School Holiday Chaos? Hand Your Parents This WFH Survival Guide.

Ali Killaly
Jul 7
3 min read

Term ends, backpacks land in the hallway, and suddenly “working from home” feels a lot more like “working from a circus tent”.If you’re a parent, you know the drill. If you run People & Culture, you see the impact—tired faces, calendar reshuffles, the silent guilt tugging at both sides of the Zoom screen.

We created the Workpants WFH School Holiday Guide for exactly this stretch of the year (it rolls around 4 times in the blink of an eye).

While it won’t fix the broader design flaws of modern work (we’re still working on that), it will give parents a few pockets of peace, their kids a dash of fun, and your organisation a quick, meaningful way to show you care.

👉 Grab the free guide here

Why Backing Parents Matters (More Than Another Productivity Hack)

Belonging keeps talent. When parents feel truly understood, they stay, share ideas, and step up when it counts.
Stress is contagious (so is calm). A parent who’s less frazzled at home brings steadier energy to meetings. That ripple lifts the whole team.
It’s the right thing to do. We can’t talk about inclusive cultures without including parents. Practical help beats platitudes every time.

What’s Inside the Guide?

Section	What you’ll find	How it helps
Career-Flavoured Kids’ Activities	Mini projects like Junior Project Manager checklists and a Neighbourhood Newsroom bulletin.	Kids feel important; parents score meeting time without screens or meltdowns.
Four Plug-and-Play Schedules	Early-bird burst, split-shift swap, theme-day flow and sprint-&-play cycles.	Parents pick the rhythm that fits their work style and caring set-up.
Aussie Activity Hub List	Curated links to ABC Education, CSIRO’s Double Helix, NGV Kids and more.	Zero late-night Googling for “easy science experiment that won’t trash the kitchen”.
Household Hero Kit	Reminder of everyday items—sticky notes, masking tape, cardboard boxes—that morph into learning tools.	Saves money, sparks creativity, and fights the “I need new craft supplies” urge.

(Yep, all free and designed with young Aussie families in mind.)

Three Quick Ways to Roll It Out at Work

Step	What to do	Extra mile
Add it to your school-holiday comms.	Pop the download link in your all-staff email with a warm note from HR.	Invite parents to a 20-minute “swap shop” to share their best hacks.
Equip your managers.	Ask leaders to share the guide in one-on-ones and discuss schedule tweaks.	Encourage them to model flexibility by blocking kid-care times in their own calendars.
Pin it on the intranet.	Create a “Supporting Parents” tile with the guide, EAP info and any childcare subsidies.	Track downloads, collect feedback and iterate each term.

A Note From Us

“I know plenty of parents who can’t work from home, and one little PDF won’t solve broken systems. But if this guide buys even ten minutes of calm or one extra laugh with your little ones, it’s worth it.”— Ali, Founder & Chief Juggle-Tester at Workpants

Workpants just turned two (cue the toddler-style boundary testing). We’re on a mission to help parents design work that fits—and to nudge workplaces to make that easier, too. Thanks for being part of the ripple.

Ready to Lighten the Load?

Give your working parents a resource that says, “We’ve got your back.”Download the free Workpants WFH School-Holiday Guide and share it far and wide.

Download the guide now

Workpants: practical career counselling, workshops and tools that help folks find their happy place at work and in life.