Does anyone do daycare drop off and pickup? Is it miserable?

[Anonymous]

Me too. I'm a single mom too so it is me doing it 24/7. Here is some advice. Just pretend you have no other choice and it will become routine fairly quickly. I have always told myself that I can do it and I will because I have to. If you think like that, it will be a breeze. GL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do both dropoff and pickup. Our schedules is 5 days a week:

9:00 drop off kids and go to work (work is nextdoor to my daycare)
6:00 leave work and pick up kids

It can get wearying, I can tell you. But I really never have done anything different so I don't have anything to compare it to, so I just do it, ya know? It is a cumultative wearying experience, so, by the end of the week, I'm pretty much spent, but, like I said, this is just what we've always done so I am used to it.

I will say this much: the time in car has been good for DC and me. I feel a lot closer to them than DH does and I really do think it has been good quality time for us.

Good luck.

PS From what I can tell, looking around at the other families at daycare, most other families have one parent doing both dropoff and pickup as well. I think that's b/c usually one parent works significantly closer than the other one. For example, my DH works downtown and ourdaycare (and my office) are both in Tysons. But we chose it that way on purpose, so, maybe diff. strokes for diff. folks.

[Anonymous]

We have two children. DH drops off baby and I drop off preschooler at 8 am. Then I pick them both up in the afternoon around 4:30. It will be more work for you than having a nanny though as you have to get the baby dressed and all the bottles/food ready. However, I especially like pick up as the kids are so happy to see their parents.

[Anonymous]

How's it going, OP? Want to check back in with us and give us an update? Hope it's going well!

[Anonymous]

Hi im looking to put my 1 year old daughter into daycare but cant seem to find a daycare that picks up and drops off from homes, ive been told only certain do it but cant seem to find one out near wynnum brisbane it would just be easier as i dont have a liscence and my next baby is due in april... Does anyone know places? Pleaseeee

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi im looking to put my 1 year old daughter into daycare but cant seem to find a daycare that picks up and drops off from homes, ive been told only certain do it but cant seem to find one out near wynnum brisbane it would just be easier as i dont have a liscence and my next baby is due in april... Does anyone know places? Pleaseeee

Brisbane?

Brisbane, Australia?

[Anonymous]

I do all the driving for the family because my wife is legally blind. I work 15 minutes from home and my spouse works 10 minutes further away. Our kids are in daycare in my wife's building. So, my daily commute, leave home 8:15-8:30, go to daycare at 8:40-8:45, drop off wife and kids, get to work around 9:00-9:15. Work until 5:30-5:45, get to daycare 5:45-6:00 and get home around 6:30-6:45. I'm in a new job, so I don't have too much vacation built up yet, so I don't get days off.

It's a little grueling, but I don't have the option of a spouse to switch off with. Your schedule sounds like heaven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do all the driving for the family because my wife is legally blind. I work 15 minutes from home and my spouse works 10 minutes further away. Our kids are in daycare in my wife's building. So, my daily commute, leave home 8:15-8:30, go to daycare at 8:40-8:45, drop off wife and kids, get to work around 9:00-9:15. Work until 5:30-5:45, get to daycare 5:45-6:00 and get home around 6:30-6:45. I'm in a new job, so I don't have too much vacation built up yet, so I don't get days off.

It's a little grueling, but I don't have the option of a spouse to switch off with. Your schedule sounds like heaven.

do you not have a public transportation option? My wife is legally blind too- but we have a very equal parenting relationship, she takes the kids on the metro to daycare in her building, I take the kid in the car who is in a different child care setting.

[Anonymous]

When our kids were both at the same location, we divided things up. But our oldest eventually aged out of the daycare into a preschool, so then we each took ownership of the dropoff/pickup of one of the kids. It's great to divide things up when possible, but if your work schedule allows you to be in on the late side (9 is late for me) and leave on the early side, you get used to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are thinking about switching from a nanny to a daycare. Below would be my schedule. Crazy?

4 days a week
8:00-drop off kids
9:00-arrive at work
3:30-leave work
4:30-pick up kids

Day 5-telecommute from home so still do dropoff and pickup, but have no commuting.

Before I agree to this, I thought I would try to get some real life perspective. Thank you.

So you don't work full time? This seems fine to me.

[Anonymous]

Maybe once every 3wks DH will do drop-off but his days are much longer than mine, whereas I typically do 8 and am out so I do drop-off and pick-up.

Personally, I really like it. I get to get that last kiss from DD before I head to work and I love how happy she is to see me in the afternoon. I get to see her teachers, see her engaged with her classmates at preschool, and check out the artwork or announcements that are posted (DH never remembers those things).

Our commute to/from preschool is about 10min and it's a great time for us to connect, sing, make plans for the evening.

[Anonymous]

I do both drop off and pick up and there are definitely days that I resent my husband not doing one of them, like most husbands, but it's the reality of our situation. Anyway, to answer your question - it's not too miserable. I leave home 7:30, arrive at work at 8:30, leave work at 5, get home at 6. DH's responsible for dinner most nights, and he gets our kid ready in the morning so that's 45 minutes of home tasks every day that he's putting in, not too uneven with the extra 60 minutes I have of commute time each day due to being the only parent who does drop off and pick up. He also cleans more than I do, so overall I think we're generally even enough.

If I had to do drop off, pick ups, cleaning, cooking, laundry, getting the kids ready in the morning etc all by myself, then I would definitely think that's a miserable set up. If you're the driver, fine - then he should pick some other tasks to compensate for you doing this part solo.