Teaching full time with toddler and baby

[BlackholesAndRevelations]

posted this on "going back to work" but realised it's the wrong place probably to talk to teachers already working... Oops!

hi! I was just wondering if/how full time teaching is manageable with two little ones. I have worked ft before with one little one and a baby bump and it was HARD.

The thing is, I've learnt this time that I am no good at staying at home, therefore if I have to go to work, I might as well give it my best. With this in mind I'm considering applying for a position with tlr.

Am I mad?! hell yes

Is there anyone out there who can offer any experiences/advice?

It's hard but possible. You need good child care obviously. I used to find term time hard and the fact that I needed to work a bit on the weekend meant that towards the end of each half term my 2 were more likely to turn to their dad. Hurt like hell! BUT come the holiday it would swing back the other way. Much easier now they're in school themselves.

Thanks! Do you feel that you might one day regret working ft?

I'm worried about missing out on them, and worried that wanting to work makes me a bad mum! I just need to get my mojo back and think I'm stagnating in my current school...

Anyone else in the same boat?

I've got a tlr but feel a bit stifled as it can be very tricky to take ownership of anything from some members of SMT. They prefer to do everything themselves. I feel like I should be doing more :/ but equally stressed about how to manage workload after my upcoming maternity leave.

I'm not someone who really regrets stuff. If I make a mistake, well I've learnt a lesson. Some are more painful than others though!

Much as I sometimes think it would have been nice to have had the 'part time best of both worlds' daydream, I know I couldn't have done it and the whole family be in the position we are now. Which is a good place to be. And my kids are happy & lovely & I have a good relationship with them so... I focus on enjoying that.

Circumstances play a part in all major decisions. Guilt goes hand in hand with being a mum anyway! Once you've made your choice you make the most of it. And if it turns out to be the wrong decision - well deal with it and change your circumstances if it comes to that.

I teach full time with a 16mo, went back to work when he was 11mo. I have found it fine tbh, much easier that I had anticipated. I am very lucky in a lot of respects though. Things that have helped me are:
Having a cleaner
Having an amazing dh who does more than his fare share of housework and child care.
Having good child care (combo of nursery and gps)
Having a short commute.
Having a v supportive dept at work.
Co sleeping at times and ebf which helps me feel that I still have a connection with ds
Loving my job and my subject so that working on an evening doesn't feel like a chore.
Becoming more efficient with my time when at school.

Thanks Martha!

The thing is re: jobshare, that that in itself is a massive challenge. I'm not sure I even want one. From what I can see, in a jobshare situation I'd probably feel like I might as well be there ft with all the work I'd have to do...

Is there anyone out there who is part of a successful jobshare?!

Should have said- great philosophy, Martha- that's how my OH thinks. Do what makes you happy. If it stops making you happy, try and change it. Simple!

Oooh thank you loulou! That's fab!

Cherrypieplum- sorry, missed your post! Is your maternity leave your second/ subsequent one? Or your first? I found that I managed time much better on returning from number one (until I got pg with number2, that is!)

True Ivana (I LOVE your nickname!! )

I'm primary. Are you a teacher too?

That's ok! It's my first. I'm having six months off. Hopefully it'll be fine! Can't contemplate ft work and two until I see how this one goes!!

Successful jobshare here! (Although we both work more per day when averaged out than a full timer (you work on your days off) the benefits are that you can choose to do stuff on your days off rather than evenings and weekends- not that I do this all the time, but its great to have the choice. Its hard but good communication (texts, emails + PPA together) means its works well. After recent observations our head said it was amazing how similar we are as teachers which helps I think. |Good luck with the decision making!!

I have similar circs to Loulou I think - helpful DH & short commute. A good nursery when they were small. Willing grandmothers have been a very much appreciated part of the picture. Actually, think I should have appreciated them more but not always easy when they highlight my imperfect housekeeping. Can't afford a cleaner at the moment - standards vary according to workload!

I am the queen of convenience:
I have different types of wipes strategically placed around the house;
separate washer & drier;
dishwasher;
online shopping.

All the convenience is about maximising the quality time I have with my own children. I never get to the end of my work 'to do' list (too many ideas in my case!) and accepted this as a fact of life a very long time ago. When I was an NQT an advisor told me that things would either make their way to the top of the list or disappear. That's another philosophy that's kept me sane. Saying that, I'm now going to stop mumsnetting and do some work!

Hello,
I've jobshared with a couple of different teachers in year 4 and reception.All I can say is it definitely depends on who you jobshare with and how you both view your roles (ie.do you split the work equally/work together/communicate,etc) .
I work 3 days a week and have 2 children aged 5 and 2 and at the moment it is working well.I personally love having 2 days with my 2 year old and taking my 5 year old to school.
It is definitely harder after having my second child and I do feel as if from Sunday night to Wednesday night I hardly see my children and personally wouldn't want to work full time.I do like my job and donthe best I can but my job is not my life and I ensure on my 2 days off I don't think about school at all.horses for courses at the end of the day I guess!

Went back when each of mine were 5 months old (there's 3 year between them). I had a TLR when I went back after my second one.
You have to be brutal about what you do and super-organised - using lunchtimes wisely and not doing ALL the silly little things that teachers feel they should do but don't NEED to do!
We are lucky in that we do get 13 weeks holiday a year!
You only work 195 days a year which is only a little over half a year anyway!
Since having my second (he's now 3) I've been through deputy headship and am now head - it is very doable!

AND my husband is as useless as the rest!

I've been PT since I had my first 8 years ago. However, I do PPA cover rather than a job share, which is easier. Professionally speaking, it's boring, and it was difficult to adjust having been SMT for several years. I was a complete workaholic before having the children, and I couldn't imagine being a good FT teacher and a good mum. So, for me, being a mum came first and my career took a nosedive! They're 8 and 4 now and I still can't imagine coping with their needs and FT work.
I have to say though, that my husband doesn't have the sort of hours that allow him to be available to help with childcare, and our families aren't local either, so everything pretty much falls on my shoulders. It's knackering. If things had been different though, I don't know whether I would have made a different decision.
I think that whatever you choose to do, you find ways of coping and making it work for you.

I had to go back FT when dc1 was 3months old.
After I had dc2, I went down to 0.6.
First P-T was a jobshare and it worked really well. I did 3 days, she did 2 (IMO, no point in going in for 1/2 a day - you still have to get the dc to CM/Nursery, and once you are in school, you do all that "I'll just....." and while you are by the photocopier you have to deal with some child related emergency then someone asks you if they can have a quick word, etc.,etc.,etc.). We split the teaching so there wasn't too much 'crossover' - so, in Literacy, I used to do a lot of the 'mechanics' (we were in Special Ed) so the letter formation, handwriting, the spelling, the sentence structure) and she used to to do all the creative stuff. In maths, I did the number work, she did the "topics". I did all the Science, she did the History, etc. - so we played to our strengths, but, more importantly, she wasn't relying on knowing exactly where I'd got to or reliant on me leaving the books in school, nor I her, we were almost independent of each other, and only needed to liase closely over pastoral and behaviour type things. It was excellent.
Next job was advertised as being PT, and once there, I applied for Management allowances which I got (pro-rata). Working PT doesn't mean you can't have a TLR you konw!
Working FT with a baby and a toddler just grinds you down though. I know some people have to do it, but if you can possibly afford not to, then I'd advise PT work every time. You can even send them to Nursery / CM on the 4th day, and get all your school work done in that day, leaving you free weekends for family time and NO schoolwork.
Oddly, when I went PT I became MUCH better at saying "I don't have enough hours to do that'. When I was FT, I'd have worked 60 hours a week, and then still be trying to squeeze more stuff in.

#Is there anyone out there who is part of a successful jobshare?!*

Yes-I am and it's great. We have jobshared for ages now and it works really well. You need to be with someone like-minded and who doesn't forget to tell you things.

I dread going back full time and as for a TLR; I think that would send me over the edge!

Thanks again!

What if you have experience of your prospective jobshare (she covered my ppa before) and that, together with the experiences that colleagues have had of her, makes you wary of job-sharing with her?! Sorry that's a terrible sentence but I'm on my phone... What I mean to say is that I think it'd be especially hard work.

Argh!

I have job shared with a few different people. My first job share was wonderful as we worked in a similar way and had the same ideas about education. She was also very keen to get our roles and the class routines sorted out early on so everything went smoothly.

My current job share is so much harder work. She works three days and I do two but she doesn't pull her weight at all. I am forever chasing her to get things done or having to do them myself. I feel resentful that she is being paid more than me but doing less of the work. We have a new head who insists that one of us plans lit and the other maths. My planning now takes ages and her planning is often not even done for me.

I have worked full time too and despite the difficulties with my current job share I still feel I couldn't do full time all the time. I miss being able to take the DC to school and hate the fact that my house is messy and dirty . However I have no DH and also have elderly parents to care for.

hedgehog thank you for such a positive post! Any more tips?!

ohnevermind - your bad experience of job-sharing sounds exactly like the one I might have... Leaving classroom in a mess; no ability to think on feet/adapt plans if necessary; not covering what needs to be covered... Think it might be easier in a way to just do my job and not have to spend time picking up someone else's pieces!

Keep the experiences coming please! I'm enjoying reading them!