AIBU working pattern

[TotallySuper]

So returning to work in 2022 after mat leave. I need to work 25 hours a week to fit our budget, I'd love to do 21 hours but it makes a difference by several hundred pounds a month which I can't afford.

My options are do 5 hours per days for 5 days a week - 9.30am-2.30pm to enable school runs for my older daughter

Or 3 full days of 9-5pm (7 working hours as we get a 1 hour lunch break) plus a 4 hour day on a separate day to make the total 25. DD would be in after school club on those 3 days but thats ok and affordable etc. I could still do school drop offs before work.

My thoughts are do 3 full days + 4 hours as this will be easier in the school holidays to manage.

My DH thinks 5 hours per day spread over 5 days per week

So those experienced and juggling 2 (or more!) Kids and working around school etc what would be best??

YABU - 5 DAYS PER WEEK FOR 5 HOURS
YANBU - 3 FULL DAYS PLUS 4 HOURS

Thank you

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS.

In the holidays you will need to pay for five full days of holiday camp, rather than three days.

The extra cost of this is a lot

@Seasonschange

why doesn’t your husband do 4 days and you do 4 days ?

Because he works for a small family company in a niche industry and can't change his hours. I also actively want to be at home more and he has got the potential to earn more in overtime and commission where as I dont have that. We did talk about it as an option but it doesn't make sense overall.

I voted 3 days plus an extra 4.

I did 22 hours over 4 days after mat leave no 2.
I had originally requested 22 hours over 5 days as was not sure if I'd get a place in after school care for my eldest.

Pros -
I got a lunch break on the days I worked - time for me to catch up with friends, go for a run, wander around the shops, read a book in peace and quiet...
A day for just me and dc2
One day covered in school holidays every week
A day when it didn't matter if dc2 not 100%, didn't have to go to nursery loaded with calpol and pray the phone wouldn't ring mid morning when it wore off!
I had Weds off so it broke up the week nicely.
DC1 got used to after school club and made friends across different year groups
Could do some housework on my day off.

Cons
Because I was in the office 4 days / week, my workload didn't really decrease.

I'd do 3 x 8hrs 20 mins get it all done over 3 days
This gives 2 free days for other stuff and will be easier to cover in the holidays
Make one of your days a Monday to cover bank hols 😀
I do 32 hrs (4x8hrs) but I'm hoping to reduce to 3 days so 24 hrs from January I can't wait

@Dishwashersaurous

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS.

In the holidays you will need to pay for five full days of holiday camp, rather than three days.

The extra cost of this is a lot

Not where I live you don't.

But if she's working five days then she Will need five days of holiday provision rather than the three days she's working. Average cost of holiday childcare is fifty pounds a day.

Why wouldn't she need five days if she is working five days

Holiday clubs vary a lot by area. In our area there’s a lot of 9-3 type stuff at local dance school, gymnastics etc - £70 a week. You can drop 8.30-3.30 but it’s no use if you need a full day. Then you are limited for 8-6 choices and probably paying £30 a day or more. Makes a big difference.

I do 30hrs over 4 days and I love my Monday off, but I only have 1 DD.
When she starts school I’m going to have to work 5 days as there’s no wrap around care here (rural, tiny school with no clubs and only 1 oversubscribed until about 2040 childminder). I know I’m going to really miss it.

I do think in my job I’m more productive over full days. But I would like to be able to go to all the school things that she will inevitably have too.

Five short days. I value the extra time in the afternoon and evening more than a day off.

@Dixiechickonhols

Holiday clubs vary a lot by area. In our area there’s a lot of 9-3 type stuff at local dance school, gymnastics etc - £70 a week. You can drop 8.30-3.30 but it’s no use if you need a full day. Then you are limited for 8-6 choices and probably paying £30 a day or more. Makes a big difference.

I'm not too concerned about this aspect as I could still collect her at 3pm (working from home) and carry on working whilst she's here for another couple of hours or so, or her grandparents could cover a couple of hours or so too.

@Dixiechickonhols

Holiday clubs vary a lot by area. In our area there’s a lot of 9-3 type stuff at local dance school, gymnastics etc - £70 a week. You can drop 8.30-3.30 but it’s no use if you need a full day. Then you are limited for 8-6 choices and probably paying £30 a day or more. Makes a big difference.

I'm so sorry I accidentally just reported this post instead of quoting initially! MNHQ please ignore.

Who will be looking after the baby?

@Stickyblue1987

Who will be looking after the baby?

Nursery and grandparents

@Stickyblue1987

Who will be looking after the baby?

When I'm working I mean, the day or 2 off that I'll have in the week I'll have the baby or grandparents will have if I need a spa day or something (lighthearted as this will probably be once a year or something!!)

Ugh so jealous OP I want this to be me!

I have been looking at dropping a day too, so doing 30 hours instead of 37 but the pay cut from dropping that one day is ridiculous and I can't really afford it :(

Plus I want to be moving soon so need the higher salary for mortgage application purposes.

Deffo give yourself one day off a week.

I work 3 days spread over 5, so effectively school hours, but slightly less than your 25, as I do 22.5, which means I have an hour between finishing work and schools coming out to do things.

That has always worked for me. But I work from home, so if eg I need to go to the dentist or something, I just go and if your child is a bit older they can entertain themselves later if you need to catch up on something.

We're all different though and I only had one child. With a baby and a school aged child it might be better to work full days.

@Tee20x

Ugh so jealous OP I want this to be me!

I have been looking at dropping a day too, so doing 30 hours instead of 37 but the pay cut from dropping that one day is ridiculous and I can't really afford it :(

Plus I want to be moving soon so need the higher salary for mortgage application purposes.

Deffo give yourself one day off a week.

Funnily enough by chance we've just fixed in our mortgage for 5 years so that if I drop my days then increase them up again when both kids are at school potentially then I'll be OK for the next mortgage review should we choose to move etc. Hang on in there til you get it sorted then consider dropping a day maybe? I looked at the difference between 3 normal days (21 hours) and 25 hours for me is unaffordable for us so I know exactly what you mean.

How long would it take you to get to her school? A 2:30pm finish sounds tight.

I work 20 hours over 2.5 days a week. My half day I finish at 1:30pm which is good as I have time for a proper lunch break before the school run. I imagine on 5 short days you’d feel constantly on the go.

@MinnieMountain

How long would it take you to get to her school? A 2:30pm finish sounds tight.

I work 20 hours over 2.5 days a week. My half day I finish at 1:30pm which is good as I have time for a proper lunch break before the school run. I imagine on 5 short days you’d feel constantly on the go.

School ends 3.15pm and school is a 5 minute walk from home (I work from home)

@TeeNoG

I'd choose 5 shorter days. I've just changed to do longer days and regret it - doing shorter days allowed time for 'life admin' each day too - staying on top of stuff in the house and being able to nip to the shop before pick up etc - and maybe a walk by myself for an hour or so. I'm finding the longer days mean I have time for nothing but the essentials each day, leaving all the other crap for my day off.

I had the same dilemma and chose 5 shorter days for this reason.

@TotallySuper sounds like you've worked things out amazingly. Yes, I'm begrudgingly returning FT - I had a thread on here where I was trying to work out if I'd be able to compress my hours to drop a day but it was just way too much work unfortunately.

Just annoying as DD is so young I'd love to be able to spend one day a week with her.

[quote Tee20x]@TotallySuper sounds like you've worked things out amazingly. Yes, I'm begrudgingly returning FT - I had a thread on here where I was trying to work out if I'd be able to compress my hours to drop a day but it was just way too much work unfortunately.

Just annoying as DD is so young I'd love to be able to spend one day a week with her. [/quote]
With my last DD I did 4 days then quickly had to return to full time due to outgoings. I was so upset about it but had to make the practical choice. She was at nursery 4 days per week which for some reason I felt guilty about but she is absolutely thriving at school and the ones that are struggling did no/very little nursery or childminders etc and are very nervous etc so I had to give myself a small pat on the back that hopefully me having to put her into nursery that much set up her confidence. Before i went full time and she had to do extra nursery she was very low in confidence - I know this doesn't relate to every child etc but just talking about my experience. I think with school holidays doing full time will be too hard and I'll be so stressed so we've drastically cut back our outgoings and got rid of our financed cars etc (bought cheap but reliable older cars) and so I've made it work to fit with my new future reduced hours. It's hard but you can only do your best and work with what you have- be kind to yourself.

Have you costed up the difference in childcare between 3.5 days and 5 shorter days across both children? Personally I love now being able to pick dc up from school each day and they hated ASC anyway. But for a baby I'd rather nursery days were over 3 rather than 5.