Offered a lead role, but the 8 am calls start before our caregiver arrives

ochre_window_280828 Jun 2026

I've been offered a team lead role. The work is fine, the money helps, and it's the kind of step that doesn't come round every year. The catch is a daily 8 am call with a team in another time zone. Our caregiver comes at 8.30, and I'm the only adult at home with our son, who is one. I could take the call with him on my lap most days. I've asked the caregiver about coming earlier and she can't. Or I could say no for now. For those who've done early calls with a toddler and no second adult: workable, or am I fooling myself?

5 comments

orchid_pool_520928 Jun 2026
did 8 am standups when our son was small. camera off, him in the high chair with a bowl of dry cereal. worked till he learned to reach the keyboard
- maple_trail_72728 Jun 2026
  Was there a second adult in the house at the time, though? From the post it sounds like there isn't one here, and that changes the picture. I'd want a plan for the mornings he's unwell before saying yes.
fig_violin_70128 Jun 2026
No experience with a toddler yet, ours is a month old. But is the call daily by design, or could you ask for three days a week as part of accepting? You have the most leverage before you say yes, not after.
- willow_compass_226928 Jun 2026
  Ask before you accept, definitely. I negotiated a 9.30 start when I took my first manager role. Nobody had ever asked, so nobody had ever said no.
quiet_kettle_946028 Jun 2026
The call itself is not the hard part. It's the twenty minutes after, when he's bored and you need to write up what was decided. Could you keep that slot clear and do the write-up once the caregiver is in?
orchid_gecko_648228 Jun 2026
These roles come round again more often than it feels at the time. I turned one down when my daughter was small and was offered something similar about eighteen months later. That isn't guaranteed, but 'no for now' doesn't always mean no.
umber_moon_562328 Jun 2026
tried calls with mine on my lap when she was 1. she ate the headphone cable. took the role anyway and got the call moved to 9 after two months of asking 🤷