After all my hopes of having this super flexible work schedule, the last year and half have proved that work still sometimes feels really incompatible with being a parent. There\u2019s days when you feel you\u2019re neglecting work, and days when you feel you\u2019re neglecting your children, neither is great and the guilt can feel a little constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This month there have been two big gamechangers for me \u2013 one is that while I\u2019m in a little period of work and doing some really focused professional development, I was able to take all of half term off bar one day. It felt fantastic after a really busy August of force-fitting work around a series of holiday clubs to suddenly have the space to take time off. I took the kids on a load of trips, say friends, we spent some time together as a family and had some quieter days at home. It was full on, in the way that looking after even your own kids is sometimes harder than working, but lovely to have the flexibility to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other major win is moving our youngest to a new preschool \u2013 a rare one attached to a school where, by some magic, they manage to take the 30 hour a week childcare funding from government actually cover their costs. Partly this is because their provision is school hours only and term-time only, as the \u201c30 free hours\u201d childcare policy was intended \u2013 because we all know how many jobs are term time only, don\u2019t we?! Partly they actively control costs such as needing children to bring in a packed lunch. And partly I imagine it\u2019s because they\u2019re attached to a school and benefit from being part of a wider estate which can support with all the extra costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The added bonus is that because the place is Monday-Friday, we have flexibility about her going in on whichever days suit. Which means work commitments are easier to cover, and we don\u2019t have the faff with the previous nursery of attempting to book and pay for extra days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fundamentally, it\u2019s nothing short of brilliant. It means, for the first time in five and a half years, we aren\u2019t paying a monthly childcare bill in order to work. And it\u2019s not just about cost \u2013 the provision is brilliant \u2013 long-serving, dedicated team, fantastic resources and a warm, loving environment where children thrive. Lucky is an understatement. Plus the transition to actual school should be a cinch!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But here\u2019s the thing, we\u2019re one of the lucky ones. There\u2019s two of us to juggle drop offs and pick ups, since they\u2019re non-negotiable (and she\u2019s too long to go to any after school clubs). Between us we have jobs that have enough flexibility to start at 9.30 after drop off and leave at 2.30 for pick up. That\u2019s a 5 hour day if you don\u2019t take any breaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m really struck by how properly funded childcare is fundamental to encouraging people into, and keeping people in work. There are so few options that fit around working patterns that aren\u2019t eye-wateringly expensive, let along if you have a working pattern outside of the standard 9-5. While the government\u2019s recent announcements about extending the \u201cfree childcare\u201d provision down to 2 year olds is brilliant in that it recognises how vital childcare is, there isn\u2019t confidence that they are committing to full fund this policy in the way it requires. Without recognising the full costs of running a childcare setting (which rightly are very expensive because of the ratios, the resources, the training etc), nurseries have no choice but to continue charging on top, as ours did, or worse going out of business because the financial equation just doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being freelance has felt like a privilege over the last 18 months, and while I have never had the perfect life\/work balance, it\u2019s given me much more flexibility than the average job. If only governments cared less about headlines and more about the detail, they could make this a truly transformational policy that invested in the childhoods of millions and empowered millions of parents\/carers to remain in the workplace, contribute to the economy and invest in themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo by\u00a0Aaron Burden<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After all my hopes of having this super flexible work schedule, the last year and half have proved that work still sometimes feels really incompatible with being a parent. There\u2019s days when you feel you\u2019re neglecting work, and days when you feel you\u2019re neglecting your children, neither is great and the guilt can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28],"tags":[13,12,21,25,10],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-productivity","tag-charity","tag-freelance","tag-non-profit","tag-self-employment","tag-start-up-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t