Sort of job interview-were they justified in doing this?

That would have terminated any opportunities going your way from me also I'm afraid. People generally pull out all of the stops to gain a position. You didn't, reading it feels chaotic.

Employers are wary of employees who are constantly taking time off for sick kids or family members. They know that this causes resentment with other staff who are picking up the slack. As someone who is childfree I always had boundaries about being lumbered with a colleague's work when she looked after her sick child. I prioritised my own work and slipped the extra jobs back into her in tray when I could.

I can quite understand why they didn’t respond after you had rescheduled for the second time but I also thank you probably dodged a bullet here. What kind of part-time job was being organised by a group of mums – is it some kind of network marketing opportunity by chance?

This. And I say that as someone who recruits.

It would have been better to ring and talk to them surely?

I wouldn’t have bothered replying to a text asking to reschedule a second time tbh. When interviewing I have to arrange the other members of the panel, and people to meet and greet, and then I don’t want to keep the other candidates waiting for ages after interviews to let them know the outcome

A group of mums who owns a business? Was some kind of nanny share or something?

Either they are an employer or they're not. I don't understand this 'group meet up with a group of mums'. Well it's off now anyway. But was it a really definitely a job?

How would they know that though? All they know is that you've tried rescheduling twice.

Most people would go out of their way to attend an interview. I agree with others- 1 reschedule I could understand, 2 and I also would be thinking you weren't serious about the job, had no other childcare options in place and you could be unreliable if you got the job.

It’s obviously not a good look, if you can’t make it to the interview it looks like you wouldn’t be able to get to work. And interviews should be easier to attend because most people do have a friend or a grandparent that they can call in for emergency babysitting for a couple of hours, even they don’t have regular childcare from those sorts of people.

As well as that, if I’m understanding the timeline in your post correctly, it must be at least two weeks since the first interview was scheduled. If they have other candidates, that’s too long to keep them hanging around - they will be wanting to move forward with someone that they liked, not take a chance and wait for you to see if you might or might not be any good.

But they don’t know that do they? Most people do the absolute best they can to attend an interview and pull out all the stops to ensure they get the job.
What would you do if you got the job and your kids were ill? Because the employer will now already be envisaging this as a potential issue.
Remember, they don’t know you yet, but you’ve given a dreadful first impression.

It’s a true picture in that that’s what has happened. You can’t reschedule a job interview twice even if they have been disorganised themselves.

I have recently been recruiting and publicised the interview date in advance - could have been flexible on timings that day or following day
Candidates who couldn’t manage either of those 2 days would not have been considered - I need someone to start asap and to be flexible

You didn’t give a very good first impression by
rescheduling not once but twice due to illness/child illness.

You’ve given them a glimpse into a possible future with you as an employee. You can’t really expect them to be interested in you after this.

They probably hired someone else when you cancelled
and asked to reschedule one week later!

they can’t wait forever

If they were interviewing a number of people they may have had some days allocated to do this and then made a decision from the candidates they saw. Would be polite of them to let you know the vacancy had been filled . Have you chased them?

I think once is unfortunate, twice is a red flag. Interviews tend to be people trying their hardest and best to make a good first impression, so if that’s a struggle then it stands to reason that the actual job part might be even more so.

But they should have responded even just to say they won’t be taking it further. It’s unprofessional to ignore.

Yes it was bad timing and rude of them to ignore you, but even you can see how it comes across.

I don’t understand what this was? You have described this as an interview but also as a meet up of mums?

Agree wit the others - 2 cancellations is one too many.

It was very unfortunate timing, but I think two reschedules would put off even the most sympathetic and tolerant hiring manager, especially if one was last-minute.

You should have got your husband to look after your DC, however difficult that might have been.

How would he get back home if you were at work and your child was sick/emergency?