School run/sick child ad-hoc assistance

[Thickasabrick89]

I was reading another thread where a mum was asking what to do when a child is sick and you're both working out of the house.

Someone was saying how you need to build up back up support beforehand so there isn't a last minute scramble for childcare. Their suggestion was to put a poster in the local newsagents so that kind ladies or gentlemen can contact you and therefore you have a list of contact numbers for people who can help with sick children or emergency school pick ups in these scenarios. They were also very judgy that the OP hadn't done this already as these back up plans should have been prepped for already. I feel a bit weird having a stranger off a poster looking after my child in my house but i suppose you've got to trust the village you create. Can i ask how many people have done this and how it worked for you?

My daughter starts school next September so I'm following the advice here of mumsnetters so i have this local 'village' to help me out when needed. This will be especially important when I work away for a few days, my husband cannot pick daughter up from school as he works until 5pm not 3pm and there is no ad-hoc after school club available for the odd afternoon here and there per term. Also if he takes a half day x 2 then that is one less day of precious annual leave to cover the 13 weeks of school holidays we also can't cover in full between us.

Obviously no school mum/dad friendships have developed yet as she is still in nursery and i don't know anyone from her nursery who will be attending.

My AIBU is that it feels like an almighty juggle for school and I'm not even in the thick of it yet. I can usually manage child sick days with work but if I'm across the country i can't do school pick up like i would do 95% of the time🙂

We don’t even have a local newsagent, let alone more than one of them, and I would not put up posters to ask people to look after my children.

I look after them and I have a job that allows me to work from home (swapping the days or times if necessary) to cover school absences.

I saw that post too, and the responses were so out of touch. 😅 Putting an ad in the paper night as well say "predator wanted".

My eldest is in nursery and they're strict on sick policies. I put my youngest in a private childminders who is much more flexible. She's also way more expensive - but she'll pop them on the couch with a blanket & movie if they're sick. She won't take puking or pox, but everything else.

I recently started sending my eldest there once a week after playschool hours, to get used to her. She'll take them ad hoc if they're sick, so it's worth the juggle to manage picking them up from playschool once a week and dropping to her.

Outside of that, I've built up a bank of "over time" hours with my employer I can apply to emergencies. I'm also very responsive to last minute requests and work overtime if projects need it, so they're flexible with me in turn. I'm politely blunt with my manager why I do this, so they're aware flexibility goes both ways.

I probably can't afford a third child with this set-up!

Just to add, I WFH 3 days a week and it's a god send. I've passed on higher paying roles without this included, because the flexibility is needed at this stage of life.

I saw that post too, and the responses were so out of touch. 😅 Putting an ad in the paper night as well say "predator wanted".

that would first scream "child abuse" and I would report the family to SS, that's not normal- if it's genuine

I'm glad someone saw it! I thought it was a fever dream! Whilst i thought it was ridiculous and not an option for me personally, i did wonder if anyone had actually done it.

Child sickness isn't a concern for me, i can manage it with my work, i only mentioned it because the person in the other thread was suggesting it for sickness emergencies etc too.

I do plan on making friends etc and would always offer help first.

I've done this with nursery related mums, even offering to take children overnight before but so far noone has taken me up on the offer as they have family.

You DH needs to be available too. So he can book leave if need be to cover these two days. Employers are often very flexible when asked.

Do you have parents or family nearby by?

School holidays you need to pay for holiday clubs. I'm guessing you both get 4 or 5 weeks leave? You need to take this separately as much as possible. I work every Christmas (except BH) as DH has a shut down at work and off for 10 days.

When child is sick, what do you do now? It's the same when they are at school..

I would not be allowing stranger to care for my child. A child minder yes, a neighbour for an hour maybe.

When child is sick i look after her and work from home. Sickness isn't really an issue.

My husband also has compulsory Christmas off and leave comes out for that. I already get Christmas off as a freebie so it really doesn't help us! It feels like wasted leave.

We do have family who live nearby. This doesn't mean they are interested in helping. School pick up could potentially clash with picking my brother up from the train station on his way home from work.

Nope of course you only use registered child-carers, or really proper friends that you've known for a long time. When your child is ill one of you take leave (unpaid if there aren't other options). If you have healthy grandparents who don't mind about germs fair enough, otherwise a parent takes time off to look after a sick kid if needed, because no-one really wants your germ ridden little gremlin even if they love them!