To think working from home and looking after//home schooling kids is unsustainable until sept!

[heh1]

Had enough. Dh and I both in pressured busy jobs. Dc in non returning year group

We are surviving by sticking them in front of screens all day when we are on con calls

Don't want to ask for furlough as then my colleagues without dcs or who have much older dcs will get my work ( client focussed sector) and I might be made redundant

Feel pretty rubbish..

House is a shit tip..
Dcs craving attention and largely ignored
Work carrying on like business as usual

Can't manage this until Sept

GPs too far away and in vulnerable category so can't help

To all those complaining about not feeling safe to end lockdown and go back to work (including teaching unions, as well as others), I say “what about if we drop your income to 40% - are you still happier to stay at home, then?”

I say “what about if we drop your income to 40% - are you still happier to stay at home, then?”

Absolutely

I wish we could employ the creative thinking that generated the nightingales to help our children get an education. Repurposing leisure centres/ public buildings, really getting technology working for video calls and using private tutors to plug gaps etc. I'm a single parent WFH and even with decent tech and reasonable schools it's absolutely impossible to get a decent amount done.

My dd has got work as a homeschool help/nanny for a family in just your situation. It's completely legal to hire a nanny and social distancing doesn't apply we checked. She's university aged but an a level student would work similarly. Just an idea. She's getting £10 an hour, 5 hours a day which is cheaper for the family than 3 kids in childcare through the summer

My wifi has gone down this morning so cant log in to work, I was in briefly for 2 hours this morning before it went off. So now will have to work late to catch up whenever the wifi decides to come back on

It is a financial issue for us. We could maybe get DD's usual teenage babysitter to take her out for an hour a day or so for picnic etc. Although an hour isn't really going to cut it in terms of work, it might share the burden a bit I guess.
I would probably hire someone to work in the home if we could afford to and were happy with the infection risk. It's different having someone coming and going from the house than DD going to school as I think she and I have already had Covid (I'm still having symptoms 3 months on).
So I don't think DD could transmit it back to DH as she should be immune, whereas having someone coming in and out of the house is not ideal.

We can't hire anyone at £10ph either. I make a loss on every week I work during school holidays and gave them in holiday club - manageable and long term worth it for just a few weeks a year

Not affordable for 6 months.

I don't think people should have to hire people or pay for education. But I think it's fair to flag those options to people who are struggling and it might help. But my sympathy goes out to everyone.

There are some volunteer students offering free online tuititin to people who can't afford it. Think if you Google "coronavirus tutors" you will find it.

But really there needs to be a huge governmental push to get online classrooms happening or get children back into school.

Ours have both gone back to the childminder full time - thankfully she opened up and was willing to have our 3 & 6 DDs full time. Despite her being in YR1 no school yet ...

It’s impossible to be productive with them here

I don’t know what we would have done if that wasn’t an option, I personally was really struggling

I also note that this is never raised at the briefings. Even if they were to acknowledge it, that would help.

I also think that there needs to be some employment protection for those of us trying our best to work and look after kids and home school. I know it's our choice to have children but we are being massively disadvantaged here...

Posted on another thread.
Two parents working full time in sectors impacted by COVID. Never been so busy.
Hundreds of jobs relying on us getting stuff right.
Can't be furloughed
Can't take leave or unpaid leave
Had COVID after lockdown
Grandparents shielding
Children not in years going back
School being crap- raised with head, exec head and chair.
Two children 7 and 9. The 9 year old started to show real upset and mental distress. 7 year old did something dangerous while I was on a call.
We were exhausted and a breaking point.
I have hired a nanny two mornings a week.
It's a cost but found someone from one of kids clubs looking for work.
It's made big difference already although fully accept that this is not possible for all.
Solidarity to all

I do wonder if we need some lawyers to start some kind of class action to force the state to educate children properly again (and perhaps not to pay teachers who refuse (unreasonably) to go into schools). There is a legal duty to educate children (but not a legal duty to provide childcare for people which is why you could not probably sue over the childcare bit of schooling particularly now nurseries are allowed to be fully open (I think they are since 1 June which hopefully deals with under 4s of parents where both work full time).

I agree with cocktail that hiring someone can be worth it just for sanity and even if only for a few hours a day. My children are much older now but I certainly remember working fro home since 1994 and I could not do that without also having childcare in the home.

One thing that helped was I would lock my office door and hard ever leave it so the little twins could not see me during the day in another room or outside with their day nanny. As soon as they saw me or their father they wanted to be with the parent. We even put a very useful bolt across the top of the main room they were in so they couldn't escape to parents elsewhere in the house.

Ps - agree that it is ridiculous that I have to pay someone - but in absence of an actual plan - I have no idea what I'm supposed to do

I agree @Xenia something needs to be done - I know that some schools are doing great etc but that is not my experience but I see other industries adapting and making things work and the state education sector just isn't - so frustrating. Me and DH both in demanding jobs, no furlough - and my company announced last Friday they would be cutting pay by 20% in a bid to avoid job losses for an initial 3 month period but there will certainly not be any reduction in work!

I am part time and just about holding this shit show together. We are both key workers but WFH. Guidance says our kids should be encouraged to go to school, school says not if we are WFH. And I think why should we be allowed a place when we are no different to others WFH in non key work.

@wizzbangfizz - same here - income has been down 30%

Working mums (well parents, but we know most of the home schooling and childcare is falling to the women) will really suffer from this.

They will probably be first out the door in August when redundancies kick in

And they'll be back of the line for new jobs for most employers

And those who were furloughed probably resented by their colleagues

It sucks.

Lone parent here with three DCs in a flat with no garden. My work is relentlessly busy. The only others in my team with primary aged DCs have a stay at home partner not working. Or kids at private schools which have gone back (where I live, outside UK, many of these went back early May) and partners who work part time. They are loving the ‘slower pace’. Baking and gardening, crafting and exercising.

Because of my long work hours, I am neglecting my DCs. It’s weeks since they did any school work at all and they spend days and nights on their screens.

I feel like I’m burning out.

@Xenia I keep mulling over the possibility of a class action. Even if it succeeded it getting the lack of education discussed constructively it would be progress.

It’s has to be sustainable because it’s just the way it is. Moaning about it and saying it can’t be done makes no difference at all, tough though it is for everyone. I get up at 5am to get stuff done before the kids wake, DW is working til 8/9/10 each night to be able to do other stuff at home or with kids in the day for a couple of hours. It’s awful but it isn’t going to change overnight.

I know what you mean op, it’s not going to be any better come August/September I fear, ours don’t go back until then(Scotland) and we are being told to expect a mix of school and ‘blended learning’ so so many days at school rest at home, different days, different weeks etc.

No idea how we will manage, I work part time in community nursing, DH has a specialised job and works away a lot, can’t be done from home and can’t condense his hours as he is the only one at the company who does it. My off duties are done months in advance at the minute due to covid. 3 DC all differing age groups etc. We have a childminder for the holidays which we budget for but she has 2 kids if her own to homeschool not to mention the cost. Really don’t know how we will Manage. Even if we could use GP help both sets work full time

It’s has to be sustainable because it’s just the way it is.

Until you actually burn out and need months to recover.

I work in an industry where this is common. I’ve seen what it does to people. The problems we are storing up right now are terrible. A lot of families are suffering and will continue to.

I have also been thinking about a class action. All I hear day in, day out is how concerned people are about sending kids back to school because of the risk.
For some groups, of course but for us (esp because we suspect we have had it), only mental risks to us and children. Not to mention their rights which have been tossed aside.

The thing that it took a while to process - was I really like my job - I worked hard to get here and I want it to succeed despite the pandemic. I like my children - I worked hard at a work life balance that made me be an excellent parent when I was around. When the pandemic hit, I failed at both

I'm weeping along with the rest of you on here. Our situation - 2 parents, both keyworkers currently mostly working from home, 1 primary age child going to school under keyworker status. Also two pre-school children. Normally we use two different childcare providers for them, but neither are currently offering the full hours we need, and both say that they won't accept children using any other childcare facilities. We've had to choose, and consequently the kids are mostly home when we're working. DH due physically back full time from next week (teacher) so it'll be just me with two small children. The hours they're in childcare gives me one half day (out of three full days of work) where I'll actually be able to work in peace. DH will be home in time to give me the last hour of the day to work. At the moment my employers are being OK, but a phased return for us is due to start soon. I'm just hoping that won't start until DH has finished for the summer holidays.

I'm dreading things not being normal in September. I have a reception starter in September, so had already booked a fortnight's leave to cover the settling in period, but once that's over, if things aren't normal, I don't know what my options will be. Career break or resign I guess. My job is quite specialist, I'd never get another one. But DH earns more and has already looked into part-time (request refused) so it'll be down to me.

I completely agree that this is falling to the women. DH is out at work all day and I WFH and Homeschool full time.

Fortunately, my DC are very good and I'd be happy to keep them home until Christmas if that's what it needs, but I do need school to do some of the heavy lifting. Just bunging a few worksheets our way to get on with was fine when it was a temporary situation, but now it's looking more and more long term, something else needs to be done.

We're fortunate to live in an area where most people are fairly privileged. Not crazy wealthy, but nice houses, holidays and technology etc so would mostly have access to anything needed to learn online. If school could sort out some sort of online 'live' learning it would be immensely helpful. DS does online Cubs and just to see and speak to other people for an hour or so really helps him. With the plethora of online platforms, even if school could just take them for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon that would be amazing.

Teaching is a full time job, my job is a full time job, 2 x full time jobs into one person just does not go!

I do fully appreciate that we're very lucky and online learning just isn't possible in some households.