Okay how do you all do it? Working full time, raising a toddler, and juggling nonstop sick days at daycare feels overwhelming some days. I’ve even thought about switching to freelance to cut back, just to create a little breathing room, but I’m unsure. I’d really love to hear from parents who are making full time work with little kids actually work.

It doesn’t work. It’s just survival. Questioning life choices every day, dreaming of a full night of uninterrupted sleep, trying to make the most of quality time with the kids, and loosening my expectations of everything, but especially how my house looks on a daily basis.

First and foremost - you need support from your partner. A sick days, the late nights, the early mornings, the household chores. It needs to be 50-50.
Secondly, freelance presents its own challenges as you don’t have sick days, vacation, a team to fall back on.
part of it is finding a company that has a sustainable pace of its own and a boss who gets it and has the tools to support you. For me, that has looked like blocking my calendar for daycare, drop offs, and pick ups. Being transparent with my team when my toddlers are sick, occasionally a late evening or an early morning to offset days that are slightly less productive so I’m not burdening my team.
Deadlines will always be deadlines but everything’s negotiable and as long as you’re communicating, and not making excuses, I have found my teams supportive.

That’s it, also important to remember that this is a season just like any other. Your toddler will get older, they won’t be sick all the time, you don’t need to fall on a career sword to take care of your family.

I did a mixture of raw adrenaline, lack of sleep, working that “unofficial second shift” (of catching up on work after toddlers were in bed), plans going out the window and last-minute scrambling, slow cooker “leave it and forget it” meals, and sheer panic for what seemed like an eternity. It did not seem survivable at the time. It turns out it was, and I am now at a much-later stage of life where I actually kind of miss it.

Twin toddlers, our biggest saving grace was hiring not one, but two nannies to cover 47.5 hrs a week, 9.5 hr days. We were barely surviving when we had only 40 hours a week, that extra time makes all the difference in the world

Kids stop getting sick all the time around 3 or 4. After that things are mostly smooth. But then there is public school and homework and all that. I get up at 5am, workout for an hour, make breakfast, pack lunches. When the kids get home, if dinner is not already ready, I have them get into the shower and PJs before dinner (in these cold months) and then we eat, do homework, get them to bed. I have about an hour before i fall asleep myself. It is just… survival. They’re in elementary school right now, they go to before and after care, and it’s an incredibly LONG day for them. I’ve thought about changing my job. Maybe a more flexible schedule. But i think we might just have to move onto a nanny who can pick them up early and give us about 2-3 hours of help a day. I don’t even know if that’s a thing. Ha.

The best plan for me was to have childcare at my house. When I had one kid, I had a nanny coming with her own child, someone I could trust to care for both kids well. I also had time periods of two nannies to balance the risk of one of them getting sick.
Also, if you have a partner, it makes sense to split the childcare expenses. They shouldn’t come from just one of the parents’ income.
Your ability to build your career increases your earning potential later. Even if now the math makes it look like you are giving most of your money away, it is often a path to higher earnings.

Grandparents. If you moved away then that’s on you🤷‍♂️

We hire babysitters for evenings when we’re both busy. They do the school and nursery run, feed them, then prep them for us to take over.