To ask how you are managing childcare of pre-schoolers?!

[Oxmama]

I work 4 days a week & my workload has significantly increased since COVID-19 due to my sector and also covering workload of other furloughed employees. My husband is full time. We have a DS age 22 months. First 4 weeks we juggled taking childcare in turns, working naps times/evenings/weekends to make up the hours - my DH’s hours are billable so it was really obvious if he wasn’t doing them, and as I said, my hours have increased in practice. The house was a shit tip, dshad a LOT of screen time and we never spent any time all together. Last 3 weeks my dh has taken voluntary furlough and it has been glorious - he’s loved spending time with ds and I have had more time to work. He is now being called back to work, and we are in Scotland so likelihood is we won’t have nursery again until August!

How are you all managing with workloads and preschoolers? My ds has the attention span of a gnat and needs pretty much constant supervision. All my friends are either keyworkers with childcare, one parent long term furloughed or satm anyway, so I don’t know anyone else in our position. My work have made it clear that furlough is not an option for me. I just don’t know how we are going to get through the next 2.5 months without childcare?!? I am grateful that I only have 1 child to contend with at the moment, but finding it tricky with the age he is.

With great difficulty

My DH and I are working reduced hours and drinking more.

😂 drinking more has definitely been a feature!
Solidarity hugs to both of you!
Sadly reduced hours aren’t an option either. I just feel such dread at the prospect of months more of this to come.

Hey Duggee is putting in an absolute shift in our house. I'm going to petition for a spot in the new years honours list for that weird scoutmaster dog

Badly, we’re managing badly. A lot of falling out over who works and when. Our workloads have massively increased as a result of COVID. 3am shifts have been all too regular over the last two months.

I run my own business which has gone bananas this last 6 weeks so slightly different but I manage about 5 hrs per day. 2 hrs during nap and 3 hrs when she is in bed in the evening. Working the weekend to catch up when husband isn’t working. I’m knackered. My husband is on calls all day long so can’t do much and has to walk the dog so doesn’t get a lunch break.

Oh and tv when I try to get an extra hour hear or there. She’s easier when getting attention and getting outside so I try not to work and look after her.

Terribly. We've just had to both be really clear with our works. I have said I am not going to make up hours at all times that exist because I need down time too. That suddenly looking after our toddler is a full-time job on top of my existing job (3 days a week, DH full time). DH's work are far.clearer and more understanding than mine and he's able to reduce hours on the days I work. But ergh.

It’s nice to hear I’m not alone, but also not nice to hear at the same time! I find it so hard not to compare my situation to others who are having a great old time and I’m here feeling like a shit mum with one eye constantly on my laptop. There’s a lot in my life to feel grateful for but right now I feel like wallowing. Keep going everyone! 💪🏻💪🏻

Badly. That about sums it up.

Drinking more and more tv.

Im part time teaching from home, DH working FT from home. We have a 5 and 3 year old. I work about 3-4hours a night to blitz my work then field questions during the day and get little else done, whilst teaching my own two their bits and pieces. Husband pops and helps sometimes but it is mainly down to me - I also spend some of my time in the evening planning what they are going to be doing as we get a bit from school but I know I need to add more in, or plan the suggested activity.

I am slowly getting worn out but it is what it is. Husband is likely to be back in the office soon so it will just be me flying solo!

Badly here too with our 2 year old. Husband is still on probation at newish job so worried about being seen to be slacking. My work are being pretty understanding luckily. Our nursery closed otherwise she would have been going for everyone's sake!

Amazon Kindle, and more drink.

If there is work for your furloughed colleagues to do, they shouldn't be furloughed. So you shouldn't have extra work to do. That would be my priority, to make sure I wasn't doing more work than contracted to.

Or if you are doing their jobs, why can't they do yours instead and you be furloughed instead of them?

Not well and my preschooler is 4 and much easier than he would have been a year ago, yet alone two. We’re tag teaming and working late. We’re likely to merge households with DM shortly or we’ll have to send DSs to school/childcare (both key workers but wfh) and that seems riskier than adding one to our household.

We were splitting the day between us, I worked the morning, we both worked during nap time then DH worked the afternoon till bedtime then we both worked in the evening. Then DH was furloughed so now he's looking after DS and I'm working. We're in England and it looks like our nursery will open again in June.

We have reduced our working hours drastically. I'm using annual leave and for DH it's effectively unpaid leave as he's a self-employed contractor, so he invoices for the hours he works. This is not sustainable as we can't take the income hit indefinitely. We will send DS (3) back to nursery when it reopens on 1st June (hurrah!)

Friends of ours, who have 2 young children, both work full time in demanding jobs, and couldn't reduce their hours, have employed a nanny part-time. It seems to work well for them, so I would advise it (we would have done it ourselves if we hadn't been able to reduce our working hours).

Gin, Duggee, Bing and Waffle, and a 'treat' cupboard 2.5 year old DS can help himself to when I'm honestly too knackered to cut up a pear. I'm a key worker, but nursery are not willing to take him if I'm working from home which is fair enough. I'm trying to avoid taking holiday, but think I may need to take one day a week for the foreseeable just so I can have a break without worrying about catching up on hours.

He gets up at 6, it's impossible to work with him awake, and he'll throw himself off furniture to get my attention. So I entertain him all day, then work 7-12, sleep like shit, get up and start the process again. If I didn't get to go into the office properly one day a week I wouldn't be coping at all

I feel your pain! We're also in Scotland. We're doing it the only way we can and splitting opportunities to work with childcare and screentime has increased (thank god for hey duggee). Both of our works are understanding but tbh they need to be. This isn't anyone's fault and we cant do anything about the situation. My ds is 19 months and there isnt an option to just tell him to play quietly while we work! My DH is a keyworker space so we were offered a nursey space but didnt take it as he didnt have to go in to work physically. Kinda regretting that decision now. However is looking like DH will have to go back to work June 1st so will hopefully be utilising the space then which I think will be better for everyone. I constantly feel guilty that neither my work or ds have my 100% attention.
Oh and wine helps too!
FWIW I think nurseries will open before August. I think schools would be open before then too if it wasnt for the holidays. I cant see Sctoland staying in lockdown much longer than England. I think at the next review in 2.5 weeks (inthink that's when it will be but time has lost all meaning) they will announce something similar to what Boris announced on Sunday. Just my opinion though.

Have a 3 year old and 1 year old. DH and I take it in shifts 2hrs in the bedroom working and 2hrs doing what we can with the kids around. Work that between about 7.30am and 8pm.

TV literally on all day and more alcohol in the evenings. Feel absolutely shit for my 3 year old, he's missing out on so much. 1 year old doesn't really care. I just keep reminding myself that they won't remember this.

We've both reduced our hours and are spreading those reduced hours over 6 day weeks, doing long half days each alternating working and looking after our 17 month old. Trying to respond to some emails on my phone in between (which she hates). It's brutal! Other stuff definitely slipping.

My son just turned two and my partner and I are wfh. We just take turns and try and work out who is most busy to split the day. Today I started at 6am and once my son goes to bed (partner is working). I will start again.

To manage the stress and tiredness we try and take the odd day off but separately so the other can catch up and the other although doing childcare does get a break at nap time.

Also to destress when I am on childcare I pop my son in the buggy for a walk or on the bike for a cycle. Fresh air does us both good

Less sleep, and no time for snything but work, childcare/homeschooling (2 kids) and minimal sleep

Have 4 year old and a 1 year old. l am lucky that both mine and husband’s works have said just work what hours you can. Splitting the day between us but he has more calls than me so my work is being shunted a bit. Think will need to take some annual leave soon or even possibly drop a day a week. In Scotland too, don’t see nurseries opening soon and my parents who did some childcare for us pre-covid are both over 70 so probably won’t be in a position to help going forward.

I am really struggling in a senior job with partner also wfh and 3 kids from 1-9. Absolute nightmare.