To think work is easier once your kids are at school??

[ibblebibbledibble]

Finding decent before and after school care is a frickin nightmare. There’s a plethora of nurseries and childminders for babies - preschoolers but for school age children

It stupidly hard. I used to think it would be easier when they got to school. I was wrong. I do think it will be easier when they get to high school. I have changed work to fit in and have no childcare. I work in an office school hours then i top up with an evening bar job twice a week. I really can’t wait till they are all in high school and I can try and find a better 9-5 job. The only thing then will be dog care....

I wholeheartedly agree. I've always thought pre-school period was easier, my kid goes to a nursery which is open from 7am -7pm but I'm planning on finding one of the many term tine jobs (!) or starting my own business when she goes to school as I have no idea how we can cope (both with full time jobs / reasonable commutes/no family nearby) - It seems that to set up a breakfast club and school pick service locally would be a brilliant idea...!

I think it must really depend on the area. We use a cm for wraparound 8 to 5.30 3 days a week. She has the dc sometimes in the school hols. I usually take at least 2 weeks off at Xmas and Easter and summer, then dh takes a few days different to that. So it has been quite easy so far. Without the cm we would struggle with holidays, and I think it would be too much if I worked ft.

We do live it a city though and made sure our area had robust childcare options before we moved, as we don't have gp to help.

Once the children are school age, you have the option of using an aupair, if you have an extra room in the house. Be prepared for patchy quality but when it works, the aupair is a godsend. Live-in care significantly reduces the rushing around.

We chose DDs school based on where the CM she has had since she was 1 would do pick ups from. Luckily we got into our first choice so she has had uninterrupted care from 1yo until now (7yo). If I could I would keep my CM until DD was 18 she is a godsend.
We would struggle otherwise as the breakfast club and after school club start too late and finish too early for us to use.

yAnbu DH SAH when ds was in year R.1 and 2, then we both worked 3 days a week OOTH with a lovely nanny/housekeeper on Fridays she came in at 9, cleaned, ironed and cooked for everyone, collected the dcs and let them chill till we returned at 7ish. It was bliss and we paid her £10 ph so £100 for Friday's but so worth it.

I stopped working at the end of DS1's first year in school.

I had previously found teaching p/t and two children in the same nursery managable. I'd picked up a temporary full time contract and having to manage drop offs/ pick-ups to two seperate venues pushed me to my limits. DH was also working away and on site a lot so we frequently couldn't divide and conquer.

It was the effect on DS1 that concerned me most. He'd been happy with the relaxed pace of nursery, but being in a cramped after school club around a day of school was simply exhausting.

We're fortunate that my job wasn't essential for income so it was best for family life all round to become a SAHM all round. The current workload in teaching and the extra salary kept after deductions and childcare simply wasn't worth the effort and emotional costs.