I’m a single parent, one DD who is 8 years old, no contact with father.
I’ve been a stay at home parent for the last 8 years to solely focus on DD’s needs but now I’m nearly 30 years old, have never had a career of any sort and it’s honestly making me depressed staying at home and parenting all of the time, I’m itching to get into a workplace.
I’m absolutely determined to do children’s nursing and no I won’t consider anything else more family friend - I have made so many sacrifices in every area of my life (not just parenting) and this is the one and only thing I actually want and after the all the shitty cards that life has dealt me the last 10-12 years, I think I deserve to at least have the career that I want.
DD attends an SEN school so goes on the school bus so needs to be collected from home, I do have a lot of family nearby but I would prefer paid reliable childcare. I don’t have space for someone to live in with us, and I can’t move house either.
The shifts are likely to be a mixture of early mornings, lates and overnights.
What practical childcare options do I have? Because obviously if I was working an early shift I might only need someone to get her ready for school and then get her off the school bus which would only be a couple of hours work, but then with the late or night shifts it could be anywhere from 5-12 hours of work for the childcare provider.
Has anyone got any suggestions? I also have a dog who has only ever known me to be at home and does struggle to be left alone for long periods of time, so any practical suggestions for the dog would be great too!
edited to add that placements are only for about 20 weeks of the year split into 2-3 placements so it’s not a year round thing either.