Working FT and flexible working hours

[Ricepops]

I'm looking for others' experiences of working full time with young children, and how you work flexibly around them. I currently do 4 days (8.30-4.30ish) but am looking at a promotion which I would likely take full time. I have a 3 year old at nursery and a 6 year old in Y2. Currently have no family support, thought that might get better next year. DH works from home so does all school drop offs.

FT would be 35h per week, probably 4 days in the office and 1 at home. I want to work flexibly so they aren't in childcare every day after school. I'm just trying to think of a good routine. I would like to either finish early two days to do the school pick up, or finish at lunchtime on a Friday, do nursery pickup then later do school pick up.

To make up the extra hours (~4h) to be able to leave early there are lots of options eg.
-Extra hour of work every day in the evening
-Extra hour of work every day in the morning (would mean not really seeing DC in the morning)
-Some hybrid of the above

Wondering what others do. It makes my head spin trying to figure it out!

Pandemic aside, I usually do 2 longer days in the office where DH does pickup from childminder and bedtime and then 3 shorter days at home where I can get them from school. Often I have to abandon them in front of the TV for a call etc or pick up some work in the evenings, but it works for us, albeit constantly running around like headless chickens!

Do you take lunch, if so can it be shortened?

Lunch is an hour, I don't always take it. Company policy is that you have to keep the hour lunchbreak - you can't count this towards your working hours even if you work during it.

I used to work 2 full days a week 8:30 - 17:30 (8 hours with 1 hour break) and 2 part time days 8:30 - 14:30 (5.5 hours and 30 min break) and one full day off.

That meant the kids only had to do after school club 2 days a week. It also meant we could do after school homework and clubs etc, have play dates. DH did the morning drop offs so I could get into work early and I did the pick ups and he would work late.

In the summer holidays I took my short days as holiday and worked my long days and they went to holiday club on those days.

Once a year we had a busy period when I would work full time and DH took over the clubs and school pick ups. I then banked my extra hours and was allowed to take them as extra holiday in the summer school holidays.

I do 7-3 Monday to Thursday and 7-2 on Friday. Would those hours suit you as your workplace ??

If your dh can do the school drop offs, and it doesn't matter to your employers what time you are at work (you say you can wfh one day and have suggested they are flexible and you can work in evenings)
what about starting at 7am and finishing at 3 ? Obviously depending on how far work is from school and what time they come out of school - you might have to finish at 2.30 and make up those 2.5 hours one evening, but you could pick them up every day and only need to work one evening.

I opted for start early, finish early. I had a very demanding job, so I would make the most of the early start - in work by 7am,

• so there was less chance I needed to go back to work at night once the kids were in bed.

My rationale was that traffic in the evening was awful, so this way I would miss the rush hour.

My job also required a 1 hour lunch break, I would work through my lunch break eating at my desk because even though I was demonstrably at work early (sending emails etc) colleagues still bitched about me "leaving early" even though it was agreed hours, and even though I worked harder than them!

If your DP is competent, personally I would leave him doing mornings and shoot off to work early, then you can do bedtimes.

Thanks for your advice. DH is competent in the mornings. I don't think I could do an early start and finish every day, because inevitably I would have meetings that run in the afternoon as well as a team to look after. But I think it would be doable Mondays and Fridays.

I'd suggest early starts and finishes midweek, as it will gain more kudos at work- you will get less understanding for your arrangements if you finish early on Fridays, however hard you work.

I hope DH is competent all day, not just in the mornings, but get the point. Glad to see your employer encourages proper lunch breaks.

inevitably I would have meetings that run in the afternoon as well as a team to look after

Block out your calendar from 2:30 onwards, make it clear that you cannot attend late afternoon meetings.

Your team will get used to the idea. You haven't been directly supervising them while working from home; they cope fine when you are on holiday; agree times when they can contact you.

Thanks @nosswith I take the point about Fridays. I just think it is the day when there are never any afternoon meetings! I'll probably talk to my manager and discuss which would be the best days to do an early start/finish.

DH is competent all day, yes. Unfortunately he can't do nursery pick ups in the afternoon as he has all of his meetings then (colleagues in the US) and the 3 year old.wont stay quiet. He does usually pick up the 6 year old one day a week from school though- he can be trusted to keep quiet during a call if occupied.

I worked full time when DS was small and we could take one days flex once a month on top of leave. DS was in the after school club. We trialled him doing breakfast and afterschool for a week so I could start early and finish late but it was exhausting for him so I did 9 to 5.30 four days a week and finish earlier if I could the last day. Then you could only wfh one day a week so I started really early. It was a constant juggling act.