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early morning child care

(33 Posts)
inishowen Thu 05-Oct-17 12:03:27

My daughter used to bring her baby to our house at around 7.30 am. It wasn't so hard on the baby, but we found it exhausting being up and showered by that time. Her "baby" is now five and at school. Fortunately my daughter has a 4 month old now and is taking a year off work. the children are enjoying having a lovely relaxed start to their days. It will be so hard for them when mum has to go back to work.

annsixty Thu 05-Oct-17 10:44:22

My friend has told me that back in " the bad old days" her SiL used to get her , by then school aged children, up at 5.30am, dress them, give them some breakfast and then put them back to bed with an alarm clock to wake them when it was time to go to school.
My own GC was delivered to us , on three days a week,by 7.30 ,in her pyjamas and we would give her breakfast, get her ready and take her to school until she was 11.

silverlining48 Thu 05-Oct-17 10:35:40

as grandparents we have had to get up at 5.30 am every week for the last 7 years in order to get to dd house by 7 am latest, in order to look after 2 lively gc, for up to 12 hours. !

Particularly horrible in winter! Those dark mornings....
Happy to say youngest just started school so its just an afternoon pick up. feeling happy.

gillybob Thu 05-Oct-17 08:05:37

That was me and my little son many years ago travelsafar without the luxury of the car . When I look back at how I dragged my poor little boy through the streets to the bus stop every morning and dumped him in nursery for the day I could weep. I had no other choice. No husband/partner/father to keep us. These days, I can honestly say (if I had my time again) I would have gone onto benefits.

Imperfect27 Thu 05-Oct-17 08:00:44

Totally agree. My DD1 is mum to a 22 month-old and he has to attend full-time nursery. She and her DH both have to work full-time to make ends meet - his job was very uncertain (trying to establish a business) when GS was born so she stayed with teaching full-time.

Little one is up and out every day in all weathers - a walk to nursery. He always seems to have a nasty croupy cough / cold going on and they have to walk along heavily traffic polluted roads at peak rush hour times.

The pace of life is just so fast and furious. DD often worlks through the night on a Sunday so she can have daytime with him - as a department head she has 4 free periods out of class on a Monday morning and flakes then!

A modest little family with a modest home, who waited until 30+ yo afford to have a child, pay their taxes and work conscientiously. But they do all have it hard and stress is a constant factor. DD is hoping to have a.n.other baby in the year ahead and is busy working on ideas to then run a business herself from home.

We were very hard up when my children were little, but at least I had enough time with them and they were not being pulled from pillar to post.

I get vet cross when this generation are criticised - they need support.

loopyloo Thu 05-Oct-17 07:58:25

I wouldn't worry too much about the little boy. He probably enjoys meeting his friends at the preschool club or spending time with the childminder. Is 6.45 that early? Not really if he goes to bed early enough.

Smithy Thu 05-Oct-17 07:57:30

Yes , but it isn't really a new thing. I can remember in 1989, when I was still working, one young mum in particular used to get her little boy out of bed, wrap him in a blanket and bundle him in the car still asleep, to take him too her mums. He wasn't even school age.
Suppose you go on about do they really need to go to work etc but it's all been said before han't it.

travelsafar Thu 05-Oct-17 07:45:18

We have new neighbours who moved in across the road end of August. Every morning at 6.45am during the week i see the mother putting her little boy in the car presumably to take to a child minder or breakfast club before school. My heart goes out to the pair of them, especially now the dark cold mornings are on their way. I think back to when my children were around his age and how they would still be in bed asleep at 7.00am and how we didnt leave the house till 8.30 to walk to school for 9am. How the little boy gets through a long day at school i really dont know. He only looks about 6 or 7years old bless him.sad Being a young mum these days is so hard.