How do you do tax season hours with a toddler when you are their favorite person?

My kid isn’t a crier or whiner, but she has been lately because of missing me. And, I miss her.

I’m trying to do 3 10s and 3 8s to help balance everything, but it’s still hard. And spend all day Sunday with her.

Any helpful tips is greatly welcomed.

Can you leave work and finish your day at home? I stop working for a few hours each day to make dinner, drive my kids to activities, and be a mom. But then I get back on and work as late as necessary to get things done. Sometimes that means working until 2 am but my kids aren’t burdened by my workload this way.

When he sleeps. I call it a day at 5, he goes to bed at 8, and I go back to work. :(

Here's my work schedule when it's super busy (2 under 4 here)

Monday - Friday: 545-645am (kids get up at 645 leave for daycare around 730) 745-5pm and 730-10+pm. (Do dinner/bath/bed 5-730)

Weekends: 1 hour before the kids get up, during 2 hour nap/quiet time window and at least 2-3 hours after bed.

It SUCKS but it's usually only a few weeks that require the full hours or I may work a couple of hours while grandparents or others take them for a random weekend activity to help not work as late/early one day. I cant afford to do a flex schedule so that's not an option for me.

It’s definitely hard, but it’s manageable. For me, i make sure to log off early, and then log back on after they go to bed. Some of the other moms on my team do super early mornings instead.

My 2 toddlers wake up at 8 so we “sleep in” a little, and then snuggle/get ready/eat and log on by 9 am. This way they get some attention and fill their “mom/dad” buckets for the day lol.

We both wfh and have a hard stop at 6pm for dinner, hanging out with kids, bath time, and putting them to bed. We do have an in-home au pair - so that’s the real key for us. We’re able to have little moments with them throughout the day whether during a coffee break or lunch etc year round, and they’re used to us disappearing to the home office - so for them, they just get to play with the au pair for an extra hour during the week and then Saturdays as well and it’s not too bad. The price of an au pair was the same as 2 kids in daycare for us, so if you have the extra bedroom, I’d highly recommend it!

We start bedtime at 9 and they’re usually asleep by 930/10 so I can log on and work another 1-3 hours - or sometimes I wake up early to get those extra hours in if I fall asleep next to the toddlers. This tax season is rough because bedtime is taking so long at this age, and we both have to do bedtime to split up the kids - but I think by next year they’ll be a little older and we will be able to take turns doing bedtime solo which will make things even easier.

This way I’m working 9 hours during the day and 10-11 hours total. I also typically work an 8 hour Saturday so my total weekly hours hover around 58-63. I definitely don’t get any me-time for hobbies, reading, working out, etc but that’s because I choose to spend it with the kids

I’m still spending 4-5 quality hours of time with the kids each day, and then a full day Sunday. I can’t imagine having to do drop off and pick up etc and that eating into precious time with the kids, so I’d honestly pay for the au pair even if it cost me more than daycare because she gives us back so much valuable time with the kids. She can run errands, do preschool drop offs, and most importantly keep the girls entertained at home so that we still get quality moments with them throughout the day.

Honestly though, it’s such a short period during the year, and then the rest of the year you get SO much flexibility. I get to be at all of their preschool things, sports, Dr appts, random days off to go to the zoo or even taking off early to go to the park.

Honestly, my solution was a reduced work schedule so that I'm not doing tax season hours. I'm 90% so that I work 40 hours per week year-round. That way I can do daycare drop-off, home for dinner & bedtime on weeknights, and have the entire weekend with my family. It also helps that I primarily work from home and have a short commute if I need to go into the office.

But for my co-workers who aren't on a reduced schedule, many work a few extra hours at home early AM or late PM when kids are sleeping. And they rely heavily on spouses to help with the kids and home stuff (meals, laundry, etc).

Reduced schedule. Unless we desperately needed the money, I wouldn't work those hours with a toddler.

Sorry can’t always have it all. You picked kids- plan on that being your main job