Whiteberry: With all due respect, i can probably say with 100% certainty that most Jewish men and women who work in a field other than a yeshiva use their vacation days for chol hamoed and the other days off that the schools give. (i only get 5 vacation days. so that means i work on chol hamoed and erev yom tov… and i’m sure i’m not the only one.)
While it may seems simple to say on paper that you can let someone who doesnt have a job or take your son/daughter out of school to watch your children on their days off, it is not so simple in actuality. Besides, paying a fortune in tuition would probably hold some back from taking their older children out of school for that day/period of time. In my case, my oldest isnt old enough to stay home without an adult.