Working Parents & Childcare

Ten days of exam valuation duty from next Monday, and nobody home when the van drops him

lagoon_lantern_196

The university has put me on the valuation camp for ten working days, 9 to 5, at a centre on the other side of the city. Phones are deposited at the door. My partner's office days for that fortnight are fixed and can't move much. Our son is 9. His van drops him home at 3.45, and normally either I'm back by then or my partner is working from home. For these ten days there's a gap of over two hours every afternoon, and we've never left him alone for more than twenty minutes. I have a week to sort this. What have others done for a short stretch like this?

3 comments

  • ochre_diary_6404

    What's the actual gap, 3.45 to what time? And is there any adult in the building he knows by name, watchman, neighbour, anyone? Answer those first and the options get much narrower.

    • lagoon_lantern_196

      3.45 to about 6.15 with the traffic back. There's the watchman, who he waves at. Not someone I'd hand him to for two and a half hours.

  • ivory_fern_6476

    Arre, valuation camp. I've done more of those than I can count. Two things that helped colleagues with small children: ask the chief examiner early whether you can do the morning session only with fewer scripts, and if not, whether you can leave at 3 on some days. They say no to people who ask on day one. They sometimes say yes to people who ask a week before 🙂

    • lagoon_lantern_196

      Wrote to the coordinator this evening asking for an early finish on even three of the days. Reply so far: 'will see'. I'm learning what that means.

    • teal_window_7136

      The ask-a-week-before part is true outside universities too. Festival rosters at our store go to whoever asks first and most specifically. I'd send a second mail with the exact dates and times rather than 'some days'.

    • violet_wave_5912

      Replying to @lagoon_lantern_196

      'will see' from our admin always meant no. on my travel weeks a neighbour aunty used to wait at the gate for my daughter's van and keep her till i got back. paid her by the day. ask around your building

  • basil_lantern_3574

    Does his school run anything after hours, even informally? Some teachers keep a few children for an hour of homework. Otherwise a classmate's family close by. Reciprocal arrangements tend to work well for short stretches, because the other family knows exactly when it ends.

    • lagoon_lantern_196

      Nothing official after school. There's a boy from his class two buildings down and I keep thinking of asking his mother. Ten days feels like a lot to ask of someone I only know from the van stop. Also, clearly, I'm not sleeping.

    • lagoon_lantern_196

      Asked her at the van stop this morning. She said yes before I'd finished explaining, and added that I can have hers for a weekend in return, which seems more than fair. The boys are thrilled. Thank you all for answering at such odd hours ❤

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