I hear you OP. We both work out of home and have easy commutes, but have two kids in two different places (school and day care), which makes life complicated. I work 40 hours a week, but that can include nights and weekends, so DH is often the primary caregiver and in charge of pickups and dinner those evenings. I try to make things easier by running errands and doing meal prep on mornings that I have off, but I also try to take some time for myself those mornings (going to the gym, maybe shopping). We have family visit only a few times a year, and my mom will often do an extended stay to help us out (she'll make dinner and basic housekeeping when she's here). But its a a lot of stress and rush otherwise. Since I work weekends, my kids don't do a lot of extracurricular weekend activities. I can't go part time in my job, and have been looking around for another full time job in order to have a more normal weekday schedule, but quite frankly, the benefit of my current job is that I get paid higher than I would in most other companies. That's been helpful in saving money for household issues as well as taking nicer vacations.

OP it sounds like many of your problems are the weekends. What errands and chores are you doing?

This is pretty much everyone I know here. City of transplants. It must be very, very hard.

Anonymous wrote:OP, what do you want from us? We have given you our schedules and our suggestions. You just seem bitter that your life isn't different. You need to either accept your life the way it is, or change it. New job for starters.

I spend 3 hours/day with my child. Do I wish it was more? Of course. But I work full time. I have to. I used to spend less time with him but changed my work schedule. Now I work 8-4 and pick up my kid by 430. He goes to bed at 745. Yes, I work through lunch. Yes it's ok with my employer.

We have been trying to change jobs or go PT, but how there are very few part time positions. And we have heard it can tank your chances of getting a job to ask too early about family friendly perks like flextime or telework?

Where do you work? How did you score the position? We appreciate the detailed schedule PP gave us, and we recognize a) we need to get by with less sleep and b ) need to find jobs that will give us that 2.5 hrs back a week at lunch! So bring on the deets!