Work...What do you all do?

[mypandasgotcrabs]

Just interested to see what other single parents do for work and how you fit it in as I'm currently considering my options in my new job.

I teach and I love it - I feel lucky, having worked in bars, cafes, Tescos, the Tax Office, temped and a myriad of other stuff. Mind you, I am at the very, very easiest end of teaching and having done sink-state secondary, oh, boy do I appreciate it.

....yet another nurse. I have been able to effectively name my hours. I now work 9.30 to 2.30 three days a week in term time, plus two 12 hour shifts on alternate weekends (the only time I can get childcare. My splendid sisters travel long distance and stay do that I can work these weekends).

...without infinitely helpful employers I would, frankly, be stuffed!

I work in new business development in an accountancy firm. I work four days now and often work in the evenings after my DS has gone to bed but it works out okay.

I work PT Term time only for a chimney company - fab - money not great but unfortunately due to money issues and affordability of property in Surrey and lack of support on childcare Im moving in august and willbe looking for work myself - sad as my job is great I mean term time only 9.30-2.30 how fab and rare is that ? Anyway hope you get something sorted - Up noth my parents are gagging to sart helping out with childcare so that I can get a FT job if need be and get my own mortgage and buy my own house without having to be in debt to shithead of an ex. Ohh cant w ait and the best bit my dd will aquire a northern accent - My ex was such a bloody snob he will hate it.!Plus hell have to drive 4hrs to see her as well!!

I sell on ebay, well I do when people buy things

I enjoy my work and if I didnt wouldnt do it.

Glitterfairy, that's exactly what I needed to hear I think.

I'm gonna be learning new bits & bobs at work over hte next few weeks which is great, but have just had some info about a course through that I've decided I'm going to do. I'm lucky that Portsmouth Uni does Criminology & Forensic Studies, so I'm going to get onto that hopefully & see where it leads. It's something I really want to do and have done for a while so I figure there's no harm in going ahead and doing it.

I enjoy my job when I'm allowed to get on and do it! One thing I don't like is the fact that my hours and lack of babysitting help means I don't get to join in any of the social things like xmas parties and after work drinks. But it is still nice to get out of the house and to earn enough money to get by. It is the kind of work I do enjoy so from that point of view I enjoy it.

I've moved to a new office recently so I get less of the social chat round the kettle etc now that I used to get, which can make it pretty thankless and takes away all the benefits of being able to have conversations with grown-ups tbh.

I also enjoy being home and really am loathed to go back after spending a big chunk of the school hols at home. Would really have liked to have been a stay at home mum in reality.

My house is a disaster zone, never have time for all the things i should be doing let alone i'd like to be doing! I do wonder how much worse things would be if I worked full time and I have seriously looked at the figures with regard to giving up work. just not feasible for me. I scrape by as it is.

Also once I get back to work it all seems better and I enjoy being there again.

So yes I enjoy it, but in an ideal world I would probably prefer to be a sahm.

Gilly

Gilly I was a SAHM for 6 years and it was a drag. I thought it was great and I would never go back to work but I am more than glad that I did.

Mypanda, enjoy honestly it is better to be out there with others especially if you are a single mum.

I was a sahm for the first 5 years struggling by on benefits. If I could afford to stay home it would be my prefered choice

I nearly went mad being a sahm. I did it for 16 years, till xh & I split up. Sometimes I wanted to write 'help me' on the wall in lipstick, just so dh would take me seriously that I could not handle the solitude.

Then he left & I went to college & uni. I really like being home now - because I don't have to be here all the darned time. The key element is 'choice'.

I am doing software development at the moment, and am contracting. I am lucky enough to have got a key to log into my company's network from home, so I can have time off during the week and make it up at weekends, or in the evening.
I would struggle without this flexibility. Most software companies Ive worked for have been very flexible though, not least because they tend to be young and forward looking.

i got a promotion recently. am now an estate manager - country estate that is, not housing. still do all the same stuff and then some - good thing is theres loads of overtime and am as good as my own boss.
isnt leaving much time at home tho as often dont get in till after 7 - my house is also looking a bit untidy which isnt good as i can be a bit of a neat freak at times.

I also have the untidiness problem, it is one of my Au Pair's duties to make sure that the sitting room is tidy when I get home, otherwise I would lose the plot.

I'm a prison officer, but on a career break atm. I used to love it, but now(well, before mat leave)I hate it. Human rights have gone mad! the only people with any rights are law breakers!
I found it very hard coping as a single mum with one child, so I'm not looking forward to trying to cope with two We'll see

Ooh, sdo3. How terribly posh your job sounds!!

I work in education, so I am very, very lucky to have hours and holidays that on the whole, fit in with children.

But I HATE it! I find it so draining working with people, and I can be so tired at the end of the day. My children come home and are full of energy, usually go to bed after me and wake up before me! So my day is non stop.

I have stuck it out though, as the childcare facilities are very poor. There is only one place in my area, which my kids really hated.

I am considering a career change though, as I think I may burnout soon from giving all the time

Yeah, that happened to me AW. Ended up with ME from pushing myself every day and only getting 4 and a half hours sleep a night for the first 2-3 years with my Ds, I just didn't listen to my body screaming at me to STOP!!!!. I have never recovered and only go into remission from time to time. I'm suffering big time right now, so I'm really glad not to be at work atm
Don't burn out. Listen to your body.xxx

I am a teaching assistant in the same school that my children attend, so it fits around their school time perfectly. I work 20 hours a week.

I agree littlewoman that the key element is choice.

oh gilly, being a sahm drives me nuts! I have to work, I love having the adult conversation & see it as time off tbh, but am really struggling with the mundane jobs I am in.

It's definately decided, I'm going to go to uni and study Criminology & forensic studies. My hnd means that I'll get an unconditional offer, so this time next year I'll be getting ready for going back into education. Scary thought, as I'll be a fair bit older than everyone else there, but they gave me quite a bit of literature about being a mature student and I was shocked at how much financial help I'll get for studying.

Go for it mypanda. I went back to university at 32 albeit I did not have a child then. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience

I work as a legal secretary and also I am a fully qualified acupuncturist.

Well I handed my notice in today. A few reasons...1. obviously bored stiff while I'm there, and 2. I need to be home with ds2, or at least home to do the housewrok while he's at nursery.

I'm going to go to the uni next week though, see if there's any voluntary work I can do for the next year, you never know my luck lol.