possibly academic dilemma, but

[susyp]

hi all

i currently work 3 days a week and i have 3 hours of commuting a day. I like my job but it has no prospects really, which is fine for now, but not sure how i will feel about it when my 5 year old munchkin is bigger. it costs me ?12-15 a day depending on the route i take (cheaper route takes even longer) . at the moment i leave at 7am and get back between 630/7, not too bad but i do find the travelling a bit exhausting.

i'm applying for a job which is only a ten min bus ride away, it's less pro rata but is FT , and obviously much less travel costs. nothing to say i will get it but i meet the criteria so hoping i will get an interview. We do need the extra money. And it would lead to a proper career in the long term.

now i don't mind working ft if it is nearby as i would be able to have breakfast and dinner with the munchkin each day. potentially i would imagine i oculd juggle hours to pick her up from school one day a week. I also like the idea of being nearer for emergencies/sudden sickness etc. What gets me is missing the school holidays and i would probably only really do it, in the mad world in which i might get it - if i could do a 4 day week.

how does everyone manage the holidays? I absolutely LOVE going for days out with her and even working 3 days a week i found last summer a bit sad that i wasn't able to just hang out all the time. sounds really spoilt but i only have the one and she is growing up fast. Is one day off in every holiday week enough? I would get 4 weeks leave a year. Do I just have to make the most of weekends? When they get older are they just keen to go and play around their friends houses anyway during school hols?

just wondering how working parents feel if they are working full time or even 4 days week and if i would be mad to give up a 3 day a week job even with the immense commute?

as you can see, i have too much pondering time on my hands today. better get on with the application - would be a luxury of course to have this dilemma in reality given today's jobs climate!

susypx

[canela]

I feel your pain. I think working parents come up against dilemmas like this all the time...and you just have to find a way to muddle through.

I think there are loads of advantages of working closer to home, and in the summer this will mean that you can still enjoy a nice evening together - picnic in the park etc.

about the summer holidays, I think you just focus on making sure your child has a good summer. this might mean taking off a 2 week chunk yourself, maybe overlapping with your partner just for a week so your child can be at home for 3 weeks. The other time you look around for things they will really enjoy doing, plus see if you can arrange some swaps with friends/ relatives etc. as they get older they might enjoy going to stay with a relative for a while as well.

but don't worry if you don't fancy it yet. the choice is yours...

[alieh]

I work full time, but fairly reasonable hours so don't leave until 8:30 in the morning and am back by 5:45 usually. I am lucky that I have a good annual leave amount built up after a number of years with the same organisation, but at a minimum you would get 4-5 weeks leave, no? I usually take 3 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks at Xmas (loads of public holiday within this so don't need to use up too much annual leave), and one of the half term weeks. If you take a bit less in the summer you could save days to take a couple during each half term, even if you had to work 5 days/week.

I didn't like working 4 days/week because it meant that I ending up doing essentially a full time job whilst only being paid 80% and found those 4 days quite stressful. But that could just be the nature of my job rather than a common experience!

[katgod]

I work 3 dats and find the holidays sad too, especially the long summer one. I think I would always opt for p/t as the juggling is too much for me.