Thanks for the feedback. Not wealthy, but willing to make some financial sacrifices for a saner schedule. The problem is the unpredictability of traffic. Work locations are inconvenient for reliably doing on-time pick-up in rush hour. (Moving is not viable due to job locations, etc.; there's no one place we could go that would make things overall better.)

OP, we have hired just such a person and it can be done, although we did provide more hours a week of work to start out. We hired through care.com. Pay $20 per hour for housekeeping/driving/petcare. Started off with a 25 hour a week schedule but have now dropped to 15 as our needs are less. General schedule was arrive at 2 pm let out dog, pick up kids and drive to any activities, etc. and clean house/do laundry. The woman who works for us (and we have had her for several years now) cleans other houses in the mornings. My only recommendation is if you really want housekeeping, hire someone who sees herself as a housekeeper first, not a nanny/other who says she is willing to clean. You will likely be hiring an older woman who is used to putting together a full income out of housekeeping and other similar jobs.

Anonymous wrote:If you are in NOVA or DC, I heard this recently on WTOP. Not an endorsement - just thought it was an interesting service.

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2019/03/hopskipdrive-a-kid-friendly-ride-service-comes-to-washington/

This sounds like your best option, provided that your child is well-behaved and that they have a booster seat.

Anonymous wrote:The best solution is for you and your Dh to stagger your schedules a bit so that one of you is available to pick up your child at 5, and just hire a cleaning person to come in each week to clean.

If it is absolutely impossible for either of you to be available for the 5 pm pick up, you hire a person to do just that. You will have to pay a very high rate for a short amount of time, plus reimburse for gas/mileage. You could also see if there is another family that lives near you that is also picking up their child at that time, and offer to pay them.

This. People are constantly posting for afterschool help. Because people who take those 3 hour/day jobs don't last very long.

Anonymous wrote:If you’re saying you are wealthy, then you should hire a full-time housekeeper. Her duties would be cleaning, pick up kid, and maybe add in grocery shopping, other errands, and cooking. That’s what someone who is actually wealthy would do.

This.

I’m not exactly wealthy, but a single mom, and I pay a FT housekeeper to clean, shop, do laundry, cook, run errands like dry cleaning or taking my car to get inspected, walk my dogs, deal with the plumber, puts my kid on and off the bus, and does activity transport. When I get home, I spend time with my kid, and do minor chores (put plates in the dishwasher and run it, walk the dogs, etc). Essentially, I have hired a SAHM who works 7:30-5.

If you are in NOVA or DC, I heard this recently on WTOP. Not an endorsement - just thought it was an interesting service.

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2019/03/hopskipdrive-a-kid-friendly-ride-service-comes-to-washington/

The best solution is for you and your Dh to stagger your schedules a bit so that one of you is available to pick up your child at 5, and just hire a cleaning person to come in each week to clean.

If it is absolutely impossible for either of you to be available for the 5 pm pick up, you hire a person to do just that. You will have to pay a very high rate for a short amount of time, plus reimburse for gas/mileage. You could also see if there is another family that lives near you that is also picking up their child at that time, and offer to pay them.