux libres ( à l’extérieur ou à l’intérieur).
Toutefois, aux mois de janvier, février et mars, nous changerons de décor puisque nous nous rendrons comme chaque hiver, pour le plaisir des petits et des grands, à la maison La Rencontre à Arzier, village situé dans le Jura.
Durant ces mercredis à la montagne, nous proposerons aux enfants des activités en lien avec la neige : luge, confection de bonshommes de neige, d’igloos, ballades et aussi des activités au chaud dans la maison (bricolages, jeux). La Pépinière ouvrira à 7h30 et fermera à 18h30 comme chaque mercredi, mais nous vous rendons attentifs sur la fait que durant ces trois mois à la neige, nous partons à 8h30 en car et nous ne serons pas de retour avant 17h15. Il faudra donc être ponctuel si vous ne voulez pas rater le départ du car !
Prix : 13frs par mercredi"

you can find cheap nannies as well but I dont trust them much. And about prices, well what can I say. It is geneva and it is switzerland where we are living. Normal nanny rates are 20 to 25 chf per h when kids are awake and 15 to 20 chf when sleeping.

Reltz: from your replies, I am guessing you're not a parent. Real parents learn, the hard way, that some nannies indeed leave the kids infront of the TV. Real parents realise, the hard way, that as much as they'd love to spend time with their kids, sometimes work doesn't allow it.

So stop preaching to other parents, and start realising there's a difference between reality and between the ideal. 

Didnt Geneva just vote about the Wednesday school thing...if so what was the outcome?

Kids aren't cheap, and require sacrifice in many ways we all agree on this ...

In Switzerland it has long been the way that often its more "cost effective" for a parent to NOT work on the Wednesdays (unless youre a highly paid exec who can afford the expensive cost of nannies or au pairs) ... hence the flexi hours most companies offer. The childcare and schooling infastructure here is simply not set up for single working parents, or where both parents work... it will change, slowly and surely... but for today I can see why and how it causes headaches to so many parents, both foreign and Swiss.

Wednesday in school won widely, BUT it will apply not earlier than september 2014 AND for kids older than 8.

http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/Geneve-plebiscite-l-ecole-le-mercredi-matin-La-fin-dune-Genferei/story/18711972

Hi Suzana. I feel for you.

Does your company have flexi time scheme, or telecommuting, or compressed work week? It might be worth looking into.

so the outcome is .....seems those parents who earn average wages from working on Wed , and who cannot take flexi time to do child care for a sub 8 year old, will be just working on Weds SOLELY to pay for the child care on Wed,...  hardly a great social system in my view, everyone is a looser except the "over booked over expensive Swiss wednesday childcare firms"...

Welcome to the land of the free... not.

I feel for you also Suzana, as a mother of 4 small children who arrived alone to Geneva and had to find a job, an appartment and also day care for the youngest who was 3 at the time, so not even in school...asking Wednesdays off? That gets a laugh and a "oh you too?!" from your employer.

In parentheses to Charlie's comment above:  I don't think a country is obliged to babysit its citizens' children. "Land of the free" does not refer to a social system, but to a democratic government, which functions very well.

Suzanna, As your child is in school, may I suggest you get to know the other parents in the school who are in the same situation and work out a solution.  Often, there are non-working parents in your child's class who would be happy to be "day-mother" for another person's child, thus providing a play-mate for their own child. 

Following that, once you can get into the school after-care system and MDQ (maison du quartier), do use those systems, as Careena wisely suggests. They work very well and made it possible for me to actually make ends meet. 

I hope this helps a bit. 

MarmarK, I agree that a country is not oblged to babysit the kids of its citizens or visitors, but in comparison to other western countries where there is an abundance of day care opportunities for single and married working parents, Switzerland has a distinct dearth of options. And those options that are available are either prohibitively expensive for average people, or massivly oversubscribed.

The idea that kids under 8 should have Wednesdays off is also mind-boggling to me, I was schooled around the world, and even in third world countries I never remember having a weekday off school.  

The "land of the free" comment was tongue in cheek...since Switzerland promotes itself as the country where "everything is allowed unless it disturbs your neighbour"... I've seen it even on dustmens t-shirts in Zurich.

These are very good points Charlie, with which I mostly agree.

Geneva has grown beyond its infrastructure, that is clear. The Wednesdays off is probably archaic and I voted it out, as it creates a lot of stress for parents.

And entrepreneurship is not encouraged very much either, which would be the natural response to such a need.

Well I think I will have to hit the road and talk personally to each one of them in this list:

http://www.fase-web.ch/site/activites/Enfants/index.htm 

Will let you know of the outcome, thanks to all for the support and infos,

Suzana

Does anyone have experiences with the Mecredi aere at the Maison du Quartier? The closest to me which accepts 4 year olds is the one in Aire/Lignon. Has anyone ever had a kid attending there?

it just seems bizarre that everything else is incredibly expensive and then this is only 15 francs per Wednesday. So I wonder whether it is just a blessing for parents who get their kids in or whether it is not very good...

thanks for any hints

Hi

I appreciate that this post is rather old but did you find a solution in the end?

We have the same question now.

Many thanks

Peter