to send my DC's to nursery over the Christmas period?

[Ceebee74]

My nursery is open every day (apart from the bank hols) over the Christmas period, including Christmas Eve. I am working upto and including 23rd Dec and then not back until the 5th January. Dh is also off work for this period aswell.

I know I am definitely going to send them to nursery on Christmas Eve as I will need some space to get organised (we are hosting Christmas lunch this year) but will pick them up sometime after lunch.

I am also considering sending them for maybe a couple of days in between even though me and DH will both be at home. The main reasons for this are that it would give us a chance to do some stuff round the house that desperately needs doing and also, we have no babysitters and have not been out as a couple in the evening since DS1 was born 3.5 years ago (get your violins out ) so the only way we can get some 'couple' time is to use days when the boys are in nursery and we have a day off work at the same time - we might go out for a leisurely lunch, shopping, cinema - but just be able to do what we want at our pace. Also, this is just an aside, we will be paying for the nursery anyway.

However, it does seem a little bit 'wrong', particularly with it being Christmas.

AIBU?

YANBU they will have a great time on Xmas eve morning with lots going on and also with all the upheavel, new toys/comings and goings they might enjoy the stability of nursery.

Sounds lovely!
You will have all the extra days off with your DCs (bank hols) and lavish them with plenty of attention and love
Its only fair to spare a couple of days to lavish the same onto your relationship

yes do have some grown up time with dh.xmas eve nursery be nice atmosphere and christmassy for your son

enjoy some couple time

oh give over

if you have to pay for nursery anyway then just make the most of it

lunch out, housey stuff, afternoon delight

If your children are at my nursery i would say yabu, but only for the fact that although we are open on the 24th, we are only open to 12 and hardly anyone uses it,(infact only 2 people requested it last year) so your children prob wouldn't enjoy it as much as usual days at nursery, also my room is constantly busy, so a few quiet days leading up to xmas sounds lovely to me

Oh yanbu at all ceebee, enjoy your me time

I did this when DD was younger - didn't question it or feel guilty. Free time to myself/with DH was like gold dust then!

Bit different now as DD often invited to sleepovers, days out with Brownies etc, so we do ok. Also she doesn't enjoy after school club (which is open in the hols) much and is old enough to think she's missing something/give us emotional blackmail

Am afraid i would keep them at home to have some mummy and daddy time with you both, am sure nursery would be fun but i would rather be doing Christmassy stuff with them and 'stuff' the things that need doing round the house...you prob wont get round to doing them anyway!
Find a babysitter and enjoy a couple of nights out- something am sure you would like to do all year round!!!

I agree that it doesn't seem right, I wouldn't be able to do it, and I stay at home all the time. I kind of don't understand why part of the whole Christmas thing wouldn't be to have the dc at home when you can.

otoh I wouldn't think twica about leaving my dc with my Mum for a couple of hours so I could go shopping.

Disclaimer: I'm not judging you, just a different philosophy.

Thank you - for some reason I thought I might get flamed about it

DS1 still went to nursery his usual 4 days a week all the time I was on mat leave with DS2 and DS2 started nursery 2 weeks before I went back to work so I had a whole 2 weeks to myself - didn't feel guilty about that.

I think it is because it is Christmas and all this 'family' stuff that is making me feel bad!

hell a day in nursery isnt neglect.enjoy your time

Minky I guess we use nursery as a 'babysitter' as we don't have family local enough to help us out for a couple of hours etc.

Isn't it a bit feeble not to have been out in the evening for 3.5 years? I have no family near me to babysit either, so we pay someone to babysit. We decided we wanted to go out and we put some effort into finding a good local babysitter. I can fully understand your reasons for the dc going to nursery on Christmas Eve morning but think you could find another way to have some time on your own with your dh if you put your mind to it. I'm certain that some of the staff from your dc nursery will do babysitting as a sideline.

Do you not like your children or something?

you already pay for nursery,they are familiar faces.pop son in xmas eve enjoy your time

ceebee - I am coming to the conclusion you are living a parallel life to me. Exactly the same situation here. I will be sending them, perhaps not every day but if I am paying £60 a day (for the two of them) then they will be going! We get such little time together (about 3 nights out in 3.5 years) that I dont see what on earth the problem is. You will be spending christmas and bank holidays with them then on other days they get to go somewhere new, play with different things etc. I also find it is nice for them in that DS plays with his own age etc. It is no different to them going to a grandparents house in my opinion.

Actually what I might be tempted to do is take one in the morning and one in the afternoon one day and spend a bit of time with each alone. Only one day though

There's nothing wrong with wanting a wee bit of time to yourselves.

I agree that as its Christmas time it feels a bit different than it does during the year, but provided your DCs are happy there then I don't think its something to feel guilty about.

you are couple who dont have enough quality time together as it is.so a wee day is well deserved.

I am so lucky that i have a really good friend who is dd godmother that can help look after dd if we want some us time. YANBU and totally understand the need for us time, they are probably going to have a lovely time in nursery. I would love to do that for christmas shopping as dd hates it and demands to go home after 1 hour.

Gordon Bennett at "do you not like your children or something". What a predictably banal response. My children went to holiday club in the first week of the summer holidays. I am a teacher and had a blissful week of solitude. The other day DD asked if we would have enough money for her to go to holiday club every year (she was remembering a recipe she had cooked there).

ladyblahblah, your comment was nasty

My dd will be going in Chrsitmas Eve as is her usual day and I'm working but I have to admit that I'd probably send her for a day if it was open inbetween as well. It's Christmas, you need some time together too!

Peppa omg, we really are living parallel lives aren't we??? Hadn't thought about maybe splitting them up so we can spend some time with each one on an individual basis....some food for thought there. And I totally agree that £60 a day is a lot of money to pay and get nothing in return!!

Just wondering why you don't want to spend any time with your children when you are off work?

I genuinely don't get that.

And to Ladyblahblah