I should look for a new job now should I? School/nursery related!

[Username24680]

DC turns 3 this year and will be starting nursery when the funded hours kick in.

I’ve seen constant threads on here about toddlers always being ill (which mine is too!) and the common response is always “wait until they start nursery/school!” 😬

Ive never really thought about the logistics of things before in terms of our family life but DH works away from home for a few weeks at a time (3 weeks on/3 weeks off rotation), and I work PT locally but on my days in work I’m the sole key holder on site.

Getting a phonecall from nursery to go and pick up DC wouldn’t be an issue during DHs time off as he’s off work and fully available. But during his time away it would be solely my responsibility and for me to do the pick up I’d have to call another key holder to come and take over, wait for them to arrive and then leave to go and get DC. Either that or close the premises and leaving right away, locking out the other staff while waiting for a new key holder to take over which would lose the company money and certainly wouldn’t go down well. Obviously these also mean the other key holders being potentially disturbed on their days off.

No family to do pick ups.

I should start looking for another role now shouldn’t I? Something that I’m able to leave and catch up later etc. To save any hassle or messing anyone about! I don’t really see another way round it!

Maybe I’m not understanding the keyholder responsibilities but surely you could leave other staff, do pick up of sick child and either return to lock-up or the other key-holders could do it but don’t need to be there until closing? Or more than one person on shift is a key-holder? What if you took ill yourself? I think there are solutions before having to find a new job.

Yeah I would

@Oinkypig If I took ill myself I’d usually stay until the end of the day, even if it meant being in the back office for the rest of the day doing paperwork rather than being customer facing. Obviously in the event if something really serious I’d have to close there and then and another key holder would have to come and take over.
There must be a named key holder on site while the business is trading for insurance purposes so I couldn’t leave and then come back to close. Plus it would mean dragging an ill toddler into work with me to do the closing procedures.
Very small team but the other staff rotate days so I don’t work with the same staff members each week. They’d all have to be keyholders for it to be feasible and that wouldn’t happen for security purposes.

@Username24680 that does sound hard, I work somewhere almost everyone is a key holder so easier. Could you suggest always having 2 staff on who are key holders? Still more people but really there shouldn’t be just the one person in case they get ill/called away.

I have 3 kids. I had to pick the eldest up from school about 3 times in infant school - she was prone to ear infections. Never had to pick the others up at all that I remember. They are now Y6 and Y2.

O ly collectedmy dd from.school once in year 2 cos she banged her head and had suspected concussion. Might not be as bad as you think op.

@Oinkypig It wouldn’t work unfortunately. During busier trading periods there may be 2 keyholders on shift just because extra staff had been drafted in for cover but in normal trading there is always just one. The business definitely wouldn’t change it due to the increase in wage costs. I think being somewhere a little more flexible would probably be beneficial.

@DistrictCommissioner @Soproudoflionesses Thank you! Your stories give me a bit of hope 😅

I have a four year old who is always bloody ill, and I haven't had to actually pick him up from nursery very often in the past three years - probably less than five times. Generally you know they're ill when you get up in the morning, or they're clearly ill when they get home.

You will need cover for illness though, if DH is away.

DS always gets sick on my days off! I've yet to have been called to pick him up despite him being in nursery. DSS was similar, I think DH was called twice over three years.

It's more so the mornings you wake up and they're too sick to go versus getting called which is an issue I'd guess.

Who looks after your child when you are work at the moment during times DH is away?

If you are PT, and DH is around half the time, and weekends exists, you are actually saying there is a pretty small fraction of the year where it would be inconvenient.
By all means look for a new job, but don't jump for the first vaguely appropriate role that comes up.

@NeverApologiseNeverExplain We have a family member that currently looks after DC on my work days while DH is away but they aren’t able to continue that beyond the end of this year due to their own circumstances.

@CatOnTheChair It really is a very small fraction of the year! It works out 6 days per month 🙈 Maybe I’m just overthinking it. I think just because I have absolutely zero other option on those days and it directly affects other people time off it’s stressing me out. If it was just a case of me catching up on my workload later then that’s fine

I doubt that most people would give this a second thought. They would just think "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it".

If you absolutely can't get away immediately when a call to collect comes through, the nursery will just have to keep your child there until you are able to leave. You will have enough time to call someone in to cover for you.

You'd not be the only parent in this position- it's not like a firefighter can leave a burning building or a police office just walk out of interviewing a suspect. Not all children have two parents to call on. The chances of it happening repeatedly in your working day are pretty minimal and you and your colleagues will muddle through if it does I'm sure.