Going back to work

Yes, I went back to the job I loved when Jude was around 5 months old. At first I went back 3 days a week (consecutive days) 9am-3pm but after about a month moved up to 5 days a week 9-3. I liked working the part days, although if my commute had been longer then I would have thought about working full days (but same amount of hours a week.)

What I found worked really well for us was that the daycare was only 5-10mins or so away from my work. It meant that I could go and feed Jude in my lunchtimes. So I was only away from him for 3 hours at a time and got to spend an hour with him at lunchtimes.

The only reason I left that job was because we decided we wanted to move north and have a go at dairy farming. I miss my old job tho!

Edited by Delli

I went back to my old job full time with G was 14 weeks old. It was hard to leave her but I knew that that what had already been planned. I was lucky that her Dad became the at home parent and worked from home a couple of days a week while my Mum looked after her.

Hope it all works out well for you.

I went back when M was 9 and a half months - 6 hours a day but with the commute of 30 mins on the ferry/drive it was a full day for her (lived on the shore worked in the CBD)
I went back to my original job, during a re structure and was spared by my boss, but they wouldnt negotiate by hours under the new contract / role so I took voluntary redundancy 6 months later
Yes I could have argued the point under the parent laws but I couldnt be bothered with it, so my priorities had changed also (a bit of a shock to me)
I did work fulltime for a bit and it was hard work , and thats with only 1 child - and running a household - when I go back again I will have a live in nanny and hopefully not work full time either

I went back to work when Gabrielle was just under 5 months old. I didn't want to but we needed the money so I just had to do it. I started back 4 days a week - two full days in the office 8.30am - 4.30pm and one day where I worked morning in the office 8.30am - 12 noon and then the afternoon from home, and one full day working from home. Working from home was a total nightmare and was only a temporary measure for 6 weeks to ease myself and G into the routine of things.

I now work 30 hours a week; Monday, Thursday and Friday are full days in the office 8.30am - 4.30pm and Wednesday is 8.30am - 1pm in the office and the afternoon working from home. I still find it difficult working from home as G doesn't sleep enough for me to get things completed and I mostly end up working at night to catch up. However, it is good to have the flexibility of working from home and it means that I get to spend time with her when I might otherwise be at work.

Ok, so on to your questions:

Did you go back to what you were doing before having children?
Yes, I went back to the same job. I love what I do although I don't always particularly like the bullsh*t politics that comes with it.


For those working part time have you found it better to work full days or part days?
I have found that working full days and then having one full day off a week works better for us. It means on that one day a week (Tuesday for us) I can do "mummy stuff" like taking G to swimming, to story time at the library etc. It eases the guilt and we get to do special stuff together that we both enjoy. However, working full days does mean that she has a long day - up at 6.30am, out the door at 7.30am and usually not home till 5pm.

Something for the Akl mums how far / long do you commute for?
I'm not in Auckland but we live 10 mins from daycare and then its another 10-15mins depending on traffic to get to work. We leave the house at 7.30am and I am usually at my desk by 8am.

I went back to work when the girls were 14 weeks old. At first, I was working a lot of random hours, because I was just a casual employee and wanted to make an impression so that I could end up with a permanent job - I was doing anywhere between 15-30 hours a week, depending on childcare. Over Christmas/New Year it was closer to 40 hours a week (DH wasn't at work so could look after the girls). Since mid-Jan though, it's settled down and at the moment I am doing 4 day weeks (Fri-Mon) with childcare shared between grandmothers and DH. The hours on Sat/Sun vary though...for example, today I did 11.30am-8pm, tomorrow I am doing 12.30-6pm. Next weekend I am only doing 4.30-8pm on Saturday, nothing on Sunday.

I didn't go back to what I was doing before I had the girls. I decided that it just wasn't worth the stress, and so I work at the Warehouse. I can go to work, do my job, and come home. There's no bringing work home with me, and I love that I can leave and not have to think about it again until I'm at work next. It also means that I have flexibility with hours, so if we have a big bill coming up, I can try to get a few more hours (and $$). I have 11.5 permanent hours, and the rest I just pick up to cover people who are on leave or sick.

DH would like me to be at home with our child too - the realty is with moving to Akl and renting out our house - is even if I'm only working 10 hours a week it will mean if the house isn't tenanted we won't be forced to sell.

Without a few extra dollars it makes everything really tight.

I usually do office admin, I'm also a qualified massage therapist - it would be nice to get a couple of cash clients in my home and maybe 10-15 hours of office work during the day there seems to be a bit about, trying to work out if full days or half days works best. I think 2 full days would be good then I can spend the rest of the time with baby and looking after the house.

Finding other sources of income is helpful though. If I can find something to do from home then that's a bonus.

I went back to work when the girls were 8 months old. I started off working Mondays and Thursdays and in the office from 9 - 3:30.

I have found the non-consecutive days to be unproductive or my job (Programming). Unfortunately the nanny we had couldn't give me consecutive days due to another job she had.

The girls start daycare tomorrow and in a few weeks I'll be working 3 consecutive days as soon as the days come available in daycare for the girls.

I went back to where I was previously as I only had been employed 6 months and they have been very accommodating in allowing me to decide the hours I want to work. Plus I had only just been promoted to a Senior position, so from the CV perspective it looks much better that I am still employed with them.

ETA: I have a 30-40 minute commute to work.

Edited by tishy

Thanks will do. It would be nice to work for someone else rather than having to do it all myself.