If you work FT ish and you do all the school runs and cooking, what is your typical day like?

[FreddiesIce]

I do all school runs and cooking during the weekdays.

I currently work 9 till 2.30 with 3 days in the office. This works fine as I can drop off Ds to school and pick him up for 3.

However, I have been offered more hours as I have been given more work due to someone leaving. To save my sanity it would mean increasing my hours which I don't mind.

My problem is planning my day. I have the option to work some of my hours of the day from home on the office days whether that's early morning or evening.

Does anyone else have similarish hours? When do you work your hours? Do you start super early in the morning or do some in the evening?

Long

Haha! I bet they are!

Can you partner take over any of the school runs or cooking? Even if it means breakfast or after school club? I really don't think it's fair for one parent to do all the school admin and all the cooking when they're both working full time.

Can you use afterschool clubs or an afterschool nanny? I work FT and we use childcare for 3 days a week, I pick up on the other two days and work my hours at the weekend or at night. I drop off almost every morning unless I have an early meeting and do all the cooking. There's not a lot of time for other stuff but luckily I love my job!

As a PP said, long. I work full time as a teacher. I start my day at 6 and put together anything needed for the day, lunch for DH and I, PE kit for the kids etc. I wake the kids up at 7 and get them breakfast and dressed. We leave the house about 7:45 so I can drop them off at breakfast club, which starts at 8. I then have a roughly 20 minute drive to my own school.
Once I finish work (I leave about 4/4:30 most days I pick the children up from their after school club (runs until 5) and prepare dinner (I cook from scratch each day) and whilst DH gets the children bathe and any homework completed. After dinner we read with the kids or watch a film, before they go to bed about 8. I then do an hour or two of planning before getting ready for bed myself. DH usually loads the dishwasher and cleans the kitchen in this time.
Around 10, DH and I finally sit down and relax for an hour, before bed. Then it starts again!

Forgot to add, DH does school pickup on Friday as their school doesn't run the after school club and hence they need picking up at 3:15, as I have my own class to dismiss, I can't be in two places at once!

I work similar hours to you, going to use after school care to cover gap as I'm going back to ft. A childminder might work too.

I really don't recommend early or late hours on top of a full day. Dh did condensed hours for a while (9-7 to do a 5 day week in 4 days, I think) it's fine for a while until you get so run down you're ill. And what happens if kids play up etc.

We really do need to do something other than work, childcare and sleep. Working late can also affect your sleep quality.

With cooking, cd your partner help with batch cooking at weekends?

After school club till 5 Mon to Thur. luckily ds loves it and it’s very much outdoor play based so probably healthier than being home with me.

What's your childcare plans? I don't work full time (I found it knackering and thankless with a school age child, sorry), but when I did I found it worked better to have childcare in place and work as long a day as I could for a couple of days, to give me a bit more flex for a couple of other days.
For me, that meant a mixture of breakfast club and after school club, I had family care so DD stayed out one night so I worked til 8/9, started at 7 the next day, then picked up after the after school at 4.30/5.
For my younger DD we don't have family care, so on my working days she's at the CM for 7.30, pick up 5.45 ish, CM does 7- 6. Even once she's older, we will stick with our childminder as DD has been there since a baby, so it's like another home for her.

I also don't recommend work- school run- home- cook- bedtime- work some more. I'd be burnt out very quickly from that

I work 40 hours a week and am a single parent so do all school runs and clubs. I do work from home every day which helps. I work 7-8am then do school run then work until 3pm, take my lunch break to do school pick up run and work again until 5/5.30, doing extra bits in the evening if I need to. the days the kids have clubs, a friend drops them home from school and I take my lunch break from 4-5. We eat dinner late and the kids help cook a couple of times a week (they're 8 and 12). Washing is done at weekends only and I do have a cleaner once a fortnight. It's tiring, not going to lie, but we make it work

Single parent here, work FT (37.5 hours). Drop DD to breakfast club for 7.45, back home to start at 8. Take a 30 minute lunch at some point, leave for school pick up at 3 then work my remaining hours after she's in bed. It's exhausting but I have to work FT to cover all the outgoings.

You don't say how old your child is (I don't think)

I work longer hours but pick up one day a week. I work while the kids chill out (it's the one day without clubs), but I try not to have meetings so I can be flexible and put food on etc. I normally work 4-6pm. My kids are 8 with sen, 10 and 11.

You need breakfast or ASC club really to make it work.

3 days I drop DC at 8, home to do an hour or shower/housework etc, work till 5 and then collect. One day I compress hours a little to juggle a school pick up and swimming lesson, another day I share drop off and pick up with DH.

Do you have a partner that can help?

@LondonQueen that sounds exhausting

I work 9-5, with 2 days in the office. DH full time with 2 days in the office every other week.

He dies the drop off and i do the pickups. When either of us go to the office, the kids go to afterschool so the home parents gets an uninterrupted day. I do the cooking most of the time, anything i can rustle up in an hour, by 6 we are eating, 8 kids in bed

When i go to office either DH cooks or we manage with leftovers.

Forgot to mention, second child goes to nursery 8-6 so she gets picked up separately by one of us.
It works we are exhausted. I am contemplating weekend meal prep but where would we have time for each other?

Mines different as I wfh
Up at 7.30
8.00, washing on, dishwasher on, get dinner out of freezer to defrost
Out at 8.30 for school run, walk it with the dog.
8.50 Back, make a brew and start work at 9am.
10.30 break, sort washing.
Work
1pm lunch, empty dishwasher
Work
3.05 school run and walk dog.
3.30 home and back to work
4.30- 4.45 finish work.
5.30 start dinner, DH home at 6.

Everything ready the night before -

lunches made and in the fridge
bags and book bags packed and by the front door ready to go (just add lunches!)

uniforms and shoes laid out ready to go (DC has 5x shirts, 3x jumpers, 3x trousers, 2x ties - there's always something clean and a spare tie - no one running around looking for anything.

Meal planning with a bit of batch cooking thrown in too for the really busy days. Pull something out the freezer that morning, just cook potatoes/pasta/rice/veg etc that evening

Reading/spellings etc. Get done as soon as we get in (whilst having a snack) whilst still in "school mode".

Dishwasher goes on every night before bed even if half full. Emptied first thing next morning then is empty and dirty dishes can go straight in.

Throw money at some things to make life easier- we have a gardener and a dog walker for our busiest days, they're our luxuries. We could do it ourselves, but it makes life a lot less pressured on days where working split shifts, or having to spend time commuting, for example.

I work the bulk of my hours in school time, and a bit after pick up (once DC has had food and done reading and is just chilling) before cooking dinner for 6pm, or later in the evening when DC is in bed.

A husband who pulls his weight is invaluable.

6.30 wake up, shower etc
7am kids up
7-8.30 work
School run
9-3 work - plus laundry, cooking etc in breaks
3 - school run
3-6 time with kids, eat
6-8 work, kids chill out

My alarm goes off at 0600 and I get myself totally ready then have a cup of tea in silence before waking kids (x3 primary) at 0700. Get them dressed, teeth brushed and stick a wash load on to get in car at 0730. Arrive to breakfast club at school for when it opens at 0745.

Drive from school to park & ride. Into city centre for 0845. Logged on and working by 0900.

Leave work at 1700. Park & ride. Back to car. Back to school for 1750ish. Home at 1800ish. Kids do spellings/reading/fighting while I make something to eat. Eat about 1845. They eat a biscuit and drink milk while I clean down kitchen. Play a game or more reading after tea. Up for bed at 1915. I’ll hang washing while they get pyjamas on then I will do teeth and stories. Lights out 1945 for smallest 2 and 2000 for biggest one.

For me the key things are no screens during the week; meal planning at the weekend and making 1 or 2 meals to be reheated; cleaning kitchen while they’re finishing tea so I don’t go down after bedtime to a filthy kitchen; laundry every other day.

Luckily don't have school run as both DC can walk to school by themselves. I leave for work at 6.15a.m., DD12 gets up at 7 and leaves for school at 7.40a.m. DS11 gets up at 7.45a.m. and leaves for school at 8.30a.m. DP wakes up with me and typically leaves at the same time as DS, sometimes earlier or has an early call so is home but working. Showers are done in the evening and breakfast and clothes laid out before we go to bed, school bags packed by the door. The DCs just need to put stuff back in the fridge, rinse off their dishes and pop them in the dishwasher.

Until last year we had a 'nanny' for the period after school before we get home from work (to pick up DCs, supervise their showers, then play with them, help them tidy their rooms) and DP always walked DS (and before that both DCs) to school.

We make easy dinners most of the time in the week, e.g. grilled fish and veg., omelette and salad. The DCs have a cooked lunch at school and aren't super hungry in the evenings apart from on their sports days when we tend to have something including pasta or rice (mostly DD12). DP and I share the cooking and the DC help, mostly DS11 as he has less homework, but they both lay the table, serve the food, and clear away.

Yes, this is my concern. At the moment one I leave work I don't need to think about anything else. However, this week this is exactly what I have been doing as I'm beginning to take in more of the other person's work and I did find my evenings were a bit ruined..

Given the choice I would start earlier and try and leave the afternoons as they are. Agree with others that working in the evenings is grim. I struggle to even load of sone mileage while I'm watching tv and I know my dc struggle with this even though they are older.

My dc didn't mind breakfast club and you don't have to feed them which sometimes feels like a massive luxury!

Can you work flexi officially? Might be worth considering a few longer days in the office if this would work as it maintains the home and work boundary.