I work 21 hrs a week, split over 3 days, 8-4 - this seemed like the obvious thing to do. DH does nursery drop off and I do the pick ups - we have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. I have them all day on Mon and Fri.
However, I'm wondering whether to see if I can change my hours, so I'd do 4 days a week, 9-2.15. At the moment, I barely see my kids for three days a week. I have a fairly long commute on the train (1hr 15 mins door to door). Sometimes I have to leave before they've woken up, and when I pick them up at around 5.30pm, we're all exhausted and there's just about enough time for a snack before the bedtime routine begins - bath, stories etc. - then asleep between 7-7.30pm.
It just doesn't feel like enough and it feels like I'm rushing around a lot. If I changed my hours I could have breakfast and dinner with them and they'd be a bit more time for them to wind down in the evening, but of course they'd have an extra day of nursery and I'd have an extra day of work, which could be annoying to cover during the 4-5 weeks a year when my DH has to go away for work.
What would you do? Anyone been in a similar position?