To expect DD to get ready for school with the au pair?

[VeraLockski]

Apologies to all - this is another au pair thread. However, disagreement (such as there is) not with au pair.

I have quite a demanding job, and on those days I can't work from home I have to leave early and/or get home late. Sometimes I have to be away overnight. Therefore have an au pair - DH has the same job. We are both self-employed.

I am 20 weeks pregnant and have a bad cold that is making me feel crappy.

Am I being unreasonable to expect my DD (nearly 5) to get ready for school with the au pair on days when I do not have to leave early just as she would when I am not there? This means I can have a lie in and tbh I need it.

When I am working from home I do need to be able to engage brain and if I don't get enough sleep this is harder.

Au pair is fine with this - it's her job and I suspect she prefers it when I am not there when she is working.

However, DD will put up a fight and would like me to be around when she is getting ready for school. Obviously she prefers to be with me that with the au pair, I am her Mum. Au pair is a bit quiet but otherwise lovely - she is very gentle with DD which I like but perhaps not massive exciting - however, don't need exciting before school. But surely DD can't have everything she wants in life...

I understand that it is hard for her to have to get up and get ready when I don't have to, but have explained that I am making a baby (plus have been to school already).

I don't mind her coming in to see me in the mornings - I'm not that unreasonable - I don't expect not to be woken up at all, just not to have to get up when I am paying someone else to do it.

I do make sure that I make time for DD - take her to the park after school etc if I can get my work done in time - and I make sure I do (not always on MN!). And we always have the weekends.

Question is - would I be needlessly self-sacrificing and spoiling DD to allow her to insist on being with me, or am I hugely selfish to want a lie-in at 20 weeks pregnant, working and with a cold?

[HavantGuard]

It's always good to waste time on MN.

I'm sorry you're having a tough time. If you are feeling really rough you could always close your bedroom door and be 'at work' for the next couple of mornings.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Whilst I wasn't pregnant I found that the first couple of years of school DD needed me to be with me whenever I was in the house. So I got the AP to do other jobs for me to free that time up.
Even though I had an AP and a husband at the time the first two years of school were the most physically draining DD need me so much.
Now she is 9, I am a single parent self employed working more hours than I was then with no AP she does not need me as much as she did then. Maybe my investment in giving myself to her is paying dividends?

[ChippingInNeedsSleepAndCoffee]

It's actually quite easy to 'hear' the stress behind your post (I think you'd have been better posting in relationships or chat).

I totally understand what you are saying, how you are feeling and don't think that what you 'wish' would happen is unreasonable from your POV.

It's just easy to see, from the outside, that your DD misses you, she wants you and will soon have to share you - also, they seem so much smaller, younger & vulnerable when they are someone else's - you see them for the tiny person they are, which you don't always when they are yours.

It is also easy to be more sympathetic to the child in the equation when it isn't you who is stressed, pregnant, worried, knackered & frustrated!

I hope the other stresses can be sorted out, the rest of your pregnancy goes well and you are feeling better soon

[Josie1974]

YABU
I think I'd put this one down to, sometimes life as a parent is really blinking hard, but you just have to get on with it.
My ds2 is 4 and has just started school and this is a huge life change for him, I think he needs as much of me as possible before and after school. For your dd things will also change again radically when her sibling is born. I agree with PPs, make the most of time together while you're still "just" pg.

OTOH, if you genuinely feel you aren't coping and need this break, then YANBU, as your dd doesn't benefit if you fall apart.

[Brokensoul]

Hi Vera. You are not U. You can speak to au pair about it and talk to you lovely Dd .
There is no point of having extra help if you don't get time to rest yourself.
Every pregnancy is different and maybe this time you need more rest.
Hope you find solution.
And no , you are not selfish at all.

[PresidentServalan]

YANBU - you obviously work hard and she has to understand that she has to do some things with the au pair.

[JackyJax]

Hello there. Oh poor you, that's quite a load managing pregnancy, a new school child and working too. I can understand those who say you've just got to get on with it, suck it up and rise and shine. I have 3 children one of whom is a baby waking in the night. For the last year I've never had a night's sleep; mostly I get 4 hours. However I am not pregnant and I am not stressed- both of these make an enormous difference in your ability to cope.

You are tired and it's important for you to manage that tiredness.

How about a compromise eg you say to your daughter Mondays and Fridays are mummy and daughter breakfasts. Lay the table nicely (night before if mornings are a rush), chop up some nice fruit, put on a Cd, etc. Think this way your daughter gets what she wants (mummy!) and you get what you need (some more rest!). I think children her age can understand when you offer them very clear cut boundaries.

And for what it's worth, you sound like a lovely person who's trying to do her best for all concerned. Compromise may just be the solution.

Best of luck.

[Quangle]

I think YABU a bit. You sound stressed but that's your problem not hers (in the nicest possible way). I am a single parent with 2 DCs and work FT so I know what it is to be stretched to the limit but I find the DCs need me - especially in the morning, funnily enough. Somehow the DCs need me more in the mornings as they are dealing with getting up (which no one wants to do , facing school, sorting school bags etc). It's all a bit joyless and they need extra special attention and love then, I find.

I think lie-ins just don't happen any more - especially not when your DD needs you, has just started school (presumably?) and is aware of impending change in the form of the new baby.

[VeraLockski]

Thanks everybody - too many to name!

Lots of good advice in there.

[Deadhamsterssmell]

YANBU

I really don't see the problem with expecting a 4 year old to get ready for school with the au pair every morning. Once she realises that week mornings are au pair mornings and weekends are family days she will be fine.

You will have to hold your ground though and be firm else it won't work.