To think a three year old can’t do this?

[shakemyheadatyou]

Ds finishes preschool at 3. I don’t get home until 4.

DH thinks ds can just watch tv and entertain himself (dh wfh Fridays) I think he’s too young, what do others think?

I think most three year old will be very tired after a full day at preschool and would sit quietly on the couch and watch TV or fall asleep.

How is DS getting home from preschool? If DH brining him can't he just make up the time after you get back and start working again at 4?

He nips out to get him from preschool and then comes home but that doesn’t take long.

Depends on the child as others have said but I really don't think wfh with a 3 year old is good.

No effing way, eyes on them all the time! X

So can't he just work a little longer as presumably he's taking time out to do the school run?

If DH is there to put the telly on and change the channel every so often and sit next to DD and provide her with snacks then yes that’s perfectly doable for an hour in our house. DH WFH all over the place with various children on him and chores to do (but he’s mainly just on the phone not typing or anything).

(I’ve said this before on MN and been told DH will imminently get the sack but it’s worked perfectly fine for years and everyone is always saying hi to everyone else’s kids on Teams 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Ds could have with a snack especially after nursery he was often very tired but more likely want to be cuddled

I know quite a few children who at that age would have happily watched tv for a few hours

Other definitely not really depends on the child

Clearly this is an awful idea. So what are your other options? Can DH take an extended lunch and make the time up somewhere else? Or can you change your working hours? Or do you have any childcare options? My DH often seems oblivious to lots of parenting things that I think are just obvious, but I don't think he'd ever suggest this!

Get him a paper round?!
It'll tire him out and earn him some pocket money
Joking obvs

Mine could once a week pretty easily.

Depends on the 3 year old:

Yes my ds could do that

My 3 year old would be absolutely fine and would relish an hour of tv after a week at nursery

My DD was 5 during the first covid lockdown and WFH with her around was SO hard, I don't think it's going to be possible with a 3 year old.
Won't his work let him take an hour out to look after DS for an hour and make the time up later, or start an hour earlier? That's what I would do

If he can be watching over the child with the tv on I don’t see an issue. Alone in a room… no!

Your DH is at home, and says your child can come home? And you're out until an hour later?
So long as your DH isn't completely inept, go for it. He will very quickly find out whether it's going to work.

Has anyone forgotten 2020, when hundreds of thousands of people with 3 year olds (and younger!) were expected to do whole days of work from home with them there.....

It obviously depends on the three year old. Mine will happily sit and watch Frozen back to back for as long as we'll let her.

Whether or not it's a good idea to rely on telly for childcare is different....

No way even at 5 years old my kids would have left me alone long enough to take proper work calls! They’d want snacks, drinks, get bored, want to play, see what I’m doing etc. If he’s planning on working in another room I think it’s pretty dangerous, kids can choke pretty quickly and silently or injure themselves if left to their own devices.

No we haven’t forgotten. Most of us are living with the fall out of all the behavioural issues now. Kids need attention. 3 year olds need attention every waking minute.

Leave the mess for your DH to clear up after his work

I haven't forgotten, no. It was fucking awful.

This would be my 3 year olds dream come true, especially if left with snacks. Would be fine in our house

What do you mean entertain themselves?

Sit and watch tv while dad sits in the same room (or even an adjoining room with open doors etc...) on the computer? absoloutly fine and really pretty normal.

Sit all alone in the house until you get back 30 minutes later? no, thats insane.

Ignoring young kids whilst WFH is the ultimate shitty parenting thing to do. Get some proper childcare, you only get one chance to raise a child.