Working hours - parents of primary school parents?

[Sausagedog101]

Hi there Mumsnet,

Hoping for some advice on my working hours. I have DC5 and DC3. DC3 is starting primary school (reception) come September. DC5 is already at primary school.

Currently, I work 26 hours a week - 7.5 hour days on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. 3.5 hours on a Wednesday (morning only) and full day off Friday. Currently DC3 is in nursery for 3.5 days too, to match my working hours. So I get the Wednesday afternoon and Friday off with him, whilst DC5 is at school.

However I am looking at my options when DC3 starts school.

My options are:

1. I continue with my current hours and have an hour or two on a Wednesday afternoon to myself as well as a full day on Friday to run errands/housework etc, helping us all have more priority family time at the weekends. However this means I can’t do pickup every day. However I can WFH on a Monday.
2. I consider changing my working hours so I work the 26 hours over 5 days, so I am able to do drop off and pick up each day. However I am concerned this will be very full on and jumping around on a tight schedule. I am also concerned about my work and if I would be able to accommodate these working hours as I am client facing.

Has anyone got any experience of this?!

Yes, I’ve only got one child but as soon as he started school I went from 3 days a week 9-5 to 5 days a week, 9-3 so I could do all drop offs and pick ups . Why would you pay for before and after school care then spend a day and a half not working while your kids are at school?

Totally appreciate that everyone is different so do what works for you, but that’s my opinion.

I always found the 3pm finish made it feel like I had time to get stuff done after work, but my child wasn’t too demanding and I only have one.

It depends on your work. I found finishing at 3 very stressful as it was peak time for people wanting my input on stuff. I adored the after school club days when I didn’t have to try to extricate myself in what for others was the middle of the working day. So I’d do a combo of hours with one or two later finishes.

9 - 3 so I can do school runs, 5 days a week. Breakfast club if I need to start early one day.

I do 9.30-4 mon-wed in the office. Thursday and Friday WFH, 9-3 Thursday and 9-5 Friday. I do every drop off, GPs collect Monday-Wednesday, Thursday I collect and Friday after school club.
Do you have a plan for pick ups if you stick with your current hours? Also what about school hols? We are lucky with GP’s available 3 days a week but me and DH are having to cover every Thursday and Friday between us. DS is too young to go to a holiday club so we have no other option.

I do 9-3 to do drop offs / pick ups - I love it

I did 9-2:30 5 days a week. Kids went to breakfast club and I did pickup. You’ll need to check your WFH policy if you’re intending to pick up the kids and have them with you at any point. Where I am, you cannot WFH if you have children below the age of 10 as it’s seen as too distracting.

Its a hard choice
I have killed my self trying to get all my work done 9-3 to be there for pick ups. Last week I had no choice and had to put my kids into after school club for the first time and they cried this week when I said they weren’t going. My daughter is in reception and have an older one.
I feel like I have no breathing room- no time to sort anything, the house, let alone some exercise and so the time I have with my kids doesn’t really feel like good quality time.
I feel exhausted on weekends too with a pile of other things to do.
id be very tempted with sticking to things as they are and using that time on the Friday to get all the crap sorted, batch cook, prep any meals for weekend so that come 3pm I was more ready and available. And dare I say it, do something for yourself and your mental and physical health. I say that but we know 9-3 flies by.
Im not clear what the consequence is for your kids - like how many days would they have to do afterschool club and for how long? Or is there another provision? Like a nanny?

One thing I can see from my message is I’m telling you what I need!

good luck

I would do more drop offs and pick ups. What about option C where you spread your hours over 5 days but have Wednesday afternoon off?

There's no right choice. You pick whatever works best for you - the best balance of money & life.

DH changed his hours two days a week so he could do drop off. Those two days I did full office days 8-4, the kids went to after school club and I collected them about 5pm. I then worked part-time school hours for two other days of the week. As they've got older I've taken on more hours, but have always preserved my Friday off which is a nice to have - I use it to catch up with chores & errands and get ahead on dinners and packed lunches for the following week.

If you only need after school club on Tuesday & Thursday I think that’s a pretty perfect balance and would stick with that and the day off for yourself.

Yes, I also worked 25 hours a week so I could do all drop offs and pick ups.

This also means that it's easy to fit in the myriad of events that primary school seem to have (assemblies, harvest festivals, sports days etc etc).

You can have play dates any time you like, including ad-hoc ones.
You can accommodate whatever after school clubs your child wants to do (really beneficial in lower primary school where they are often later afternoon clubs).
You get to know your children's friend's parents.

Yes, you don't get time to yourself, but a day "off" where you feel obliged to do jobs feels a bit rubbish, and it's good (IMO) to get everyone involved in house jobs and for it not to become your job.

Do you have a partner? Can they do drop offs if you're worrying about the timings being tight? The other option would be to work 1 long day and 4 slightly shorter days to fit within school hours but make it a little less rushed.

Personally as a lone parent I need some time off in the week for my sanity and have taken 1 day a week. This does mean my child has to go to wraparound care some days. However I would otherwise have zero downtime as I am parenting all weekend too. If you have a supportive partner who takes some of the slack it is a different calculation, but don't feel guilty if you want to keep some time off for yourself.

Also - if you do have a partner, what is their opinion or would they be supportive of whatever you choose? it's one thing working part time if you are spending your "off time" caring for children; very different if you don't actually have a child at home during a lot of it. Paying for childcare while having a part time working parent is a luxury.

When youngest dc started school I adjusted my working hours to 9-2pm 5 days a week, without a lunch break, so a 25 hour week.

Worked brilliantly mainly because my work is a 7 minute drive from my house so I had time to get home, quick bite to eat then walk 20 mins to school.

Work were extremely flexible which I still hugely appreciate. I'm full time now that ds is at high school and pine for those halcyon days 😁

It really depends on your work, wants and financial situation.

Personally I would plan to use a few days of wraparound care and work full days in order to have a full day off. I think this brings a much better balance for both work and home.

I am personally not that bothered about being there for every 3:30 and think the cross year mixing at after school club is really good for the kids, plus they love it! And it’s much easier to use it consistently than ad hoc when you have a work thing you can’t move etc.

Im client facing, work 9-5 on 4 days of the week, my kids do after school club 2 days a week, grandparents have them other days. I have Fridays off and I really appreciate it to get house things done and also have a moment to myself. I don’t think I could have handled 9-3 and straight into the kids every day. I’d still be checking emails etc and getting burnt out.

I do 22hrs over 4days. Two days i finish at 2.45pm for pick up and the other two DD1 goes to ASC. Its a nice mix of being there for pick up and still have space for longer working days. If you went for your option 2, you could do something similar - spread the hours over the week, but book ASC twice a week or similar to give yourself breathing space for additional meetings, catching up etc (presuming you can take the extra hours back - we have flexitime so works for me that way).

Pick an option that allows you some time to yourself each week without kids or work. That could mean they go to afterschool club a couple of times a week despite you finishing at 3. You need time for you.

Does your partner not do any drops/pick ups?

Thanks everyone for your comments! My husband will be able to do pick up on a Tuesday and Thursday, his job is very flexible. So the only day we will need after school club would be a Monday. However my job is quite flexible so I may be able to flex my hours a bit on those days so this isn’t needed every week.

I don’t think it makes much difference. The only thing is the added cost of wraparound care.

The main thing would be if you need to work outside of school hours, for example, for a meeting that can’t happen between 9 and 3. And if you could be flexible, swapping to 5 shorter days, if your Dh was travelling that week.

I personally worked a mix of compressed hours with long days and 5 days school hours. Dh could always do school run so we never needed wraparound care. I do find the afternoons loooong when they are in school and I was often quite grateful to zoom in at 7pm when they were getting ready for bed!

I do 3.5 days over 4, with Wednesday off. DC in after school club two days a week as I'm required to be in the office so do longer days. I do find my shorter days a bit frustrating, there's not enough time left to do things at home or go to the gym and I'm also missing bits of work during the mid afternoon. The DC do activities on those nights too so it's hectic.

I wouldn't give up my day off for anything though, it's the only chance I get for my appointments, gym, getting jobs done round the house. Today I did a class, went to the Drs, got my hair cut and tidying out our crafting cupboard.

Totally agree. I work 4 days, 3 full days and one school hours. I don't think I'd see the same benefit by spreading my 28 hrs over 5 days, as I do having a full day off for errands etc.

It's sometimes a bit of a rush on my earlier finish day to get done so I'd prob feel stressed doing school hours all week.

Plus I find it helps only having the 4 days to cover in the holidays!

It would depend on your financial situation completely.

9-3 work, kids 7 hours either side, is fairly knackering, and there’s still chores to be done on a weekend, so it’s not one I would ever choose if as a family we had the financial means for a bit more downtime.

Here’s what I do with a 26 hour week:

I work 26 hours over 4 days Mon - Thurs.
I do all drop offs and kids do after school club twice a week.
This looks something like:
Monday 9-4
Tuesday 9-4
Wednesday 9-3
Thursday 9-3
Friday off
This works for me because I work mainly from home, my employer is super flexible and I can accrue TOIL and I manage my own hours, I have no fixed working hours or location, I don’t take a lunch break and instead eat whilst working.

I like that I have the option of doing a bit of work on a Friday if I’ve got a busy week.

Also drop off at school is 8.40am so I’m home and working by 9am.

I’m aware I’ve hit the jackpot with this job!!