If you have afternoon preschool, how do you manage the rest of the day?

[iskra]

DD has just started preschool. She got an afternoon slot, not my preferred, and I'm struggling to see how it will work! She has to be there, having had lunch, by 12, & pick up by 3. It seems impossible! We normally lunch around 1, & we like getting out & about to activities etc, just don't see how I can fit it in unless she only ever has sandwiches on buses... & even then it will be a struggle...

[Gargula]

Those hours (12-3) seem a bit difficult. My son went to preschool for an afternoon which started at 12:30 and we (DS, DD and me) were eating lunch at 11:30 for that day. He's now in nursery which starts at 1, which is a lot more reasonable.
I think you'll probably have to do really local activities when she's at preschool (how many days is she doing?), or have friends round maybe so you can be more flexible with time.
You may find she gets quite tired so you can just have a play at home.
I have to say though that a 12 o'clock starting time is pretty annoying, and no preschools that I know start at this time - could you apply somewhere else with a decent start time?

[Halbanoo]

We'll be dealing with this soon enough as well. DS starts nursery next week, afternoons only, from 12:15 until 3:30. We're usually 1pm lunch eaters...as he's barely finished with breakfast (he's a bit of a grazer) most days before 10am.

And some afternoons, right after lunch, he's actually falls asleep playing in his room.

This is the first spot that has popped up in the half-year that we've been on the waiting list. He's 3.9 already and hasn't been in nursery or preschool before at all. I'm desperate to get him socialized, so we really can't afford to be choosy with somewhere else.

[noisymonkiesmum]

We've had that same issue, rushed lunch and too sleepy to go happily but a few weeks in and you will find the routine. Agree that the pre-school becomes the days activities, makes it ok just to hang out at home for the morning. If it's a pre-school, it's usually ok to be a little late if it's too much of a rush with lunch. Good luck (and get your name down for a morning slot as soon as it comes up!)

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

It was a nightmare when we did it. Poor DD had to have lunch really early and a I worked the other days, it was our day we didn't have top get up early so breakfast was always quite late. She'd end up with breakfast at 9 and lunch at 11.30.

Drop off was OK but parking was such that if you got there later than about 2.15 you couldn't get a space because of school pick up (pre-school/school/church all on same site). So, I used to drop off, dash to Sainsburys, come back and sit in the car park from 1.30 with my lunch and iPad. Fine if the weather was ok but crap if it was freezing cold or boiling hot.

That was it, day over :( Much better now she's 9-12

[Wigeon]

DD has been at pre-school two (and now three) afternoons a week from 2.9yrs, between 12:20pm and 3:20pm. We stay at home in the morning (or do something very low key like go to Sainsburys) because otherwise she would be too exhausted (and on non-preschool days she always has a rest after lunch, so she has to skip this on pre-school days).

We do out of the house "activities" like playgroup, seeing friends, going to the park etc on non-pre-school days. We do do nice things at home in the morning on pre-school days, like baking, playdough etc.

We have to start lunch at 11:15am in order to leave the house at 12 noon to get to pre-school. It's not actually that much of a problem - on pre-school days I don't give her a mid-morning snack between breakfast and lunch so that she'll be hungry for lunch, and she usually is.

We come straight home from pre-school and she's tired, she has some warm milk and some TV and then she has supper about 5pm because of the early lunch.

It's not that bad! .

[ragged]

DD only ever had afternoon preschool (over 2 yrs). I loved it! Didn't have to worry about getting her breakfast or dressed in a limited time window. I still had to get DS to school and me to work some days, but the pressure was only on for one child, not two. Usually mooched around the house doing stuff together or maybe not in mornings, then ran errands or other jobs when she was in preschool. We learnt to adjust our meal times.

Definitely did not take her out much in mornings, she was too tired if we did that. I think having pm preschool helped her adjust better to school, too, tbh, compared to kids who found it a shock to have to be alert & focused that time of day.

My best scenario is double sessions, though, say 2-3 days/week, 9am-2:30ish. DC4 having his first such double today :).

[Wigeon]

Yes, I actually chose afternoon sessions as I didn't know how I'd get out of the house for a 8:50am start (would have to leave at 8:30am) with a pre-schooler and small baby. Might reassess in January as the small baby will then be 8 months.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I'll find out about that when we have to be out for 8.15am in January with a newborn. Eek!

[narmada]

we are also doing this at the moment, and TBH it is a bit tricky. Also have to drive 20 minutes each way and have a 1 year old, and at the same time I am trying to manage workmen who are renovating our new (to us) house which we're moving to in 3 weeks' time.

Having said that I still think I prefer it to morning session, because I would never get there on time with the two of them.

The way I'm coping is: Morning activities kept simple - e.g., swings (except on Wednesday when it's swimming lessons). Sandwiches/ picnic lunches while the weather's still nice. The odd cafe lunch when it's not (although not very often as £££). I also have to stop my preschooler having a morning snack, as if she does she's just not ready for lunch but gets hungry at preschool and comes out in a right state.

Doing everything possible to stop pre=schooler napping in car after pre-school and going for an earlier bedtime instead - more time in evening for me and DP to flop in a comatose stupor on the sofa.

Oh, and having plenty of of an evening to keep my sanity.

[StellaAndFries]

DD3 and DD4 both have an afternoon session at preschool, they go from 12-3. They take a packed lunch with them to eat with the other children who have an all day session. We usually just have a quiet morning at home once we have dropped the other dd's at school and they play with their toys before we coat up to walk to preschool at 11.45.

[philbee]

We are struggling with this at the moment too. I chose afternoons because the morning session started at 8.30 and at that time DD was getting up at 8. Now she wakes up at 7, so we could have gone. She seems tired a lot, and we have difficulty making time to see other friends in the morning and she's too tired afterwards. The last few days she's been really against going, and I've had to stay for a long time, and today she wanted to leave early.

I am going to try to give her a snack at 11 and then put her in the pushchair or bed for a nap, which she has said she'd like. Then we will eat a little lunch and get there at 12.30. I'm hoping this will give her more energy and we'll be able to start doing some things in the morning, and seeing people after school sometimes. Gah! It's a harder transition than I expected, tbh. But on the days when she does sleep later I'm glad not to have to get up and out. We do like a lazy morning.