How the hell are parents meant to work?

[worzelsnurzel123]

With this latest blow from schools and yet further delays, I predict employers will cease to be “ fair” and they will run out of the patience BJ vaguely muttered about hoping they’d have. So what are the options?

1. Resign from jobs? This could have massive impact on income, likely to affect women and the future of women’s’ rights and progress in the workplace, creation of mental health issues and socio economic problems
2. Will some parents be pushed in to feeling the have no choice but to leave kids home alone? Esp those who are borderline age group eg 8-12. Not ideal at all. Clearly this will impact on MH, safety, parental work performance.
3. Leave kids with grandparents who are likely to be over 70 in many cases, shielding or vulnerable. Risks of passing the virus on would lead to guilt , worry on both sides.
4. Wait for everything to fuck up work wise, scrabble for child care here there and everywhere, lose employers good will due to time off needed and eventually get dismissed for poor attendance, breach of conduct and or poor performance

This is a disgrace. An absolute disgrace

I was also very angry at your comments viviand so thank you.

@Viviand me too, thank you

I started the conversation yesterday with my work to drop to three days temporarily. We can just about afford that for a while, but it depends when/if schools go back full time. I’ll count myself lucky if it’s agreed, I know a lot of employers won’t do this.

Thank you for coming back and saying that @Viviand

It's shit but from the macro point of view, government knows that some people (mostly women) will have to resign because of the pandemic.

They also know there will be mass redundancies and plenty of people (women?) to pick those jobs up. Overall the employment rate stays the same, they will be paying out benefits either way. They just don't care about individual cases obviously.

Their statisticians have told them it's a tiny minority of people that will not be able to continue in their jobs if schools don't go back. In the grand scheme of things it's not a big problem.

Kids education? They can't vote yet. Got to protect the old people because they mostly vote Tory.

Literally feeling sick at the prospect of another week of trying to work full time and homeschool/ look after kids ..

Me too @gapp

Hugs gapp because I feel the same.

Solidarity with gapp and you all. It's horrific.

Mass redundancies are now inevitable. Plus side, might open up childcare opportunities for the unemployed though. Silver linings.

Yup. The usual Sunday blues x a million.

I'm sorry @gapp it's incredibly hard. Is there a support thread for parents WFH and home schooling running? It feels like we need one!

Come on everyone, if you're family are physically well and you still have paid employment, there's a lot to be grateful for. Given we haven't got on top of infections, and the economic lag has yet to hit, believe it or not, this is the good times! Enjoy it, it's not going to get better, unfortunately.

Enjoy it

There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about being expected to fulfil two full time, demanding roles at the same time and feeling everyday that you’re failing at both. Having no time to yourself and no quality family time whatsoever.

HTH.

Least helpful post ever 🙄

Do fuck off dear.

@Oneliner

Come on everyone, if you're family are physically well and you still have paid employment, there's a lot to be grateful for. Given we haven't got on top of infections, and the economic lag has yet to hit, believe it or not, this is the good times! Enjoy it, it's not going to get better, unfortunately.

Knowing the economy is likely to get worse is exactly why plenty of parents (mostly mothers) have decided that the best thing, on balance, for our DC is to go for mild neglect and keep working. If I knew that the job market would be like last year, then I would walk out of my job, spend quality time with DS, take a mortgage holiday and try to live off savings/benefits. I could do that for 6 months, probably. My worry is that it might be like 2010, after which I was out of work for nearly four years. We cannot afford that, so I take the short-term pain of struggling in the hope that my job survives the coming cuts, and if it doesn't I have earnt for as long as possible before it hits.

I am not enjoying it. I am trying to survive it.

oneliner
Enjoy it?
I woke up crying most days last week. I'm so stressed I've started getting heart palpitations. I'm exhausted yet I'm waking up at 3am every night worrying about the fact I'm letting my son down as he's getting about 15 mins home schooling a day.
I've never been so busy with work and trying to keep on top of it all while keeping a 5 yr old safe, entertained and fed is becoming increasingly unsustainable.

But yeah I'll continue to enjoy this wonderful time 🙄

SueEllen you are keeping your son in a home and fed. This will pass

I am so fucking sick of the gaslighting. As if this could be enjoyed.

Avoiding a breakdown, managing not to get fired or being forced to quit, my children not coming to actual physical harm (let alone mental) is the very best any of us can hope for at the minute.

Thank you mines
I know ....he's happy and healthy and that's all that really matters.

It's not going to get better. We'll look back at these days with longing. Sorry, wish there was hope in it'll pass and don't worry. Pull together, look after each other and then adapt. We'll need to find even more resilience and fortitude be coming months, years.

@Oneliner

It's not going to get better. We'll look back at these days with longing. Sorry, wish there was hope in it'll pass and don't worry. Pull together, look after each other and then adapt. We'll need to find even more resilience and fortitude be coming months, years.

FFS. I am calm and cheerful in front of DS about 14 hours a day. I am very professional when talking to with, even with homeschooling going on around me. Do you really begrudge people complaining that things are hard, once the kids are in bed with a drink of choice?

And it will pass. Maybe in a longer time than we hope, but even a stable state of infections through population spread is only two years away. And there are solutions that are faster than that.

The black death and Spanish flu ended after all

No doubt we'll overcome or learn to live with coronavirus, but the economy, the global economy, there isn't a vaccine for that. Of course it's difficult right now, but sometimes I think it's helpful to accept that and take stock. I want to be realistic in preparing for the longer road ahead, I find that more comforting and useful. You may prefer to let off steam on Mumsnet, that's cool too.

Try and have some compassion oneliner
Not everyone is having positive experience right now. Don't minimise those experiences