Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Full time job with young kids

379 replies

Calica1 · 26/04/2025 19:18

Current situation is I have a 13 month old little boy who I get to spend a lot of time with as I'm lucky to only have to work 2 nights a week in a supermarket for us to get by.

My partner is really keen for me to go back to full time work in order for us to have more money and improve our lives (bigger house and nice holidays)

Our son is going to nursery 2 part days a week just to get some socialisation but honestly I think he hates it and I'm keen to pull him out which is the opposite of what getting a full time job would entail as he would have to go in full time.

In order to go back to work I'd have to retrain for something else as I can't go back to retail management as the hours don't work with 2 parents in retail management and personally I just think my little boy is just too little to be made to go be with strangers all day and barely see his parents.

I appreciate the fact my partner wants to improve our lives and also that he doesn't like our current arrangement of never seeing each other as I work the 2 nights he doesn't but I feel like our son is the priority. I'll also add I'm keen to have a second baby soon which then means putting 2 young kids in nursery just to earn more money.

So am I being unreasonable to say I just want to focus on my kids until they are a lot older and it's okay if we are getting by on my part time wage?

OP posts:
GivenUpOnSleep · 27/04/2025 22:00

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 14:40

Once the debt is gone in 4 year years we will be able to buy him out as my partner and I earn enough to borrow the amount owed on the mortgage plus what we need to buy my ex out.

If all animals die unexpectedly and my ex wanted to move and we couldn't afford to buy him out due to the debt we would sell which would pay off our debts and we could then buy somewhere else or rent for a while.

You have no idea what the house might be worth in 4 years time or what mortgage rates will be, so you might not be able to do that.

You need to do something about this now.

GivenUpOnSleep · 27/04/2025 21:53

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 15:46

You are correct my partner finds it hard to have the brunt of the earning responsibility however the task for me is helping him to understand he is going to have the brunt of the earning responsibility whether I'm earning £900 working 2 days or £1600 working 5 days and then paying for childcare and a vehicle.

We have then got to work together to find a solution that works for us and makes us both happy as yes I have been selfish and have only been thinking of me and ds. It doesn't mean we are going to be able to find a solution that makes DP happy but we at least need to sit down and discuss options.

This is massively short-termist thinking that you’ve repeated over and over again in the thread, and the kind of short-termist thinking that got you into this mess in the first place.

“Your job” isn’t to try to convince him that he should just put up with this intolerable situation. In the long term he won’t. Nobody would. You admitted you’re surprised he has so far.

What you need to do is change it. There are many options but even if in the short term it means taking a lower paid job and not earning much more than the extra childcare cost then you need to do that and work your socks off to get promoted and earn more. Then, before long, you will be earning significantly more than the costs.

If you do nothing and shrug and say there’s no point then nothing will change, will it? Until your partner decides he’s had enough and leaves.

GivenUpOnSleep · 27/04/2025 21:33

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 11:08

I did say to them I would look to put him into nursery full time if I got the job but not sure if they believed I actually would!

I think it's not about leaving it but talking to each other and exploring options that might work and just keeping an eye on places like indeed.

This thread is crackers.

You were doing an interview with your baby and animals on the call?

You won’t sell the house you own with your ex because of animals, risking your son having separated parents as a result? Whether your ex wants to sell it or not is irrelevant.

How many animals are there? Around a young baby in this house with no ceilings and a non-functional kitchen?

Why gave you not thought through the financial implications before having a child with a man you’d only known a year? It’s no good just shrugging now and saying “I can’t change it”. You need to acknowledge the irresponsibility so you don’t make further irresponsible choices, more of which you’ve still been proposing on this thread! And now you want to drop a bombshell on him that you want two more kids in this situation and have no intention of contributing more than a trivial amount of work and finances for ten years, and you think he’ll stick around?!

You’ve run up debt payments of £1000 per month? How much do you owe if at that level it will still take 4 years to pay off? What was this spent on?

This is totally insane OP, all of it. You really don’t sound mature or responsible enough to be a parent. It makes NO sense, and so many posters have told you this yet every suggestion they make you shoot down with excuses.

Either find a childminder or nanny who will do longer hours than nursery (or to supplement nursery so they pick up and do a couple of hours more care) and go back to your previous job, or you and your partner both find daytime jobs (I presume he’d be willing to make the change to daytime given you said he hates night anyway and this won’t harm his career, if it was part of a plan that involved you both working full time and building a decent life for your child together in a house with ceilings, where your ex doesn’t also live with a ton of random animals).

Many shops do not open until 11pm. You could look at retail management in one with shorter hours.

You can start a different career in another area of management.

You could easily have been doing study/ retraining part time already for something else while working two nights per week.

You could both work days.

You can find more flexible childcare with a nanny or childminder with longer hours if your hours overlap.

There are many, many options and burying your head in the sand and pretending the current situation is sustainable when it clearly isn’t and will destroy your relationship isn’t one of them.

Parenting isn’t easy and is a juggling act and childcare is expensive and necessary. None of this should be a shock. This is the EASY part in terms of childcare: it’s much harder with school holidays than with nurseries open 50 weeks per year.

I am a lone parent to two children with disabilities whom I have raised alone since they were under 2 and I’ve always managed to work full time to provide for them. There are two of you to juggle it. What you’re pretending is impossible really is not. It’s time to woman up and face reality and do what is best for your son (including not having any more children until you have a stable home and finances and a financial plan for how to pay childcare for two and manage working hours around childcare including, later, for school holidays).

overwork · 27/04/2025 20:11

Haha. I merrily leave my front door. I just don’t expect someone else to support me to do so

nottheplan · 27/04/2025 16:58

overwork · 27/04/2025 15:35

@nottheplanThey can’t afford to live - they’re in a house with no ceilings and sharing with an extra man who could decide to rock the boat at any point, it’s precarious at best. And it really doesn’t matter, her partner doesn’t want to have the brunt of the earning responsibility on his back (quite rightly so in this mental situation, he’s paying for her and her ex’s house). One partner can’t just decide that they don’t want to contribute. If one partner stays at home or go part time, that has to be a joint decision.

All worst case scenarios and a completely pessimistic viewpoint you have. I bet you are afraid to go outside your front door. The dc will only be young temporarily, there's plenty of time to resolve the renovation issues.

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 15:46

overwork · 27/04/2025 15:35

@nottheplanThey can’t afford to live - they’re in a house with no ceilings and sharing with an extra man who could decide to rock the boat at any point, it’s precarious at best. And it really doesn’t matter, her partner doesn’t want to have the brunt of the earning responsibility on his back (quite rightly so in this mental situation, he’s paying for her and her ex’s house). One partner can’t just decide that they don’t want to contribute. If one partner stays at home or go part time, that has to be a joint decision.

You are correct my partner finds it hard to have the brunt of the earning responsibility however the task for me is helping him to understand he is going to have the brunt of the earning responsibility whether I'm earning £900 working 2 days or £1600 working 5 days and then paying for childcare and a vehicle.

We have then got to work together to find a solution that works for us and makes us both happy as yes I have been selfish and have only been thinking of me and ds. It doesn't mean we are going to be able to find a solution that makes DP happy but we at least need to sit down and discuss options.

OP posts:
Calica1 · 27/04/2025 15:42

Simonjt · 27/04/2025 15:34

Then how did he afford the bills when you weren’t living there?

He had someone living here with him for a while a racked up a lot of debt as well trying to cover things it was hard. The mortgage also changed interest rates when we moved in so that increased the mortgage a large amount.

OP posts:
overwork · 27/04/2025 15:35

@nottheplanThey can’t afford to live - they’re in a house with no ceilings and sharing with an extra man who could decide to rock the boat at any point, it’s precarious at best. And it really doesn’t matter, her partner doesn’t want to have the brunt of the earning responsibility on his back (quite rightly so in this mental situation, he’s paying for her and her ex’s house). One partner can’t just decide that they don’t want to contribute. If one partner stays at home or go part time, that has to be a joint decision.

Simonjt · 27/04/2025 15:34

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 15:32

My ex can't afford the bills on his own and rent would cost us insanely more than we are paying now.

Honestly if any of us weren't getting along we would leave in a heartbeat. But we all actually get on really well and with the world being as expensive as it is we don't really mind us all being here.

We all know eventually we need to buy him out or he buys us out if he earns more but for now it doesn't cause any harm to any of us. I get for other people it's extremely odd but it works for us all at the moment whilst we all try and get our finances in order.

Then how did he afford the bills when you weren’t living there?

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 15:33

nottheplan · 27/04/2025 15:28

Come on , a majority of couples have kids . You're acting like it's a complete luxury . If they can afford to live with op working part time why should she move to full time? What's wrong with foregoing holidays and a bigger house for a few years?

I think their issue is more to do with my living situation and debt which I understand but these things will improve with time. However personally leaving my son for a full time job is time I am never getting back which is hard to imagine missing out on things.

But I do understand their opinion and point of view.

OP posts:
Calica1 · 27/04/2025 15:32

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

My ex can't afford the bills on his own and rent would cost us insanely more than we are paying now.

Honestly if any of us weren't getting along we would leave in a heartbeat. But we all actually get on really well and with the world being as expensive as it is we don't really mind us all being here.

We all know eventually we need to buy him out or he buys us out if he earns more but for now it doesn't cause any harm to any of us. I get for other people it's extremely odd but it works for us all at the moment whilst we all try and get our finances in order.

OP posts:
nottheplan · 27/04/2025 15:28

overwork · 27/04/2025 12:13

How do you think others manage it? There are so many couples who both work full time and also deal with childhood sickness - in your long list of excuses you’re really grasping now. Ill say it again, you’ve made this situation, you need to do everything you can to fix it, not make your partner out to be unreasonable for wanting you to step up too.

Come on , a majority of couples have kids . You're acting like it's a complete luxury . If they can afford to live with op working part time why should she move to full time? What's wrong with foregoing holidays and a bigger house for a few years?

RoseofRoses · 27/04/2025 15:28

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 14:59

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

I get not wanting to give up his animals so I don't think he's selfish at all and he didnt ask to be in this situation or for me to have a baby. I wouldn't particularly want to rehome them all but then I'm lucky that my 2 animals I wouldn't have to rehome.

OP posts:
RoseofRoses · 27/04/2025 14:56

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 14:56

Upsetbetty · 27/04/2025 14:51

4 years is too long @Calica1…way too long, I would place my bets on your DP losing his cool WAY before then. Sorry…

DP may lose his cool but it will be likely be 3- 4 years even if I'm working full time from September unless I find one of these rare entry level jobs that pay significantly above minimum wage.

But you are quite likely correct and he won't be willing to wait 4 years for things to change.

OP posts:
OutandAboutMum1821 · 27/04/2025 14:55

SouthLondonMum22 · 27/04/2025 08:57

Most children have a daddy too. Where's daddy? and why is the expectation always on mummy?

The issue there is we need to stop making mothers the default parent. Daddy needs to be just as responsible for making some school events too.

From the child’s perspective, it was Mum they asked for without exception.

In my DH’s case as a FT teacher, he was given exactly 1 hour for the whole academic year. So he had to clock watch & rush off after 40 mins of Sports Day. This year he will be forced to pick between which of our 2 he can watch, which is bound to cause an upset! 🙀😂 He has colleagues who live too far away to even use that 1 hour, it would be pointless. Hence why loads of teachers are leaving who have young families.

I actually have a good friend on the school run who teaches 3 days a week. She has told me that despite both her DH and both their parents attending school events, it is causing her a great deal of pain as a mother and to her children when she occasionally can’t make things. She has asked for my help as a Governor to plead for as much notice as possible as it is making her so sad (her words). I am doing my best to push for more notice for all parents- all are very keen to rearrange and to attend these things, notice is essential 👌🏻

Upsetbetty · 27/04/2025 14:51

4 years is too long @Calica1…way too long, I would place my bets on your DP losing his cool WAY before then. Sorry…

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 14:49

Coolasfeck · 27/04/2025 14:46

You must have a gold plated punani for these guys to be on board with all of this foolishness.

Ex living with you and new partner and child. DP working full time and not even a ceiling to show for it.

Teach me.

It's called my ex doesn't want to go live in another house share and doesn't want to sell the house and rehome all the animals.

As for DP. We made a decision to be here as it was the thing that made the most financial sense. Is it ideal? Of course not! But it's the situation at the moment and until one of us is in the financial position to buy the other out we are stuck unless ex is willing to sell and rehome 6 animals.

OP posts:
Coolasfeck · 27/04/2025 14:46

You must have a gold plated punani for these guys to be on board with all of this foolishness.

Ex living with you and new partner and child. DP working full time and not even a ceiling to show for it.

Teach me.

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 14:43

PurpleThistle7 · 27/04/2025 14:28

I think there’s not much point in this thread. You have no intention of making anything better, you just wanted some magical way of convincing your partner that this is the life he wants. No one can do that as it sounds grim

The thing you keep forgetting is that you have another 40-50 years to work. So if you have any intention of a life where you can comfortably take care of your family, you should work towards that. Even if it’s not entirely financially sensible today, you need to have some sort of plan. Eventually your partner is going to notice that he’s paying for a mortgage he gets no benefit from, or the house will need some major work you can’t afford, or you’ll have another baby despite the ridiculousness of that - this is going to break down in some way and you have no way to sort it out when it does. It’s so much pressure on your poor partner

It is a lot of pressure on my partner and I agree I need to find a way of bringing in some more money. I've got 5 months until it's a option to work more so after all the responses on here I can talk to my partner and we can go through the finances and work out what the best thing to do is

OP posts:
Calica1 · 27/04/2025 14:40

Moonnstars · 27/04/2025 14:22

How are you going to afford to buy your ex out when you are already in debt, you only work 2 night shifts and you plan to do this in 4 years? What if he wants to move out sooner? You have said about the animals are why he doesn't want to sell but if they all die before then and he wants to move sooner, how will you pay him off? What if he doesn't want to move then?
You say you have £400 a month left over, there is still work to be done on the house.
Saving £400 a month even for 4 years will only come to less than £20000, is that what ex wants to pay him off?!

Once the debt is gone in 4 year years we will be able to buy him out as my partner and I earn enough to borrow the amount owed on the mortgage plus what we need to buy my ex out.

If all animals die unexpectedly and my ex wanted to move and we couldn't afford to buy him out due to the debt we would sell which would pay off our debts and we could then buy somewhere else or rent for a while.

OP posts:
PurpleThistle7 · 27/04/2025 14:28

I think there’s not much point in this thread. You have no intention of making anything better, you just wanted some magical way of convincing your partner that this is the life he wants. No one can do that as it sounds grim

The thing you keep forgetting is that you have another 40-50 years to work. So if you have any intention of a life where you can comfortably take care of your family, you should work towards that. Even if it’s not entirely financially sensible today, you need to have some sort of plan. Eventually your partner is going to notice that he’s paying for a mortgage he gets no benefit from, or the house will need some major work you can’t afford, or you’ll have another baby despite the ridiculousness of that - this is going to break down in some way and you have no way to sort it out when it does. It’s so much pressure on your poor partner

Moonnstars · 27/04/2025 14:22

Calica1 · 27/04/2025 12:18

Yes the living situation is complicated and within the next 4 years we will buy my ex out if he can't afford to buy us out so the baby having their own room wouldnt be an issue.

Get a full time job with no financial benefit for a few years? The waiting to have a second baby i can understand but working a full time job with no additional income seems bonkers.

How are you going to afford to buy your ex out when you are already in debt, you only work 2 night shifts and you plan to do this in 4 years? What if he wants to move out sooner? You have said about the animals are why he doesn't want to sell but if they all die before then and he wants to move sooner, how will you pay him off? What if he doesn't want to move then?
You say you have £400 a month left over, there is still work to be done on the house.
Saving £400 a month even for 4 years will only come to less than £20000, is that what ex wants to pay him off?!

stayathomer · 27/04/2025 13:15

Calica1

I started the job on 25 plus hour contract but then they started upping it, and I’ve landed at 30 plus hours the last few months I definitely take what I can get, I feel lucky especially as am so close to home etc! Hope it all gets figured out for you and your dh, mine will never understand but we’re not in a good place so it’s as much that x

Swipe left for the next trending thread