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SAHM young kids looking to get back to work!

6 replies

Daffodiles · 26/03/2025 09:43

I’d love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation. I graduated a long time ago with degree in Business Administration. Since I was 16, I’ve worked in retail, which I hated. After graduating, I worked in several admin jobs.

For a few years, I prioritized IVF over focusing on a career. I don’t regret it, but I do feel the impact of that decision on my work life now.

I’ve been a stay-at-home mum for a while, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to be home instead of worrying about childcare. I have two children—a 2-year-old who will start nursery in January and a 5-year-old with ASD. I don’t have family or friends nearby to help. My husband works full-time and helps out when he can—he can occasionally do school drop-offs or pick-ups, but it depends on his meetings and availability.

My daughter really struggled to settle during Reception, with nearly daily phone calls, weekly meetings, and a lot of admin. I’m still advocating for her support every day, and she needs a lot of help at home. Now that she’s in Year 1, she’s more settled, but I know I’ll need to keep supporting her throughout her school life.

If I were to get a job, I’d need something between 10:30 AM and 2 PM. Does anyone have suggestions for jobs that might fit? I don’t drive yet, but I’m starting lessons this summer.

I also suspect I may be neurodiverse, which could explain a lot about my past work experiences. I worry about finding work after such a long gap. I’d love to take a course to improve my skills, but financial constraints make that difficult. My goal is to find something sustainable for the long term, especially as my youngest will be in school in two years.

I’d really appreciate any advice—thank you!

OP posts:
Springisroundthecorner88484848 · 26/03/2025 17:45

A lunchtime supervisor in a school? Dinner lady? A local Nursey that just requires lunchtime cover? I think you will struggle with anything specific for those hours, that being said my friend works for a supermarket set hours 10-2 around the kids

thesandwich · 26/03/2025 17:48

There are loads of free on line courses to update your skills- would be good to add to your cv. Coursera, openlearn, Microsoft etc- your local college etc.
volunteering in a school could lead to ta type work.

Bodonka · 26/03/2025 17:55

It has a bad rep, but maybe look at domestic cleaning? The pay can be very good depending on your area (round here it’s £20+ per hour) and if you could get a couple of clients a day it would be more lucrative than anything else entry level, and fairly flexible. The work is obviously quite physical but not mentally very strenuous, which I think helps if you’re dealing with a lot at home too!

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Tigerlilian · 26/03/2025 17:56

I would look to get some volunteering in to get some experience to put on your CV and someone to give you a reference.
Then I would look for a part time job in a school - maybe a receptionist. You would probably need to start at 8/8 30 so would need to find some childcare.
After a while you might be able to move into a finance/admin job within the school and gain more experience to progress further.

VenusClapTrap · 26/03/2025 17:58

I work those hours. I’m a self employed gardener. Obviously requires an interest in gardening, but you can top up your skills with a part time horticulture course if there’s an agricultural college nearby.

DAJane · 26/03/2025 18:04

Take a look at DataAnnotation OP. It's AI training and they just want a degree in any subject. They pay good money if you show yourself to be a high quality worker and because of how it's set up, you can take a day off whenever (I literally took 3 months off last year and still had work to come back to).
Edit: Oops link didn't post: https://www.dataannotation.tech/

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