Child in nursery today and tomorrow 8am til 6pm

[Motheroffive999]

Who's children are still in nursery today and tomorrow.

My daughter in law is working 8 til 6 pm today and tomorrow in the local nursery for babies from 6 weeks to 4 year old pre schoolers.

They have maybe 10 children in each room still, this close to Christmas.

Most have older siblings and they drop off saying they are not working but want a nice chilled day at home.

I know some parents have to work but most are at home.

These are years that they won't get back with their children , I know that they need to do last minute prep etc but leaving children at nursery until 6pm on Christmas Eve is such a shame for the children and the staff.
Am I being unreasonable?

Mine are 3 and 1 year old twins.

Off to nursery they will absolutely go tomorrow so I can get things done. 😂

Oh yes.
Have children young? Too young!!
Leave it a few years? Too old stop putting your career first.
Go back to work? Why bother having children!
Stay at home mum? Why are you not contributing?
best of all.

Don’t have children? Why are you so selfish!

that sounds like a mean jibe at @littleorangefox Most jobs give you 25 days holiday. You can’t make it more by magic. If you work full time, or near enough, you don’t get time to do all the errands so why wouldn’t you use the childcare you have paid for to get stuff done and get a moment to yourself? Small kids are hard work. Jobs are hard work. God forbid she should take a moment to relax.

Of course it occurred to me to prioritise their needs and mental health. But to be the best parent I could be, I learnt early on with my second child that sometimes leaving them somewhere they loved being, where they were safe and fed and entertained for an extra hour or so after i walked in the door was far better then trying to fit them into rushing around cooking dinner, collecting their sibling, finishing up that last bit of work and even sometimes decompressing after a harsh work day.

Perhaps it would make you feel self centred but to me vein a good parent meant doing what's best for yhe family as a whole not risking burn out for the sake of an hour or two.

Bit then I've always tried to be one to not judge or label another person's choices just because they don't align exactly with my own 🤷🏽‍♀️

This is similar to what I was going to write.

Today DH and I both on annual leave with DC7. We had a day out together the three of us. We haven't ever done anything as a three since before our second DC was born - so over 4yrs ago and eldest has been asking for this for ages. So ee probably won't do it for another 4yrs again! So DC4 and DC1 were both in nursery 9am-4.30pm.

Tomorrow, DH is working, I am on AL. I get very little one-to-one time with DC7 and there is nothing local and suitable to do with the little ones tomorrow. If they weren't at nursery they'd be bored at home all day. With the bank holidays and limited funds they will be at home most of the rest of the week and they're already missing nursery on Thursday with the bank hol. So yes they will be going again tomorrow. It closes at 3pm Xmas eve but they will be going probably around 9am (on a working day theyd be there around 8-8.30am) and I will collect them as soon as DC1 wakes from his nap which will probably be around 1/1.30ish. I think it's in their best interests not to have a huge gap between nursery sessions for routine and familiarity particularly for my 1yo. They get half a day then too with different people and toys to play with instead of a full day stuck at home getting bored.

If we had babysitters for the little ones sometimes so we could take our eldest out/do more 1-to-1 with them for example then maybe I'd feel differently. But we don't, nobody will babysit for us.

But families in the 50s where one parent didn't work had so much less stuff than now.

Lots of us could manage it for a few years if we stopped buying in to what we're told we need to have, in terms of consumer shit, to be successful - or even just normal.

You got regular chill time from 'a myriad of reasons'? 🤣😂 I even added doing jobs alongside.

Taking 'a few years' (which would definitely be longer with more than one DC) out for some of us would mean losing our careers and everything we have worked for.

Not every career is one you can dip in and out of.

I'll do my very best to cope. Although our nurseries are now shut until 5th January and my kids only go 2 and 3 days a week anyway so I actually usually spend most of my time with them anyway. But I reckon if I start the day off strong with some vodka in my orange juice then they will absolutely be tolerable by lunch.

Merry Christmas!

Oh I don't give a shit about silly little keyboard warriors but thank you and have a lovely Christmas ☺️

Some children are hard work. My son is three and probably on the autistic spectrum. Have a day with him and you would be skipping to nursery!

You’re very lucky in that case! How do you cover your mortgage rent etc with statutory maternity pay?

We have a 7 year old and a 2 year old. The younger will be in nursery tomorrow (they close at 3pm) so we can do some things with our older child that he will enjoy (Winter wonderland rides/ ice skating) he has not been in nursery the rest of this week though. I do not feel he is losing out by having a fun morning of Christmas crafts and singing with other toddlers. And it means our older child gets some bigger kid time with mum and dad.

Are you ok hun?

So many assumptions there, and all based on my saying my youngest is going to nursery for a couple of hours in the morning so I can do some food prep ahead of Christmas 😅 She’ll have a great time, I hear there’s a disco planned and they’re painting snowflakes.

DH is finishing at lunchtime tomorrow and we have a lovely family afternoon planned, we love Christmas. Indeed plenty of fun family time across the Christmas holidays planned. I don’t work full time, I work 4 days, in a well paid and fulfilling career.

As for appointments etc, I don’t really think I need to explain but you may not be aware you are entitled time off work for medical/dental appointments, my nails are done at lunchtime in a salon by my office, and don’t you worry, my children don’t suffer a bit for spending some time with just their dad whilst I get my hair done.

The ‘silly’ in your moniker is certainly right!

My 3 years funded hours don't cover the Christmas holidays but I'm already wishing I'd paid extra to put him in some days. Not because I don't enjoy being with him but being at home, out his routine and excited about Christmas means he's high as a kite and just about on the ceiling. Nursery would mean I'd get peace to get cleaning and organising done and he'd get valuable time with his friends and be kept occupied.

I never understand "oh you'll never get these years back". It's just a stick to beat working parents with. Regardless if these kids are in nursery on Christmas eve, I bet they've done loads of Christmas activities with their families and friends and will still be spending the actual festivies at home. You don't need to be welded to your child 24/7 for time to be special.

And also, are the older years less special. No one says this when they are past 5 "you'll never get this time back". And the baby and toddler years are the worst anyway. Lack of sleep, tantrums, potty training, nappies etc. I don't want these times back, I'd quite happy fast forward until they are 5!

I am very well, thank you and you 😂

you may not be aware you are entitled time off work for medical/dental appointments,not everyone has a cushy easy little office job where you can take hours to walz to appointments when you feel like it 😂

I don’t work full time, I work 4 days, in a well paid and fulfilling career.
then enjoy your charming life, bless you 😂

It's amazing that we have so many threads about women complaining about their useless DH totally unwilling and unable to look after their own children for an entire weekend - which I agree is completely ridiculous

but we have threads like these with mothers falling over themselves to explain that they could not possibly cope an entire day with their own children and must send them to nursery on their days off so they have their precious me-time, and time to do anything domestic

Loving the double standards here 😂

But say I've got the Christmas food shop to do
And I'm paying £90 for nursery
You're telling me you'd pay them the £90 BUT TAKE YOUR TODDLER TO THE SUPERMARKET INSTEAD

surely not

Yes and also no one seems to be able to cope with more than 1 of their own children at the same time anymore . Most women on maternity leave send their toddlers to nursery these days, it’s almost unheard of not to.

Well I sent mine a few days for fear of losing her place when I was on mat leave.

Have you tried having your shopping delivered? Much easier and you could have some quality time with your child instead of walking around shops.

there would be many more nursery places to go around if people didn’t use them when they don’t need them (eg when they are on mat leave).

I'm not certain that was really my point but yes I've had shopping delivered ☺️

Right....
Having seven months off work didn't feel like a gamble I was willing to take in fact ! Nursery was my only childcare in those younger years- not losing that.
Everyone talks about needing a 'village'-nursery was mine.

You always come on these threads with anti nursery rants.