...to ask how many people are WFH with no childcare right now?

[michaelbaubles]

Seen a few comments on other threads at people incredulous that anyone was having to work from home with no childcare, and I thought surely a huge amount of people are?

Check in here - I'm teaching, full time from home (basically working 8.30-4 on and off, no live lessons but setting and marking work, chasing up students and responding to messages and emails all day), and I have 2 DC, 6 and 8 here too.

DP is here but he is also working from home (freelancer, has to keep hustling and chasing up funding to get any money at all).

OK I wouldn't normally be working like this but some posters are acting like it's literally impossible - it isn't - it's hard but we have to do what we can.

Yep, DD 11, DS 8 & DD 7.

Dh and I both wfh, but his job is very specialised and in high demand at this time so hes worked without a day off for over 2 weeks and wont get a day off for at least another week. He also does 10 hour days. Because of this he shuts himself away.

This leaves me to work 35 hours a week, some days my job is utterly manic and other days its quiet. Usually my kids are quite able to get on with work and entertain themselves. Today they were all utter horrors and work was insanely busy and by 5pm I wanted to cry!

Yes - luckily I can flex my hours so now spread my day from 8-8 swapping over with my partner every couple of hours so we can care and work.

It's great fun!

I needed to read this was feeling sorry for myself and I really don't have it that bad!
3 days but lots of long calls that the kids cant interupt - my home visits (social worker) have become calls and Skype too- really hard to do effectively without seeing people in person. I can't concentrate to write reports and kids needs constant support with IT and the mountains of home learning they have been set I am trying to get done.

I hate it but thank you for this post, I've been selfishly wallowing.

About 80% of my team and almost all my clients. Mine are older but I’m a single parent so no one else to take on any of the burden - not that I am complaining as it’s a hundred times easier with teens than smaller ones. But almost all internal video calls and most external ones are conducted with at least one child in the screen either joining in or asking for something. Everyone is just getting on with it - what other option do we have? It is very tough and I’m trying to help the team work around it as far as possible.

I am. I've got a 2.9 Y/O and working full time as a project manager. DH also working from home full time, he is quite senior and leading his health organisations Covid-19 response.

Oh and I am pregnant suffering from early throes of HG. It is hell on earth. I am knackered ALL the time.

Yes with an 11 and 14 year old who both need the one laptop we own for their school work. Can't get much done at all. Explained the situation and asked work to lend me a laptop today and they agreed thankfully.

Full time manager. With a 3 year old. Wfh. Pray for me!!!!!!

Both DH and I are keyworkers. Majority of my work can be done from home, his can't at all. I have to therefore fit my work around caring for our children (including a preschooler). It's draining and due to the nature of my work I can't have them interrupting as it compromises my thinking on the work matter and my professional boundaries which are essential in my role (have to keep home life strictly away from work interactions).

I've revised my attitude towards home learning and instead of a full on school day we do focused sessions of basic maths and English with reading and projects around it then lots of play. If they're happy, positive and haven't spent the whole day watching YouTube then I've done well in my book

DH and I are both working from home with our two kids. They're 10 and 13 so fairly self sufficient but still need quite a bit of input. My workload has increased dramatically because of COVID-19 with constant requests for analysis from senior folk so I'm struggling.

Can’t believe some of the smugness and competitiveness in this thread, particularly given how tough life is at the moment. You realise some people don’t have the luxury of flexible work, right? Or empathetic employers? Or partners? Or grandparents? Or NT kids? Or kids who sleep at night? Is it too much of a stretch to imagine other people’s lives could be made of a whole different set of variables to yours? Get out of your shoeboxes and have a little heart for those who are doing it tougher than you.

Have you posted on the wrong thread calmama?

Well, yeah of course we have no childcare! Not key workers - even if one of us was, we still would keep DC (4 and 2) out of nursery. Both work, we are splitting the days up so it's 50:50 childcare/work. Luckily my work isn't being too demanding...yet. I'm usually 4 days a week so letting DH have a bit more working time if he needs it. Apart from being exhausted, it's going ok so far...

I was wondering the same fafoutis!! :)

I don’t see any smugness or competitiveness here. Just a lot of people acknowledging this is really hard and making the best of a bad situation, and acknowledging the things they can be grateful for. It’s helpful to know lots of people are in the same situation and it’s also quite possible to be frustrated and anxious about one’s own situation while also realising others have it much worse.

Me. Doing admin with two tweens in the house.
I get some questions, snack requests and have to break up the odd fight 🤷‍♀️.

3 kids 11-15 - me and dh both key workers and both able to work from home. I was ill so have been off for a couple of weeks now able to work from home. So today has been tricky as DD 11 has got used to being able to chat to me while doing her school work. Now I am trying to work and it is going to be lonely for her. Her teenage siblings are in their rooms on their computers so she doesn't have as much social interaction as she needs. It is a difficult balance. But I am also vulnerable as I have bronchiactsis (damage to lungs) so need to be more careful about possible infection so we aren't going to send the kids to school. at least for the Easter break the kids can chill together but it is far from ideal!

Me! DP is a key worker but not NHS, he works 12 hour shifts so when he’s at work, it’s just me and DC. No chance of childcare because I can wfh. I get up at 4:30, laptop lives near my bed now, I don’t even need to get up to gleefully start work at this ungodly hour. Break is at 8/8:30ish, breakfast, shower and some form of physical activity. Then conference calls start. DC will normally get on with school work then. Then lunch. Then more conference calls for me, school work or reading/drawing for the DC. Then we play in the garden or go for a walk or just do whatever we fancy. After tea it’s just telly/nintendo/games. I often have to work after DC’s bedtime. I’m exhausted but it won’t be forever and I realise how lucky I am with being able to wfh.

Yes it's a fucking nightmare. Working PT, part of time on covid-response work and rest of time on dealing with covid fall out, DH working full time. Luckily used to working from home so we are well set up with equipment, home office etc. However home-schooling 2 primary age kids of very different ages is basically a second full time job.

We are sharing responsibility for home-schooling and supervising. Some seem to think home schooling is watching the DC as they watch films all day, but the reality is work is sent home, we are actually giving them lessons, they need to complete work, and honestly, if left to themselves they'd kill each other anyway.

Age of child is very important here. If DS was even a year younger I suspect I'd have had to stop work altogether.

Thankfully my employer is being amazing, and so is DH's. We are working entirely flexible hours. Annual expectations have been adjusted. We've been expressly told that we are not expected to have same outputs as usually expected, and encouraged to take breaks. We are both fully paid as long as we manage to get a little work done and I believe those unable to do anything at all and in difficult circumstances are also being fully paid. The goodwill towards our organisation is through the roof as a result.

Yep, both keyworkers, but apparently can do our job from home. Its horrendous. Really stressful. I hate having the 'adult' conversations i do with my service users in my own house.

I have a 2.5 year old and I am a lone parent. It's pretty impossible and she's even getting fed up now. She's started hitting and kicking because she's so fed up but I have a house to pay for I don't know what I would do if I couldn't work. It's awful and my MH is fucked.

Yes. Strictly speaking I'm a keyworker so could send kids to school, but my work has pretty much shut down and not a huge amount to do. Just replying to emails and I have the office calls through to my mobile. Still bloody difficult keeping my 4 year old entertained.

Two of us WFH and we have a nearly 3 year old, I'm doing 95% of the childcare while we both work, I'm downstairs on the dining room table. We have a very content DD who is happy playing by herself for a long time, i stop regularly though to be with her. It's a juggle but you just get it done. Way more screen time than usual though!

We were told if key workers can keep their children at home, and still manage to do at least part of their job, then it helps keep the key workers working too. Our local school is full of hospital doctor's kids who are probably teeming with virus. If our DC were at school they'd either get ill themselves (and need looking after), or bring the virus home and infect us, in which case we're knocked out too.

It's awful and definitely not sustainable. I have two DC , 4 and 5, yet having to work 09:00 until 4:30pm each day and having to document everything that's done.

It's heartbreaking hearing my daughter say to me 'mummy can you play with me' repeatedly throughout the day. It's heartbreaking seeing her class teachers post 'learners of the day's for those children who have worked really hard when I can't spend the time with her doing all the tasks.

I'm exhausted and on my own too. I can manage this for a short while but I'm seriously considering what my options are.

I'm a keyworker also but can do 90% of the role from home. This is also hard as I'm used to working in the community and the types of calls I'm currently taking should not be overhead bu small children (think domestic abuse, social issues etc)

Anyway, you can only do so much. Tomorrow is a new day, time to reassess and not give ourselves a nervous breakdown

Yes me! With toddlers!