Hi everyone. I am really torn and would like some outside opinion please. I don't have any friends or family in a similar situation so really appreciate your own experiences/advice.
At the beginning of lockdown mine and my partner's offices shut. My daughter (now 15 months) was due to start nursery in April when I went back to work full time, but as we were both working from home, we postponed her start date.
My partner is now back to work full time so it's just me and her at home. My employer has told me I can continue to work from home as much as I need, as I work in London and need to commute by train two hours a day.
I can do all of my work remotely from home, but have been doing one day a week in the office just for a bit of alone time. But I don't have a desire to go back any more than that at the moment. My MIL has been having my daughter for that one day a week. She doesn't work, lives on her own, and is happy to have her. She was always going to have her for 2 days and nursery for 2 days.
I'm now torn to whether I should be enrolling her in nursery. I get most of my work done while she is asleep or when my partner gets home, but I do feel so guilty sometimes if I need to be on the phone or laptop, like I'm ignoring her. I always make sure we play for at least an hour a day or go outside or for a walk. But I still can't shake the guilt.
By me working from home, we might be able to actually afford a holiday next year (before would be out of the question), have some savings for a rainy day, and start saving for a house move as we only have a small flat. We are saving £450 a month on childcare so it's really quite significant. If it were less I'd undoubtedly send her as I know she'd be ok at nursery, and probably love it.
Am I being selfish by not sending her?