which job????

[eve34]

Please help me decide by sharing your opinions. I am currently on maternity leave and I am due to return to work in 10 weeks.

My current job. I work 24 hours a week flexible around the needs of the service and my commitments. I have to travel through 3 counties. I also have to attend meetings 6 times a year in London/Birmingham.

My son is in year 1. He is about to be assessed by CAMHS as we have a number of problems. He has been excluded from school once. I am fully expecting a diagnosis of autism at some level. I have always done the school run with him. We are introducing a child minder this week with a view that he will go there 3 mornings before school and once after school.

Job two is my previous role. It is less money and more hours but can be 9-3. and is local, andl I won't have to travel out of the area. Although funding isn't secure for this role and is for 1 year only at the moment.

Job one works well as I can fit my hours around inset days and have 2 days off and work 2 days locally. So am only out of the area one day a week. If the child minder doesn't work out though I am stuck as I need to work one long day to cover meetings etc. (DP works out of the country once a month so can not be relied upon)

Job 2 would fit in with school and I can be there within 5 mins if needed. The problem is covering inset days/sickness etc. THis role also has less annual leave. We would need more child care also (8am-3pm) so would cost us more and bring in less money.

The nearest family we have are nearly 200 miles away so can't help out in emergency.

Opinions greatly received.

Speaking as someone who has been looking for a job for ages, I would go for the one with more security. If you took job 2 and there was no funding next year, what would you do?

Why did you leave job 2 to take job 1? Presumably you enjoy it more and there were good reasons for taking it. Are you willing to give that up on the off-chance that your childminder might not work out? Presumably your DP would only need to help out on that one day once or twice until you found a new child-minder if really necessary so you don't need to rely on him to be there.

Fingers crossed something turns up for you soon Snowy. Job one was more hours and job two was working from home and paid more so fitted in with DS at the time.

I just worry about being so far away if there was a problem at school. Also worried about DS and finding suitable child care. After school club won't have his as they have to walk to the senior school and he can't be trusted to be safe.

I am leaning more to staying put for the flexibility and leave.

Thank you for replying. Job 2 is being advertised next week if you are in the area and work in care environment???

Not even in the same country! But thanks. Honestly, does it matter how far away you are if there is a problem at school? Yes, so you won't be there in 5 mins, but they're hardly going to throw him outside to wait for you are they. He'll be safe, with people he knows and knowing you're on your way to him. How far away is your DP? If he's closer he could pick him up and wait until you get back. Ok, so maybe not ideal, but he also has to make allowances for urgencies when the children are involved.

That seems crazy about the after school club. Surely you aren't the only one in this position? Will a teacher from the school not walk them all over to the club? It might be worth asking.

Dp works out of the country 1/2 weeks a month and his office is an hour away. So not much use. After school club is run by the lunch time staff. They have to walk on main road. They can't ensure his safety or that of the other children. Fingers crossed the child minder works out ok. I am sure I'm just over thinking things. Thank you for replying though.

I'm sure it will be fine. But I'm a serial over-thinker too so I know what it's like. The best way to see if it works is to give it a try and if it's really not working out then find a way to change.