How to work around my small children!?

[mommyandmore]

We have a 2 year old and a baby due in the Spring. I'm currently a teacher but will be stopping work as will need more flexibility and I want to spend more time with my children. I do still however need to earn some money whilst they are little. What do other parents do? I'm super flexible regarding what it is I do just as long as I can have some financial independence! DH and I live a good hours drive away from family so sadly they are not an option to help. Any advice or suggestions hugely appreciated! X

What do other people do when they’ve got pre school children and they work?

-Nursery

Do evening shifts when partner is home

work weekends if your partner is off then.

A nanny. If you earn enough
Childminder

How much do you need to earn? Could you go part time after maternity leave?

Are you sure about giving up teaching, because it's one of the most flexible careers there are for a woman with a family?

Could you go part-time?

Tutoring I suppose would be an option but it's not a reliable source of income.

Evening tutoring when dh is home with the kids

Qualify as a childminder

Saturday job

Work part time with childcare

I don’t really understand your question @mommyandmore nobody on here is going to know what hours you actually want or need. You’re going to have to look around and find a part-time job that suits your family. It’s a simple as that. Can you go part-time teaching?

Teaching will be very good for endless school holidays in a few years (so long as DH can pull his weight during term time). Really think about if you want to stop

Supply teaching would work well, I’d aim for one day a week. Speak to locally recommended agencies whilst your current employer can act as a reference.
you can’t pay into a teachers pension though

Your husband could do compressed hours and work a 4 day week. Or he could go part time and you also go back part time.

Thanks for your replies! I'm just finding the prospect of juggling 2 little ones and working overwhelming at the moment. I guess I want to know what others do and how they juggle if in a similar position.
I have looked into CM but the ratios are not in my favour as I'll have my own with me.

Use nursery or a childminder for childcare. Teaching supply or part time would make sense as it’s a flexible job.

I work full time so pay a huge amount in nursery and school wraparound not to mention school holiday clubs.

I'd definitely try and find something with good flexibility for school holidays as 13 weeks school hols and 5 weeks annual leave is not easy to make work.

There are so many mothers leaving teaching: it’s a real workforce crisis as the job can be brutal with family demands.
the Facebook page The Work From Home Hub did some particular stuff/ mailing lists for those leaving teaching a while ago, it might be helpful to look at

Why do people ask this AFTER they're pregnant?

This

Do you have a partner? Does he do his fair share of nursery pick ups, sick days etc?

Do you need to work financially?

You ask what most people do... most people I know work and pay for childcare.

Most people pay for childcare while they go to work. Or work shifts so one parent is always home. Or have grandparents provide childcare (the dream!). Or have partner who earns enough money to not need two incomes, or make massive sacrifices to stay at home.

The 'work flexibly around my children' is a fantasy really. There will be a some people who can make it work, but it's not the reality for most of us.

Well she currently has a career, hasn’t given birth yet and will have maternity leave after. I think her timescale is fine, it’s not like she’s a homeless teenager.

Are you sure about this? 🤨

A cousin gave up teaching as it was too full on with two young children. She now does some tutoring in the evenings when her DH is home. It seems to be pretty lucrative if you are in a Grammar area.

Drop a day or 2, nursery, school clubs. Xx

I worked as a consultant for my old firm. I took on odd projects they needed done that could be done by one person with few meetings. I worked evenings and weekends while DH was available.

i didn’t take on any kind of consistent work until I had dc in regular childcare.

To be fair, I didn’t realise how strongly I would feel about being apart from my child until I had them. I knew I would love them obviously, but I just expected to go back to work and use childcare, but actually I found that I really didn’t want to, and had to find more of a balance than I was expecting to. Plus having a child with SEND for me made a difference.

Whoever said teacher was flexible, apart from the holidays, it is very inflexible. No way of picking up or dropping off, missing assemblies, sports days, nativities etc

On line tutoring
Exam invigilator
Part time nanny/babysitter
Part time job in a nursery or pre school

You could train as a childminder too, that would work well either way with your skill set and be appealing for parents as you would know how to get children school ready.
its a lot of admin so you’d probably have to sacrifice one day of your weekend for that plus planning time, but you could control how many kids to take on and lots of the initial training etc is online.
depending on what your husband does he could be the accountant

Some fab suggestions- thank you everyone! X