Partner is home this year, back at work next year. Which version of us do we pick an LKG school for?

lagoon_piano_52163 Jun 2026

We're starting to look at schools for LKG next June. My partner is taking this year off work, so this year any drop-off time and any distance feels manageable. From next year we'll both be working, and I'm the one with the meeting-heavy days. Do I shortlist for the life we'll have then: close to home, longer day, a van or daycare after? Or do I not let next year's logistics rule out a school we really like? A couple of the ones we liked on paper are 25 to 30 minutes from Attapur in the morning. How did people with a change like this coming up decide?

7 comments

banyan_paper_77253 Jun 2026
Taking notes, ours is only 1. But my sister did exactly this. She picked the school for the year she was at home, went back to work, and then spent two years paying for a van that took 50 minutes each way. She says she'd pick for the harder year if she did it again.
moss_gecko_31963 Jun 2026
whatever you shortlist, do the drive once at 8.15 on a weekday after schools reopen. the 25 minutes the map shows on a sunday is not the 25 minutes you'll get.
jade_drum_53463 Jun 2026
We're doing the same search for our younger one, so no wisdom yet, just one thing from the elder. We chose his first school when we had a nanny we relied on completely, and she left within the year. Every plan we made around one person's availability broke at some point. Now we only count arrangements we control. Distance is one of those.
- indigo_drum_73164 Jun 2026
  Agree, from a different angle. My partner's hours were supposed to ease after the first year. They didn't. Being close to school saved us more often than anything else when she was small.
violet_compass_13713 Jun 2026
My partner is home this year too, so I recognise this exactly. When we chose our younger one's preschool we went with the closer one even though the other felt nicer on the visit. The visits blur after a few months, the commute doesn't. One way to use this year: let your partner do the visits on weekday mornings and watch real drop-off at each school. That's the information you won't have time to collect next year ❤
gentle_chai_33643 Jun 2026
Things change more than you expect. When our son started school, both our work patterns were different from what they are now, so even next year's routine won't be permanent. I wouldn't let one future year decide everything. Check whether the schools you like run a van from Attapur before ruling them out.
umber_pebble_43694 Jun 2026
We use school transport for our daughter and it has made a farther school workable, but it cost us flexibility. On theatre days I can't do pickup at all, so if the van is late or doesn't run there's no backup. The closer school would have meant a neighbour could step in. I still don't know which was the better choice.
silver_kettle_71924 Jun 2026
Went through this with our older one. Ask each school how long the LKG day is, not only how far it is. A 12.30 finish matters more next year than the drive does.