To use childcare or not?

[Yawnyprawn]

I’m a part time key worker (telephone and email based work helping very vulnerable people). I have been told that from next week I can send my two year old to our usual nursery to enable me to work. For the last couple of weeks I have been muddling through, doing work during naps and whenever I have a spare moment. DH works full time from home, has not been furloughed and cannot do daytime childcare. All three of us are in good health and have no contact with anyone at high risk from covid 19.

So far l am scraping by, I am tired and in need of downtime but my team’s workload is really low at the moment so I am managing.

My question is, do I take up the childcare, increasing our contact with others, or continue as we are, with zero contact outside the home?

I’m worried that if I take the childcare I won’t have enough work to do so won’t feel that the increased risk of infection is worth it. Do I take it anyway and fill the extra time with volunteering to help others locally? Or stay home, keep muddling through and suck up the frustration at not being able to do more to help? What’s the most responsible thing to do?

YANBU = Use nursery
YABU = Continue as we are

I’m in a similar situation in that I’m a part time teacher. So, yes, technically a key worker BUT I haven’t as yet been asked to cover in school and I’m managing to keep up with emails from students and calls to parents around my DC (two years old). It’s a pain, and I’m knackered and bitter about my “terribly” important DH working full time from home (also a key worker!) with the door shut, but, there we go.

It’s not worth the risk, Whats another three months of tiredness on top of nearly three years!

Stay home.

Why can't your husband do at least some of the childcare?

Stay home

Well, millions of people can't do daytime childcare normally but we do now - because we have to! Your husband may have to suck it up.

I would stay home. Why put your dd at risk if you have the choice?

Stay home. Your husband sounds like a twat too

Could either of you juggle your hours to fill in the childcare gap? Start earlier, finish later, etc? Could your DH move his lunch break? Or take half days on the days you work?

I'd avoid nursery for as long as you can.

Is there a reason why your dh can't do childcare? Dh and I both work full-time. His work really requires him to be somewhere else - alone - during the day (he's self-employed, but needs to use a workshop because of specialised equipment, not safe for children to be there). I am working from home. We're both busy, though slightly less so than normal. Neither of us are key workers. We each have to give a little. He's done 2 days at home with dc this week while I worked from another room and worked the other 3. He'll have them on Saturday while I work. We both work evenings and early mornings here and there. Unless he's performing remote neurosurgery or giving live lectures 8 hours a day, he can probably manage as well as you can. So I would do the best to muddle through if you can.

Why can’t your husband do anything childcare wise?

Realistically both DH and I have FT jobs which mean we can’t do childcare. But we are because of these “unprecedented times”.

Thanks for your thoughts everybody, this has helped me to make a decision. DH has negotiated a bit of flexibility with his employers and we’re going to continue working from home (in shifts) and sharing the childcare.

DH works full time from home, has not been furloughed and cannot do daytime childcare

Why not? Needs must and all that. There are literally millions of people right now juggling a full workload and unexpected childcare.