So how the F are we meant to work?

[Littlewhitedove2]

3 primary age kids. One parent left who won’t leave their house except the shops much less come anywhere near me or the kids. Inlaws in a similar position.
Primary school closed. It won’t be 2 weeks - it will be far longer than that.
Husband full time work.
I work part time as much as I can around school but not critical worker.
How do women work now?

I honestly have no idea. What a disgrace. And children and women punished again

Quite !

I'm lucky, mine can go back next week. I feel sorry for those who have no childcare. I'm sorry OP, it properly sucks.

Can husband do his share with time off? It's only fair.

DH and I split it, badly. It’s crap. Work suffers, children suffer.

We both WFH though.

partners will have to share the load a bit more

have conversations with employers
use AL

i will move the parents shifts round in my team...will make it work for them somehow as have done since march. can be done

From home. Not easy if there's no option for that though.

From home but no idea how you manage is that is not an option.

Even if you are able to work from home how does that work with year r and year 1 kids? How the F are they meant to learn anything?
Many kids in the country continue to get their education and mine will get next to nothing

I am dreading it. It broke me last time and I don’t expect my employer to be so understanding this time.

You can be furloughed I believe for childcare reasons. Shit I know but I think the government response is pretty measured and appropriate for once.

I have given up on teaching my year R child and it’s fire fighting in my house. If everyone gets fed and is clean then that’s a win.

Your husband has to do his share as well. This shouldn't solely be on you.

Had this problem since the first lockdown, I'm a keyworker so kids could go to school, unfortunately I don't work 9-3.
I begged and bribed friends and friends teenagers to pick them up and look after them, maybe try to come to an arrangement with another parent at the school?

I’m sorry OP it’s rubbish. Have they actually said which schools are closing?

Am sure you can be furloughed for childcare. Is it possible to ask your employer?

My friend has 4 kids and has given up her Job it was 20 hrs in retail
She rang up universal credit and put a claim in owing to a change of circumstances

She misses her job but is actually £10 a week better off not working and she says when all this is over she'll look to go back - whenever that may be

Kids learn quicker in small groups. You only need to do an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. I give them Friday or Monday off and make Saturday a school day. DH can do this if he is a keyworker who can't WFH and pull his weight during the week. If he isn't, he needs to arrange some leave or flexibility. It is hard but in a 2 parent household, not impossible.

Yes, it's a nightmare with the little ones. I think the main thing is to just do as much reading as you can with them and don't get stressed when you don't have time for the pinterest perfect projects that stay at home parents can manage. I ended up taking a combination of annual leave and unpaid leave last year to get through it, as had no other help, but am reluctant to use so much leave this time as will probably need it to cover school holidays once I'm back in the office.

Don't worry about the education side right now that can be caught up after.Just keeping ppl safe is the most important thing right now.

We now have an endpoint: April latest.

If schools go back, they will close anyway within weeks (they may anyway) due to staff isolation and sickness. In addition, the NHS will be overwhelmed and the schools will be half empty due to parents withholding their children.

Employers have to be understanding and accept best efforts until Spring.

It is undeniably shit, but it is the best possible choice. I wish they would just have a 4 week full school closure of all years, and then work to getting back to normal as soon as possible as the benefits of the vaccine programme kick in.

I'd just forget about teaching them anything, how are you supposed to work, care for DC and teach them at the same time?

Is there another parent at the school who you can share childcare with, switching the kids between you? Or friends who can help? It's not really allowed but what else are you supposed to do.

Do you have a union OP? Work places by now should be aware this will and could happen again.

Get your husband to do his share. Seriously.

It's only for 2 weeks?!

Perhaps lower expectations at the moment for younger dc who are not doing exams?

I'm not expecting much beyond the basics to push dd forward. Reading, writing and help them learn the times tables.

It's very difficult, OP, and I sympathise, but I can't help but feel annoyed that this has somehow turned into a women's issue. I do accept that in many cases, that's the reality, but I genuinely don't understand why so many women are still allowing their careers to take a back seat and who all these men are who simply won't share the load?

We are in the midst of a pandemic. It's shit that the kids can't go to school and that their parents are unable to work properly, but why aren't most parents sharing the burden? I get that it's because women are often the lower earners, but that pisses me off too - why do so many women put themselves in that position?