Parents of Preschoolers  Discussion Forum

Hi,

I am a s/w engr and planning to go back to work in a couple of months. I have a 9 month old and would like to know from working moms(especially those in the s/w industry) how they manage.

Specifically when your kids are in day care:
1. how do you deal with having to work late in the office
2. is the day care closer to office or closer to your home? which option is better>
3, do you get the time to check up on your child while at work?

Thanks a lot!
Minnu K replied. Thanks to all of you for your inputs..greatly helps!

saheli replied. I preferred having a maid especially for late night work or weekend work.

Hubby and me had decided to share days.. or say.. hours in a day such that he goes late comes late, i go early come early, thus kid gets max coverage from parents.
there might be times when both need to work late, so I hv arranged working-from-home option, got DSL connection, and closed using it with my boss, so office people also undstd why i leave on time and that i complete my work as well.

Still there are times when u need to work late in office (meetings/connectivity to remote machines etc) ... and i give a quick evening visit to home if possible, and then leave kid with maid. Kya karen, No options dear.

I hv decided not to accept job offers far from home. This way i can check up the kid by going home if needed. Otherwise, i give regular calls everyday to check up kid, and also told my maid to give me calls at specific times to update me (which u can ask the creche ppl to do, i think). I hv also heard abt 24X7 creches, and that they pick kid from school and drop home in evening.
Sometimes it happens that m not able to call home, so i drop a mail/instant msg to hubby to do the same.
Again, exceptions are there, when m not able to call up, but the maid gives her call at her time, i cut the call but i know things are fine (i hv told her to gimme repeated calls if it is emergency, also that she can drop message at my office reception number who then can page it across office).

dont worry, its not too difficult with 1 kid. Just be cautious and aware, dont ignore anything. U r in s/w field, u know how much processes we need to follow to ensure good quality product :)

I always remind me of one rule: We all wear seatbelts everyday while driving the car, to save from that one unfortunate incident in whole life.

Here is a link, might help u decide:
http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=1075&table_name=dis_milestones

all the best
saheli sandhyageorge replied. Hi
My son is two and he has been going there since he was 8 months.My only criterion was that the same should be midway between that of my husband and my office. Also I just wanted a daycare where it was a homely atmosphere rather than these HI fi ones that have sprung up. He likes it so much here now that he goes willingly there. I com early once in a while to see whats happening. kalpana replied. I have 2.6yr old who goes to a daycare.
This is how I manage :

1. I strictly follow his daycare(9-5) timings and try to do WFH in the nights.
there are daycare who take care till 7/8 PM
2. Mine is closer to office, - we thought any need we could drop in and check.
But during days when I want to WFH its getting really difficult. So I feel, closer to home is better.
3. I could , but I don't get time to drop in anytime ... but with very small kids parents do drop in.

All the best
Kalpana