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?

But he should not be doing childcare and working at the same time. Nobody should. And it is not allowed in most companies.

An odd hour and there is ok but i have to say i agree with this. Its not great for kids to be ignored/parked in front of tv the time while mum or dad work.

Nope, I think age 6 is the very youngest kids can manage without quite a lot of attention, more like 7 or 8 for most. My youngest was 8 when COVID hit and was only about a year into not needed a lot of attention and help when at home.

Had to manage it in lockdown, and that was all day every day not an hour a week.

To be fair, it was pretty terrible…

I work full time with part time childcare - flexible job (thankfully). They get home from nursery at 2 - DD1 watches TV for an hour while DD2 naps and I do an hour of work, the last 2 hours of my working day is done once they’re asleep, so the only work I do when I’m with them is that hour (so the same as OPs DH but everyday not just once a week). It’s one of my most productive hours because I blitz through knowing I’m on a time limit (no calls though at that time). To date none of my employers, colleagues or clients have ever complained and my work is always done on time and to a high standard. There are many different circumstances out there - OPs DH could work for an hour (depending on his work) once a week without causing any damage to the 3 year old or getting sacked.

After a day at nursery, mine would have happily sat for an hour watching tv.

This is the thing. If you have to manage then it’s one thing isn’t it, you do what you do. As it is I’m finding it’s massively adding to my stress levels, and I don’t think it’s worth it!

I think it must be very child dependent - mine will happily either watch tv for an hour after nursery or can spend hours playing with her dolls, feeding them, giving them a tea party etc without even noticing I’m there. 7 seems very old IMO to be able to play somewhat independently for a short period of time

depends on your DH job and the 3 year old. Can your DH have a quiet hour and make the time up later? For example I could knock off at 3pm on most Fridays but would likely spend an hour catching up on Sunday evening before Monday.

My 3 year old would probably do an hour of peppa pig with snacks but I wouldn’t be able to do any calls, due to potentially needing to run him to the loo or clearing up spills etc, wiping mucky hands. You just can’t predict it. And I would have to stay in same room.

It's cloud cuckoo land.

What kind of job does DH do? I can watch DD whilst WFH because my job is quite flexible and low stress. DH had a job a while ago that involved being on the phone 9-5 Mon-Fri with 2 set 15 min breaks and 1 30 min break per day. There's no way he could have had DD at home.

If your DH works from home why the F isn’t he doing some of those jobs or at least clearing up breakfast things on his lunch break?! The mind boggles…..

DS1 would not have watched tv for an hour, nor would DD, not at 3. DS2 would have happily napped for an hour. DS1 and DD might have settled with some snacks and a drink and some paper and crayons but DH would have had to be in the room watching them and talking to them
Can he not start work an hour earlier, work through his lunch/part of it and finish at 3 on a Friday?

Mine is 4 and he would have sat and watched to for an hour at that age without doing anything silly.

Can you DH be in the same room as DS, are you talking about one singular hour?

If yes, DH can be in same room, DS van watch movie and have popcorn.

Or have I missed something?

My 3 year old would probably fairly happily sit and watch tv for an hour if he got the chance.

My very recently turned 4 year old would happily sit and watch TV for as long as I would allow from being around 2.

I will not be able to say the same for his younger sister.

My ds turned five over the summer and had only the last few weeks of last term had I been able to pick him up from school, settle him with a snack and tv and then do an hour of work. No way would it have worked before that.

As long as your husband has your son in eye and ear shot, I don't see a problem. It's only one a week.

Surprised at these kids who would nap … wouldn’t that make an utterly hellish bedtime if they fell asleep at 3? DS dropped the nap at around two and nine months, he hasn’t habitually slept in the day for over a year now.

Has he not learned that a silent child in another room is a baaad thing yet?

I mean, I got through many an hour of working from home and having meetings during lockdown with my then 2 year old shoved in front of the tv 8 hours a day. It’s not the most productive way to do it, but as long as he’s not having meetings and won’t get in trouble, then I think it would be possible, yes, just not ideal.

To be fair DS doesn’t do anything terrible although he does seem to have torn some wallpaper a bit, it was coming loose anyway but I think he has pulled it. It’s just the mess, and cooking, and tidying …

Sounds less a DS at home thing and more a DH generally not pulling his weight. If he’s WFH can he not do a quick tidy up on his lunch break, stick a load of washing on while he makes a coffee, shove some stuff in a slow cooker when he would otherwise be commuting?! I appreciate you say it’s a cause of stress for you but sounds like your focusing your stress on that one hour causing issues when actually it’s the remaining hours in DH’s day that are the problem!

OMG we homeschooled a 5 year old and had a 3 year old in the house whilst we both worked. Did everyone forget COVID?

It would be absolutely fine.

I'd set up an activity or open ended play like Duplo and let them play for half an hour.

All 4 of mine would or just played in the playroom , sorry I meant tipped everything out in the playroom.
They were all quite good at entertaining themselves.