Seriously, what is wrong with everyone today?!

[WhatFreshHellisThese]

1. Childminder announced they now finish at 5pm -was 530pm. They are "going to send me a new contract to sign". Hmm yeah but l am probably not signing it as l have a real job and 530pm is already waaaay to early. Time to find another childminder most likely
2. Ex announces his girlfriend has moved into my road (for context the plan was for them to live together). Particularly odd as we live in a city with thousands of other roads and no shared children
3. Drain man cancelled yet again so house still hums

Hmm yeah but l am probably not signing it as l have a real job and 530pm is already waaaay to early

You lost me straight away with this.
You can try and backtrack all you want in subsequent posts, but your meaning is clear. Childminding is not a “real” job, and jobs that finish earlier than 5:30pm are not “real” jobs.

Childminding is a real enough job for you to require one though isn’t it?
Positions such as Drs, Judges, Cleaners, Retail workers, Office workers, Factory workers, Engineers, Barristers, Council staff, Posties, Bin men etc etc, ALL have staff that finish at all hours of the day-are these not “real” jobs?

Thanks for some understanding. I can't just leave work on a whim a number of days a week. 5pm is so early! In the past l have had jobs that finish at 6pm so l wouldn't be able to do pick up until 645 or 700pm.

Ex is an idiot (that's why l ended it. Neighbour girlfriend will work that out, maybe she has -they were meant to be moving in together but it is just her.

I got a recommendation from a neighbour and the guy reckons he can do tomorrow PM so fingers crossed

5pm is ridiculous for a childminder, she won't have much business going forward.

Disagree. Lots of people are wfh these days and able to go pick up a child and come back and finish up work for the day with agreement from their bosses

I don't know many people who can finish work AND get to a childminder by 5pm. Maybe "real job" wasn't the right words but "average full time job"

But l am guessing you work up until 430pm? I started my job pre-kids with a 5pm finish, great no issues. I now have children need to be at childminders for 5pm so cannot time travel. I currently finish at 430pm to get there and now will have to finish at 400pm. Like l said l unlikely my colleagues or clients will be thrilled, flexible working is not meant to be impact on the needs of the business. I also can't really afford to work less hours -30 minutes a day adds up and l only get a 30 minute break so can't even cut that

I assume the OP's point about "real job" is more that the childminder has assumed that none of her customers have any problem with picking their child up half an hour earlier.

Would have been much better for her to send out a message before Christmas saying she was intending to do this so she could find out who would have a problem with it, rather than framing it as a unilateral "I am changing the contract"

@WhimsicalGubbins76 you must be joking about judges and barristers 🤣

It's a job that essentially supplies childcare whilst parents work, finishing at 5pm may be her choice but it is not much use to many parents.
I was a childminder and i finished at the time my latest parent could pick up by.
Most parents want fewer but longer days.
I did 3 longer days.

Hopefully the next childminder is closer to come, an hour to get to the childminder is a long time anyway. What time does childminder open?

Childminding is not only a ‘real’ job but also a career and a business. The amount of work put into running a childminding business is phenomenal and far more goes on behind the scenes than you will ever realise!

Many childminders close at 5 and they’re full with waiting lists. Some childminders don’t open 5 days a week, again, they are full with waiting lists.

A huge percentage of the population don’t have 9 till 5 professions. I’ve had lots of jobs and only one of them has been 9 till 5.

Zero issue with shift work or variable -done lots of it myself. But you can't just float in and out of work with my job or any of the jobs you listed. Imagine Judge Brown has a case in court 3 but no one can find her, turns out she need to go to pick up and has left so the case now needs to be re-scheduled. Not great for the judicial process or victim

My meaning is l have a real job then l have a commitment to. I can't chop and change on a whim. I have had previous jobs where colleagues have flaked a lot due to "childcare issues" thereby pushing the burden onto me and l am reluctant to do that. It is unfair and unprofessional

A 'real job' wow. I wouldn't be handing you another contract to sign, I'd happily be getting rid!

I agree that 5pm seems very early for a child minder to finish, but your 'real job' reasoning makes no sense at all
what sort of job DOESN'T have "responsibility to employer and co-workers"? Surely that's standard for pretty much ANY job, unless you work for yourself? and even that doesn't make someone who owns their own business or whatever a "pretend" job.

your implication is that any job with non standard hours isn't "real" and therefore not important or valuable - which essentially disqualifies pretty much anyone working in retail, hospitality, customer service, emergency services, healthcare, travel industry, anywhere with flexible working...so approximately 80% of the population?

Childminder is close to home but not to work place. Other alternatives are equally close to home. No point in getting childminder near work for the odd day l work from home and if friends / family ever do pick up (very rare)

I stopped reading here

Hmm yeah but l am probably not signing it as l have a real job and 530pm

Vile thing to say, absolutely abhorrent.

Great. But I still believe she isn't doing herself any favours. Just because you work from home doesn't mean you get the green light to finish early because of poor availability from a childminder.

I wfh with that flexibility, and I'm the only one out of my family and friends with that level of flexibility.

That's three things that totally suck, surely that will be it for a while.

So they all work 930 or 1000 to 400 or 430? Even if they WFH then they would be late every day with a 9am start. She can obviously offers what she wants but l am guessing she hasn't moved the goal posts

Err this. A lot of my work is person facing either in person or via Teams, so cannot have children roaming around

3 longer days would work perfectly for me.

Makes sense. Doesn’t make your ‘real job’ comments any less shitty though. Having a job an hour away from childcare is bound to make things more difficult, and that childminder is clearly not the one for you. Doesn’t mean others with a better balance don’t have ‘real jobs’ though.

It obviously wasn't meant as a comparison to a childminder not being a real job. It was meant as in "I have a job therefore can't do these silly times". I think some people have misread thinking OP was slating childminders, which she clearly isn't.

I totally get why @WhatFreshHellisThese is pissed off, I have worked full time since mine were babies and finding childcare that opened early enough and finished late enough was a nightmare! I spent years chasing my tail trying to be in two places at once, not to mention paying an absolute fortune for the pleasure. Sometimes we do just need to rant (and we might not always say the right thing!).
Hopefully things will get sorted for OP soon.

You are right on all 3 counts.