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

Apparently she "didn't have enough children booked in" before Christmas and now it's "unforeseen circumstances". She's leaving it mysterious. I should probably ask for a better explanation but she never replies to any messages/never answers the phone. DD starts in a nursery next month and I'm counting the days tbh.

He had probably double-booked and found one job took too long. Pretty poor not to turn up, though. Builders' time, I think. My plumber has just left, saying he won't finish fixing new boiler till tomorrow. Cue 22nd very cold night!

so why not just SAY "I have a job" then.

OP CHOSE to insert the word "real" where, as you've pointed out, it was completely unnecessary, the point that she couldn't get there by 5 because her job hasn't finished by then, was already made without it.

She then kept on doubling down and defending it by making random comments like "I meant it was a job where I have obligations to my employer and co-workers" - so, again, literally ANY job, then?

The only possible implication of the word 'real' is that jobs where you potentially can finish earlier than 5pm, aren't 'real', which is just a stupid, and quite insulting, thing to say, so people are entitled to point that out.

@WhatFreshHellisThese my ex DH - I could write a book. Your ex is definitely trying to get a reaction 😂

@MiraculousLadybug the last week, while so far not had actual contact with any of the culprits, the idiotic parking I’ve seen has been like ‘wtf?’ Including two people last week, who couldn’t be arsed to drive the extra 40 yards to go round the top floor of the multi storey car park in the right (arrowed) direction, resulting in 2 near misses with people going the right way, while I was sat in my space having just parked. And then someone parked next to me, again there were 4-5 empty spaces together further along “arrghh”. Sorry about your door ☹️.

"The builders coming today between 9-3 but I can't be there, I have a real job."

"The car delivery people can only deliver before 4pm, I can't be there as I have a real job"

Etc

It's totally obvious what OP meant, op obviously just meant she works particular hours not that other jobs aren't real jobs..

Totes obvs.

Now I've gotta go, can't sit around on Mumsnet, I've got a real job...
No no no I didn't mean it like that, I just mean that I have to have a shit...

🤣🤣🤪

septic tank / drain powders on Amazon

Have u never typed something and then realised oh shit I never meant it like that? Obviously not. Go you. 👏

I childminder isn't a real job according to op. She is taking care of the most precious things in her life, her children and she didn't think it's a real job. I would be telling op to look somewhere else for childcare, how dare she 😡

OP if I was you I'd ask MN to delete this thread, so many people are just going to go on and on about the fact that you said real job! You're not getting genuine responses to the issue because of it.

most likely is one parent drops off and works 9:30-5:30 or 10-6 & other parent works 8-4 or 8:30-4:30 and collects. Many employees have a degree of flexibility.

We have core hours of 10-3 where we all have to work but outside that can flex. So you can start as early as 7 for an early finish or as late as 10. That’s without adjustments. It’s also possible to agree to start a bit earlier as an adjustment. I often work 6-2 or 6:30-2:30 as my main hours to allow me to do school pick up. OH drops at breakfast club at 8 and is home by 5ish so he can collect kids from clubs some days
It must be very tough if one person is doing both ends of the day.

I currently finish at 430pm to get there and now will have to finish at 400pm.

That’s not a real job

It is the run of other people annoying announcements and scatty behaviour

The only scatty thing is the drain man cancelling. The childminder isn't being scatty; she's exercising her right to choose her working hours and giving you the chance to find someone else. Your ex's girlfriend can move wherever the fuck she wants and I'm not sure why it matters if she happens to live on your street. It's not like you have to invite her round for tea, is it? You'll likely never see her.

Bit of a hyperbolic overstatement there. The comment is hardly vile or abhorrent: a bit dismissive is about the worst that can be said in line with the actual context of what OP wrote.

It is frustrating when those who provide paid services move the goalposts without notice or fail to turn up when they say they will. It causes considerable inconvenience when someone is depending on those services and can't suddenly rearrange their work commitments on a whim. Shame so many businesses these days are run on this kind of flaky, unprofessional basis.

Having a shit day and venting about it is perfectly fine and usual on a support forum.

So much fucking nit picking. Op you probably should have said "back in the real world most jobs finish after 5 so childcare finishing at that time doesn't work".
In no way is op slagging off childminding as a job.
It's like "cancel the cheque" but nowhere near as funny.

Well that’s 3 bad things OP, so now 3 good things are on their way

Well he isn't here, I NEVER get a workman to turn up when they say they will.😫

I hate this attitude towards childcare. OP's children might be the most precious thing in her life to her but they certainly are not to the childminder, who is providing a professional paid-for service. Yes, childcare is often underpaid and undervalued and childminders and childcare staff should have better working conditions but, just because someone's job involves taking care of children doesn't mean parents need to roll over and accept a poor service. You see this argument often on threads about childcare disputes - the parents should suck it up because "they're taking care of your precious kids and if you object, you don't value your kids".

They could have mentioned it when l last made a change to my days / hours, it was couple of months ago so most likely they were thinking about it then. It feels like the goalposts are always going to be shifting, next thing you know then they won't do Fridays anymore or not doing term time etc.

You lost me at "real job". Such a vile comment, so arrogant! The whole early years sector is very, very undervalued, in mentalities and financially. You are part of the problem, talking like this.

Tbf the childminder works an hour longer than you so maybe she's the one with the real job if that's how we're judging it....

Then the difference is between flexible and less flexible jobs, not real and what, not real jobs?!?!?! They are so many people working very flexible, WFH jobs who work their arses off, who work till late every night and work weekends to fit all their hours in around childcare. That doesn't make them not real jobs. That's such a Tory/Boris Johnson bulshit term.

Agree with you. My DD and DS wfh some days. They both work all day and sometimes into the evening, at the week-end.

Other DS is self-employed. He works hard for his income, with monstrously early starts. DGC are all self-employed - work their socks off.

And it's still a job?

She very much is

Where exactly does she say childminding is not a real job?
She's explained that she worded it wrong because she was fucked off. As we all would be.
I was a child minder years ago when mine were little.