What would you do-Work hours ?
buckeyebaby2011
member
I am a FTM of a little girl that is 9 weeks old today and will be returning to work in a little over 2 weeks
I love what I do and truly enjoy my work but am dreading having to leave her in someone else's care. I have some flexibility on the hours that I work but am not sure what the best option is so I thought I would ask some other mom's what your opinions are.
One caveat-My husband works from 730-430 and will be able to drop off/pick up LO from the sitters some of the time which would mean dropping off at 7 and picking up at 515 if he does both.
Option 1-work 5 days a week 8 hour days. Hours are from about 630-330 which would require me to drop baby off by 6 and pick up around 4 or so. If hubby drops off she wouldn't have to be there until about 7 or so and I could still pick her up around 4
Option 2 Work 4 days a week, 10 hours a day. Hours would be from 630-530 and would again mean I would have to drop her off by 6 am and not pick up until after 6 depending on traffic. If my husband is in town (which is more often than not) he can do drop off and pick up which would be from 7 till about 5 or 515 depending on traffic. I don't think she would be there all day very long but 12 hours seems like such a long time to me. On the plus side, I would have a full day off during the week to spend with her and do doctor's appointments etc.
Option 3 Work 3 days a week, 12 hour days. hours are from about 630-730 pm which would mean I wouldn't get home until after 8 some days. In this case, I would have good friends of ours pick her up when my husband was out of town so she still wouldn't have to be at the sitter's all day. I would hate for her to be there for 14 hours a day. Most of the time hubby would be able to pick her up at around 515 or so. She will most likely be in bed by the time I get home and I might not even see her all day. If the OR schedule gets light as the evening goes on it is not uncommon for me to be able to leave before 730 and I have left as early as 4 although that is really uncommon. Most often I would get off somewhere between 6 and 730. The plus side to this arrangement is that I get to be home 2 full days with her during the week in addition to the weekend.
I guess my question is this. Is it better to work more days and less hours on any given day and be able to spend a little time each day with my munchkin or to work more hours during the days but work less days and be able to spend all day with her when I am off. I know I am going to miss her desperately no matter what when I am gone and hate that she has to go to daycare in the first place.
I am really struggling with this as my original plan going into this was to work 3-4 8 hour days at the most. Unfortunately due to some unexpected financial changes that isn't going to be possible at the moment although I hope it will be again soon.
I would love to hear your thoughts and appreciate any input you might have. I see so many people say that their little one is only in daycare for 8 hours a day and I wonder how that is possible while working an 8 hour day. I don't have any flexibility in my hours as I get to leave when I get released out of the operating room by another qualified anesthetist.
Thank you so much
Kristen
Re: What would you do-Work hours ?
I think your best option might be the 4 10hr days. I know I would love to have a day off. I think 12hrs is way too long to be at work and you essentially wouldn't see your daughter at all on those days b/c she would probably be asleep both when you left and when you got home. Also I wouldn't want to have to rely on a friend to help with DC pick up, that could cause additional stress for you in the future. I work 5 days a week but do 8.5 hr days M-Th and only 6hrs on Friday. This works out nice for me b/c I have that little bit of extra "free time" on Fridays if I need to run an errand before picking DD up. I wouldn't mind working 9hr days even, but I have an hour commute each way, so my day is long enough already. As long as your commute isn't bad I think 10hrs would be okay, especially when your H is able to do d/o and p/u. FWIW between work and commute, I'm away from DD 11hrs a day.
Have you considered working 9hr days, and only 4hrs on Friday?
Personally, as much as I love my son, I love him best when I just get a few hours with him each day. The days when I have him all to myself all day long are exhausting and I don't necessarily want more of them. I'm a teacher and get off around 3 and usually pick up by 4:30. My boy doesn't go to bed until at least 8:30 so that's 4 wonderful hours that I have with him. I would hate having a more rushed evening 4 days and then having a whole day of chasing after him by myself in exchange. My husband works T-Sat so I already have one day a week of childcare duty by myself and with my high energy son that's enough. This summer will be interesting...
If it were me, I would take the 3 12 hour days. Its a personal choice, but seeing as I currently work 5-10+ hour days, it wouldn't feel that much longer to me.. and I'd rather have more days at home with LO.
On a typical day, I see him for no more that 45 minutes, 5 times a week. I'd rather not see hime 3 days a week and get 4 fulls days with him. It also helps that he is with my mom all day... so I know he's in good hands.