Really struggling. WFH when shielding

[Nurse1980]

Hi,

I work two long days a week with four children aged 7 and under. One has SEN with an EHCP.

I’ve had a shielding letter so can’t go to work. WFH. Finding it very tough.

What is making it worse is that I’ve had nothing from my manager at all. No phone calls to check in, see how I’m getting on. I no longer feel part of the time. I have messaged to get say that I’m really struggling but she just replied with Oh no.

I feel like just handing my notice in. Surely line managers should still manage people WFT? I’m the only one in my team WFH.

WFH with four small children and no child care does seem unsustainable, and your manager seems rubbish. Do you have a partner? Do you think there’s potential for you to spread your job over (say) 7 evenings instead of 2 full days, or drop down to two half days?
What are your finances like? How difficult would it be for you to get another job when life returns to quasi-normal?
Maybe you could go to your manager with a proposal for manageable hours and say “unfortunately if this proposal doesn’t work for you I’m really sorry but I’m going to have to quit”.

But unfortunately you probably can’t say “please become a better manager ASAP otherwise I’m going to quit”.

Yes I do but he’s self employed and on his own. He is helping out loads when he’s at home but trying to do some work with the SEN child takes ages. Then the other children need looking after too.

I have tried to work in the evenings, but this is getting me even more down as I’m getting no down time whatsoever.

I have thought about handing my notice in but we can’t afford it. I do normally enjoy my job but not like this. If I had more support from work I would feel mentally better. But it feels like out of sight out of mind with no contact at all.