Am I mad to consider giving up work when school starts?

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I currently work three days a week and with school starting in Sept I am now considering my working plan

I could reduce the hours and start at 10am finish at 2pm but it would be a massive rush as the commute to work can take an hour on busy days and involves two buses (would be even longer if I drove and no staff parking!) and would mean taking time off in holidays/holiday clubs for holiday time

Term time working isn't an option for the job I'm in and so I'm seriously seriously considering giving it up and wanted some thoughts/advice on what others think

We could manage on DHs salary alone but would have to be more savvy with the budget...something that I'm not that good at doing as I've been used to my wages giving us a little extra for luxuries etc but then again, not being at work would give me more time to cook from scratch, which is what I love to do anyway

I am !!

Does the school have a breakfast club/after school care...that is what i am planning to do for the 3 days i work.

Holidays...not sure, am hoping to muddle through!

I am not sure...to be honest, I am not keen on idea of breakfast/after school clubs.

It would be ok if DS wanted to do it to be with his friends or similar, but not sure I would want to enforce it as a means of childcare- but that is just my personal preference

But what would you do all day? I am currently a SAHM (not through choice) and am bored out of my mind already (will probably be flamed for this). I shudder to think what I'll do once dd2 starts nursery..., really really hope to have found a job by then!

i have done this. it was alltoo much of a head feck and i didn't particularly love my job.

i considered this when dd1 started school - i was working full time at the time

in the end i reduced my hours

i work three days a week but start at 9.30 so i take dd1 to school every day

she goes to a cm after school (well she does when i am at work, am on ml atm so no childcare needed)

works for me - still earning money and keeping my job going, i would be very lucky to find another pt job as well paid and for such sympathetic employers if i were to give it up

we are fortunate that while we don't have any family nearby, the il's are retired and my mum works in a school so they are available during holidays for childcare. DH and I take our holidays in school holiday times when we can - the downside is that we don't get more than a couple of weeks a year together as a family

in hindsight i'm glad i didn't give up completely, i need some time out from being a parent - of course not everyone feels this way

it depends on how you feel about your job and what childcare you can get around school. it is far easier organising childcare for a preschooler than a school age child so i completely understand anyone who gives up work when their child goes to school

Can't say I blame you, I work full time and it was so much easier when dd1 was at nursery. They have so many holidays, and it doesn't help that DH can't take any time off until July (well at least he'll be doing the whole summer holidays!). If you can afford it and you want to, go for it!

It just feels weird to be thinking about giving up work just when school starts as normally its the other way around

However, on my NWDs now, DS and I do lots of things together and have had some lovely times together. When he is at school, that will cease and for me, it feels important to be there for him...I can remember loving seeing my mum at the school gates and then going home and talking about my day

We don't have family here to help either so that's another factor in the holiday issue...

Although I must confess, I am thinking eeek - how to entertain him in the hols and after school??!! Do they require much entertaining after school?!

Job isn't mega bucks...would be around an extra £500 pcm after tax I think...and I can take it or leave it as I'm fed up with it anyway!

Everyone tells me that the time in between dropping them off and picking them up goes really fast - is that the case?

Mysticmasseuse, I think it's completely different being a SAHM when your children are in school and being a SAHM mum with toddlers. Both my ds's are of school age and while I now drift in and out of work for my previous employers (we have a nice arrangement where I sometimes work part-time for them if it fits in with my time available), I am still home a lot. I use some of the time to help out at school, I became a School Governor -ok, I got suckered into that one! - I am using some of the time to learn new packages on the PC or update my knowledge of existing ones, I manage to have long coffees or lunch with friends - less often than I would like - and I no longer have to fit hair appts etc into Saturdays.

you should keep working, just find somebody who could pick child from school until you back from work.

if your job is something that you enjoy, that has some significance in your life, keep working.

after school clubs (at least at DS school) can be fab, as can holiday clubs.

There isn't anyone though..friends are either working or do not live close enough.

Would be different if had family close by as I wouldn't mind DS being picked up by them but its not an option

Wow, just logged on to look for any old threads on this and found yours. Am in exactly the same position. I work 4 days, have a good career, senior position and enjoy my job. BUT fed up of juggling (have d1s at school and have just switched to nanny for ds2 and afterschool as had bad experience with cm). We don't have family near and both travel with work and I am fed up of planning out who will be home for boys and working evenings to keep on top of what is effectively a fulltime job.
Have decided that once ds2 goes to school i will either have a very p/t job or do some kind of freelance/home business type thing to keep me usefully employed but also free me up to do wife/mum stuff and feel less frantic all the time.
Definitely agree that mine seem to need me more as they get older (they were both v happy at nursery until ds1 started school) and I enjoy their company more so can imagine us doing fun stuff in the holidays.
Anyway, I am v lucky that have a dh who earns enough that this could be a possibility. Just wondered if there was anyone around who had made the switch and love/hate it, good luck with your decision privacyrequired and thanks for starting the thread!

sorry, wife/mum stuff sounds v tw*tty but you know what i mean, i'd like to see if i'm any good as a homemaker rather than stressed out business woman

I think if you have a 'take it or leave it' attitude to your job, then what you may need is to look around for something more stimulating rather than give up altogether.

I do understand where you're coming from, because the logistics of childcare become more complicated once the kids start school - but the plus side is that it is LOADS cheaper.

I swapped full time nursery for having to juggle childminders before and after school, and also deal with that complicated part time start they do in reception when they're a summer born child. Dropping off and picking up at nursery was easier, but vastly more expensive. It's worth sticking it out and sorting out a solution, because otherwise you may get very bored at home. I think holidays and time off is one thing- it's easy to fill the days with interesting things - but being at home full time when your children are at school is quite another. Also, you mention you would need to budget carefully and cut back - just at the same time as you would be home all day and have time on your hands to start spending more!

I would find a childminder, while at the same time looking around for a more interesting job. I just think jacking it all in could be a mistake.

I did this when DS1 started school was working 3 days a week teaching and stopped when he started. I did have 2 other children at home so I didn't have the empty days others are worried about. It was the right decision for me and now the younger 2 are at school I am tentatively looking at going back, at the moment I work 1 day a week but the child care arrangements even for that can be a nightmare. You do find stuff to fill the time, and it is nice to have free time in evenings and weekends which if I worked more would be spent doing cleaning and stuff.