Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it was stressful because my boss would act like I don't care about my job if I take a day off. I had previously been sick only once in 5 years.
I simply stayed home with my 2nd child and found a part time job working when DH is home.

What kind of jobs allows for that flexibility and few hours?

I posted directly above this, I have a 10-year-old. I’m a nurse so throughout her life I have worked in various consulting/full-time/part-time arrangements so we’ve had a number of childcare set

Absolutely I *agonized* about any childcare changes and set ups for years. So I totally understand. It’s your baby(ies) you’re talking about!

She’s 10 now and I still over research every camp/extracurricular but I feel less anxious about it now.

Good luck - I feel for you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it was stressful because my boss would act like I don't care about my job if I take a day off. I had previously been sick only once in 5 years.
I simply stayed home with my 2nd child and found a part time job working when DH is home.

What kind of jobs allows for that flexibility and few hours?

Not PP but off the top of my head retail, restaurants, bars, office cleaning people all are open/at work once a DH gets home/on the weekends...

It can be incredibly stressful. When they are about 5 they start aging out of that issue a little bit, which is such a relief. We've had two absolutely incredible nannies and several other mediocre to nightmare ones. Even ~3-4 is easier, they start being able to do closer to a full day of preschool and peer relationships become more important.

Until mine were ~1 I worked from home with a nanny to breastfeed. That had its own difficulties, but at least I was there to know if anything was really wrong. I do worry with babies and toddlers because it's very high burnout work. A baby was killed by a worker at the daycare near our preschool last year.

Yes, with my firstborn I would wake up scared wondering who would be best placed to take care of him when I returned to work. When we got a great nanny, it stopped.

How old are the kids?

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it was stressful because my boss would act like I don't care about my job if I take a day off. I had previously been sick only once in 5 years.
I simply stayed home with my 2nd child and found a part time job working when DH is home.

What kind of jobs allows for that flexibility and few hours?

Yes. We are so happy with our son's daycare. It is an enormous relief to know you child(ren) are cared for and loved while you are working. It is very stressful to not have that peace of mind. Extremely.

The pp's comment highlights the importance of a supportive immediate boss. It doesn't matter as much how family-friendly your company is if your immediate boss doesn't support you.

My company is probably in the middle in terms of family-friendliness. But I've seen people in other departments give up because they have kids while others have thrived. I'm one of the lucky ones. My boss has two older kids, but he was a very active co-parent who always had a working wife, so he gets it and has always been extremely supportive.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it was stressful because my boss would act like I don't care about my job if I take a day off. I had previously been sick only once in 5 years.
I simply stayed home with my 2nd child and found a part time job working when DH is home.

Yes, it was stressful because my boss would act like I don't care about my job if I take a day off. I had previously been sick only once in 5 years.
I simply stayed home with my 2nd child and found a part time job working when DH is home.

Can your partner do it and you trade for something you hate less?

I have three kids and at different times I’ve stayed at home, had a nanny, done home daycare, daycare center, half day preschool plus nanny, and I’ve never found a perfect option. Making these decisions is so hard and the stress of it literally makes me feel ill. Can anyone else relate? I’m not generally an anxious person but deciding our care plans for the summer is consuming my thoughts in a way that does not seem healthy!