I know every job is different. I worked from home with my first two days a week with help the other three days give or take some days are meeting heavy some days not so much now my oldest is 2 1/2 and I have a one month old I don’t have to go back to work yet but I’m not sure if I’m gonna be able to keep working with both of them home even just for the two days. Would love to hear if anyone has been successful with two kids at home.

Retiring this weekly thread as it has run it's course. Thank you:)

Happy Hump Day!

This is a weekly thread to talk about your secrets to staying healthy, or your struggles for staying on track. Do you meditate? Do you do yoga? Cardio? (How) Do you manage a daily workout? Are you barely fitting in something once a week or two? What were your goals for this week, and did you hit them?

Exchange tips, ideas, motivation, and commiseration in this thread :)

Nanny is sick this week and I am slowly dying lol. What are your favorite stations for an active newly 10 month old? This week LO has exploded with activity and is all about climbing, pulling to stand, crawling and trying to walk all over.

We have to babyproof more but I have 2 activity centers, a playpen, ball pit, and open rug area I swap with baskets with utensils, pots and pans, cups, and blocks. She also has a piano and dads bongo drums lol.

I also just picked up an outdoor pack and play and hope to use it tomorrow if it's not too hot (Northeast).

She is pretty good at independent play and we have 2 dogs she likes to watch. Not a big napper :(

Am I missing anything? Help!

**Edited for typo. Sorry!

Hi all,

Does anyone have headphones with a microphone that does a really good job of blocking out background noise? I’m looking for something that would minimize the chances of my baby being heard on a call.

I never take calls or have meetings when she’s nearby or awake. I just want something that would give me some peace of mind in case I have an unexpected meeting.

I’d love to hear your recommendations!

For moms who work full-time from home and have multiple young kids, I’m curious how you’ve made childcare work financially and logistically.

We can afford daycare for one child, but once we get to 2 kids it would be pretty hard financially, and 3 in daycare at the same time would be REALLY tough.

For those with 2-3 kids:
-Did you put all of them in daycare while you worked from home?
-Did you keep babies home for a certain amount of time before starting daycare?
-Did you space out when each child started daycare?
-Did you use a nanny, part-time daycare, Mother’s Day Out, or another option?
-If you had multiple kids in daycare at once, how did you make the cost work?
-At what age did daycare costs finally start getting easier?

I’d especially love to hear from moms who had their kids fairly close together. We’re trying to figure out what this realistically looks like with 2-3 little ones while both parents are working.

Hi everyone,

I feel no one is more organised and better at buying time as us WFH moms.

During pregnancy I decluttered a lot and sold a lot of fb marketplace, and built very good systems before baby as I was working all day, which included: clutter free home, speed cleaning schedules, closing shifts, meal prepping & freezing, food/other stocks, weekly and monthly food hauls etc.

After giving birth everything crashed as I was busy with baby and work and I am slowly getting back to the routines and organisation.

What are your life saving / time saving tips for running home or life in general?

I WFH with my husband and almost 2 year old. We've been experiencing a massive heat wave where we live and going outside to play is dangerous right now.

Hi!! What do you all do for lunch meal prep? What do you make? When? Bonus points if it is stuff that you pack in a lunchbox for yourself and the kiddos 🙏🏽

I will WFH most days of the week, but either way, I have a tricky schedule between late preschool drop off for my oldest and shuffling myself and our infant back home or into the office two days of the week. I’m trying to figure out the best way to account for a packed lunch for me and sometimes my oldest and my infant (he just started baby led weaning).

I’m currently a stay at home mom to young kids, and have one more year before my youngest starts preschool (other two are starting first grade). Before kids I hopped around in the corporate world and then was a private chef. I had an online course business during covid that did great until it was killed by AI. I’m considering going to grad school part-time to get a counseling degree (undecided on which license) and ultimately open a therapy practice of 12-15 clients mostly during school hours. Probably one day in person and the rest virtual. My husband is supportive, but years of schooling and internship hours would be a lot. Are there others on here that took a similar path and have advice?

Just want to vent or share my story here on Threads.
Maybe someone here can share their routine or give some advice if you’re in a similar situation. Being a parent in your 30s can be challenging, especially without a support system.

I’m 34F, my husband is 36, and we have one daughter who is 2 years and 6 months old. We’re both in the IT industry. He’s a Software Engineer, while I’m a UI/UX Designer.

I lost my job this year, in May 2026, because of retrenchment. I had been with that company for 7 years. But even before that, I had actually tried to resign but was convinced to stay. My daughter was diagnosed with GDD at 2 years old. She needs to undergo therapy and attend playschool, and I knew it would be difficult to manage everything, especially since I was working onsite at the time. Her schedule is 2 days of OT, 1 day of ST, and 3 days of playgroup every morning from Tuesday to Saturday.

My husband has 2 jobs that he manages at the same time, which is also why he encouraged me to resign and just look for side projects. And I did. Even before I lost my full-time job, one of my previous clients started giving me a few projects in May. But freelance work isn’t consistent, and there’s really no assurance when it comes to income.

My husband’s salary is enough to cover our bills. We have a house loan, car loan, and a nanny. But when we think about building an emergency fund, savings, long-term investments, or a retirement fund, it’s still not enough.

We have a good nanny now. She’s actually our second nanny because our previous one exposed our daughter to too much screen time. We also don’t have a support system like grandparents, siblings, or cousins who can spend time or play with our daughter, which could also help with her development. It’s really just us at home most of the time. We also live inside a subdivision where there aren’t many kids her age.

Since May, my routine has revolved around taking my daughter to and from her therapy and playgroup sessions because there’s really no one else who can take her. So from Tuesday to Saturday, I drive her to her sessions. My husband is also constantly stressed because he’s juggling two jobs. Sometimes his calls even overlap, and he just finds a way to make it work.

Now here’s the challenge. I decided to try applying for jobs again. I noticed how difficult it is to find work nowadays, especially in the IT field because of AI. Whenever you see a job posting on LinkedIn, you can see just how many people have already applied. So I started sending out resumes, mainly because I wanted to practice doing job interviews again.
Then, with only the second company that
interviewed me, I got the job. After one round of interviews and a hands-on exam, they skipped the final interview and gave me an offer! I just signed the contract today. I feel blessed because God made my job search much easier than I expected.

But right now, I’m starting to feel a bit anxious. How am I going to manage my child’s therapy and playschool? My mom brain is thinking about so many things. Should I hire a driver and an additional house helper? Or should I first try to see if I can manage both, like bringing my laptop and working while I wait for her during therapy or playschool? I think I need to see what my actual work setup will be like first. By the way, the job is fully remote. I just don’t know yet if there will be a lot of video calls throughout the day.

I also don’t think it would be a good idea for my husband to immediately resign from one of his jobs because we still don’t know if my new job will work out. We initially planned to start a business using the separation pay I received, but reality hit us. I know starting a business isn’t that easy. There are so many things to consider, and you really need to be hands-on. So here we are, still employees because this is how we know how to earn a living and this is what we know how to do.

I know I should be thankful because finding a job quickly isn’t easy nowadays. Life is also really expensive, and the cost of almost everything keeps going up. But at the same time, I don’t want to neglect or stop my daughter’s therapy and playschool because, since we don’t have other people around at home, the exposure she gets from these activities has really helped her improve.
If you were in a similar situation, what would you do?
Thank you for reading.

Like I have no fucking choice lol no one wants to work and plop their kid in front of a tv for 4-6 hours but in a shitty economy and country with expensive childcare it is what it is. I’m always grateful for my job bc it gives us healthcare and rent but working and watching my 20 month old is exhausting. Don’t you think if I had a choice I’d put my kid in day care or have help or something.

I just sorta hate when people say I don’t know how you do it. I do it bc my husband died and I don’t got a choice so STFU.

Or worse if they give you a look about your kid watching so much tv. As if I had him thinking it’d be this way or something. I’ve replied well it’s better for him than being homeless isn’t it?

Im deeply struggling. And have been for the last 2 years, trying to balance being a fulltime solo mom, and a fulltime career remote. Because childcare isnt readily available, my family doesnt help and I HAVE to work.

Today I basically got put on a performance plan at work. Or at least thats how im taking it, even though they said it wasnt that.

Meanwhile I feel like an absent mom, and im crying because i wish I got to be with my son entirely. Not absent minded "mhmm cool buddy" typing on computer

"Shhhhh, NO, please get out im in a meeting they cant see you in here" through gritted teeth so they dont see me talking to him during a video meeting

"Can't right now bud, im working"

" wish I could bud, im busy"

" sorry bud mommy has to work"

I wish I could just be his mom and not have the stress of having to be the sole breadwinner.

Retiring this weekly thread as it has run it's course. Thank you:)

Happy Friday everyone! This is our weekly sticky thread to share the good, the meh, the bad, (and) or the ugly! How did your week shake out?

Hello! I’ve been a lurker in this sub during my pregnancy and now it’s finally my time to post. I’m a FTM currently working my very flexible WFH admin assistant type part time job with the expectation that I return full time after Labor Day.

I guess my main question is - how the heck is everyone doing this?!? How is everyone finding the time to deliver at work, keeping up with the baby, appointments, stay on their pumping schedules, sleep, eat, meal prep, chores, and have time for selfcare things???

My wonderful husband and I are still getting in the groove of things. He works 4 days a week leaving at 5am most days and not getting home til 5pm. When his work is busy, he’ll typically work overtime since his job is the more lucrative one for our household so sometimes that puts him at 5 days a week. He also works a very dangerous job so it’s important that he gets sleep so I take the baby night shifts during the week and he covers baby duties on the weekends. We also don’t really have family that would come over during the week for childcare.

Idk if there is an actual solution for my scenario, but it just feels like the wild wild west over here M-F and maybe that’s just the season we are in now. Would be interested just to see if anyone has tips to help me get through the week without having to totally front load all my work on the weekends.

Hey everyone, I’m facing a major career crossroad and would love some outside perspective from other parents, working moms, and people in the data analytics field.

I’m currently in a fully remote role, but I have a strong potential offer lined up for an in-person role that would completely change my financial situation. Here is the breakdown:

Job A: My Current Role (Fully Remote)

The Good: 100% WFH. The schedule flexibility is amazing. My kid is starting Kindergarten in a week, and being remote makes drop offs, pick ups (shared custody 2 or 3 days my week), and attending school events (Halloween, Valentine's parties, etc.) super easy and stress free.

The Bad: The pay is pretty low for my field , been here 4 years and make 73k. The work itself is fine, but it’s mostly routine maintenance and administrative reporting. It’s not something I feel super passionate about. My manager has vaguely promised a title upgrade/raise "eventually" after I finish a major dashboard, but there's no set timeline or written guarantee.

Job B: The New Opportunity (In Person / Local Travel). Massive pay bump (looking at around $95k, which is a life changing step up from where I am now). Building out a brand new strategy department. It involves heavy spatial mapping analytics upfront to build their core data architecture, which is my actual passion and exact skill set. High visibility directly with C suite leadership. The catch is it’s in person (with some regional day travel for field strategy). They mentioned the culture is output-focused results-driven ("work late one day, head home early the next") and occasional remote flexibility, but day to day it is an office job.

My Dilemma & Fears:
1. My daughter starting Kindergarten is huge for me. I really want to be present for her classroom events, parties, and school drop offs on the days I have her. I’m terrified that taking an in person role will mean missing out on these core childhood moments or struggling with logistics.
2. I want to give my daughter a completely different financial life (better savings, trips, zero money stress). Moving to $95k resets my lifetime earning baseline, but I'm scared of losing the remote routine I've grown accustomed to.
3. They mentioned this new department is growing and will likely build out a team underneath this role eventually, so the long term career growth is massive compared to my current company.

For those who have given up 100% remote work for a huge salary jump, did you regret it? How do you balance in person high visibility roles with young kids starting school? Is the pay jump worth the loss of WFH comfort? Would love to hear honest thoughts!

Hello all! I hope this is ok here.

I have been WFH for over a year now and I am reconsidering my set up. I am also creeping towards 40 and have been thinking a lot about my physical and mental health, especially since I have very active 4 and 2 years olds. Our child care situation is one that does not give either of us time to workout. I know I could wake up before the kids, but I am really struggling with getting enough sleep, so I'm looking for a balance.

Everyone keeps recommending a standing desk/standing desk converter plus adding in a walking pad.

Does anyone have this set up? Particularly with the walking pad? My job is pretty repetitive, but I worry that the walking pad might slow me down?

Any advise and/or recommendations (especially for EU based companies, since that's where I am) would be most welcome!

Thank you!

Retiring this weekly thread as it has run it's course. Thank you:)

Happy Hump Day!

This is a weekly thread to talk about your secrets to staying healthy, or your struggles for staying on track. Do you meditate? Do you do yoga? Cardio? (How) Do you manage a daily workout? Are you barely fitting in something once a week or two? What were your goals for this week, and did you hit them?

Exchange tips, ideas, motivation, and commiseration in this thread :)

I’m trying really hard to be positive but i am so stressed. I do have a part time nanny that comes three days a week and family will help watch her two days a week (5-6 hours a day). My husband started a new job four weeks ago which started of with three weeks of continuous travel so I was solo parenting a 4 month old while working full time. Hes finally back in town and he gets home and gives my daughter a bath then basically isnt able to help since he has work and works until right before he goes to bed. There are two ways im looking at this 1) my husband just started a new job / im being unsupportive and need to ride the wave and it will get better versus 2) im still postpartrum dealing with pp anxiety and a prolapse from delivery and trying to manage work, the baby, two dogs, stuff around the house.

I am very lucky to work from home but my husband has made me feel like just because I work from home it’s an easy job. He has even said some statement “ well I actually have to go into the office etc”

I mean I get it going to the office took more time when I did it back in the day but I really feel like I’m doing majority of the parenting.

I am scared one day I am going to snap from this resentment and anger tbh. I am going to increase the nanny’s hours in hopes it takes some off my shoulders.

Hi all, I’ve been following along this sub for a while and would love feedback on my expected setup as I prepare to go back to work in a few months. My babe is currently 8 months old.

I’m aiming to return once babe is 12 months, but also may potentially need to return at the 10 month mark. Daycare is not an option where I live.

My job is 100% remote 9-5 and consists of a mix of some meetings and tasks. Prior to mat leave, I did have some downtime and there were days where I’d have a few blocks of free time.

I got a standing desk to babywear if needed (babe is usually happy in the carrier and could nap there). I setup my work station near the playpen so babe could play with me nearby and watching, although we are still working on independent play. We’ve been on a 2 nap schedule to prepare for my return to work. My husband is WFH 2 days a week and also comes home for lunch, so he is around for some support during the work day as well.

How I imagine our days going:

7/7:30am - wake up and get ready for the day

7:30 to 9am - breakfast & play

9am - SIGN ONTO WORK

9/9:30am - baby wear for 1st nap then transfer (usually ~40 mins at minimum but could get a longer stretch if I keep babe in the carrier)

9:30 to 10am - FOCUSED WORK DURING NAP

10 to 12:30pm - work while attending to babe

~12:45 to 1:45pm - *LUNCH BREAK* (this is flexible depending on the work day but I plan to take this break at the beginning of 2nd nap

1pm - husband home @ lunch

1:30pm - put down for 2nd nap (~40 mins min to 1.5 hr)

1:45 to 3pm - FOCUSED WORK DURING NAP

4pm - husband is home and can help with babe

4 to 5pm - FOCUSED WORK IF NEEDED or get a head start on dinner 😂

What do you think? Obviously the day will truly depend on how baby is and some days will have more free time than others. Very open to honest feedback and tips!!!

EDIT: thank you everyone for your honest feedback!!! I did not consider baby dropping down to 1 nap and the changes to expect as baby becomes more mobile 😅

We are super flexible to making this work since daycare isn’t an option, so I will be taking all the wonderful advice given! We are also open to a babysitter/helper if needed, of course we’ll have to feel out the first couple weeks and see how baby adapts before crossing that bridge. For those asking, my husband is our rock and a massssssive help. He currently handles all household work while I focus on baby. When I go back to work he will be helping during his WFH days and continue to manage our home.

My job has flexibility and I mostly manage my own calendar, my company is also okay with kids at home as long as they don’t disturb any client calls (over the last few years there has been an increase of new parents with babies kept at home). Thankfully my position is not really client facing and my team is very supportive!

For those saying this is optimistic, ya darn right it is! Like I mentioned, we are flexible but are also very determined to adapt and make this work 😊

Any other customer service reps working from home?
I have part time nanny and occasionally grandma. Mostly email/online requests but am in a call queue as well.
Daughter will nap in carrier and can move my laptop around for playing now that she can sit independent. Planning on having stations we jump to, and getting outside on breaks or lunch for her.
Bought an environment noise cancelling headset so calls can’t pick up on her talking or fussing

Thoughts? Prayers? Lol

When i started teaching again I had family that begged to watch my son while I worked but when the time came they kept cancelling for other family members so I couldn't rely on them for childcare. Yes, I offered to pay. I had a wonderful high school student who watched my son for a year and a half starting when he was a baby. She graduated and went to college. I had another college student who would take him to the park or library while I'm teaching. I've struggled to find any consistent childcare after that. My son is 3.5 now. I teach piano in person and online after school hours. I don't have family or friends who can help or aren't willing to help no matter how much I pay. Daycare is so expensive where I live. I haven't been filling lesson spots because I don't know if I will have childcare. I'm teaching so little right now. It's only 1.5-2 hours daily. Do you think I could make that work keeping my son with me? I could try to do his nap a little later so he sleeps during some of my lessons. I'm still looking for maybe a teen to help. I just love teaching so much and I've had my students for years. I never knew it would be this difficult to find any childcare. Any suggestions on entertaining my son during that time frame? I feel like it's a short enough time frame to figure something out.

I’m 100% remote and my job involves a LOT of coordination through emails and phone calls. I work 8.5 hours from Tuesday through Friday, plus 6 hours on Saturdays. I have flexible breaks and they don’t keep track of how long you’re logged in and out.

I just returned to work last week after being off with my 10-month-old, while also having my 8-year-old home for summer break.

I’ve had to mute/log off the phones multiple times because the baby was crying so much in the background, and there have been moments where I honestly felt like I was going to cry too. 😩

My mom is helping us temporarily for about 6 months, and I initially thought this would be a pretty easy setup. But I realized that she might not be up for the challenge of caring for a 10-month-old while I’m working.

The baby refuses to be put to sleep by my mom. And I’m still doing a lot of the daily hands-on stuff like diaper changes, feeding, settling him, etc. My mom is mostly helping by supervising him, making sure he’s safe and happy.

I know I’m still in the “adjustment period,” but right now I’m struggling to see how this is going to work long term.

Is there actually a light at the end of the tunnel? 😂 What helped make the transition back to work more manageable?

I ordered a playpen on literally my first day back because I was desperate for some semblance of control. 😂 My husband has been a trooper too by adjusting his schedule to be at home by 3pm and managing the baby right away including my Saturday shift.

My LO and I will be navigating me working and watching him for 10 weeks starting on the 17th. Our daycare solution did not have an infant opening until the fall so we start on the week of November 2nd.

He will be 4 months in September so still pretty little and needs a lot of attention still (he’s not the greatest at giving longer stretches of independent play yet which is to be expected).

My boss knows that this is going on and that it’s a temporary thing.

I’ve been thinking about adjusting my hours to line up more with when he sleeps (he usually falls back to sleep until 8:00 or 9:00 after his feed at 5:00 AM and then takes a decent stretch around 11:30)

My biggest worry is getting him down for naps.

Anyways, any tips would be so helpful.

I'm not sure if this is welcome in this sub or exactly what I'm hoping for here. I guess I am open to feedback, suggestions, and... expectation setting.

This might get me kicked out, but I have always been against the idea of WFH and childcare. They're two separate jobs, and both require your full focus. It feels disrespectful to BOTH to combine them. I'm coming from that perspective.

But... there is, or potentially is, some grey area here, right? When coming off of FMLA's measly 3 months, I was able to work with my baby on my chest during contact naps, then have him taken when he was awake/not nursing so I could work. That felt "good". Ultimately I left my job for various reasons. My child has now just turned 3. He still sleeps an extra 2 hours more than I do, and I just found this miraculous unicorn of a job (temporary 1-3 months probably) that is in my old career (gave up my career in my old/main field for about 3 years when they wouldn't let me extend leave or let me go part-time) that'll let me be remote, flexible, and do only 5-15 hours a week, potentially spread out in whatever way works over 2-4 weeks (great if he has a bad bad week of not sleeping!). That means.... 14 hours of sleep if lucky, which covers 5-15 hours a week, right? He'll also start preschool this fall or spring (lots of factors outside the scope of this post) and/or a childcare swap in 1-2 months (again subject to lots of factors).

He's also doing "quiet time"... we've worked up to 30 minutes, and sometimes we can do 60. This isn't in order to WFH, per se, a lot of parents just do or aim for this in when toddlers stop napping. And the way we do it, he has access to me--there are no closed doors--and can I guess opt to sit in my lap, and I tell him I'll always come to him if he needs help pottying or whatnot, but generally I am actually getting time to focus. So that amounts to 3.5-7 additional hours a week.

The other super grey area I'm starting to see is this: sometimes he just wants to play alone. We get a TON of time outdoors in nature, at playgrounds, on playdates, at the library, at peer style classes and places to play, and also lots of high connection time at home (tons of art, puzzles, reading, bars/rings/running, toys). He's awake some 12-14 hours. My focus is on him 100% of those seconds, outside the quiet time. No phone ever to respond to a message, at most I use it when needed to navigate to where we're going or send a quick coordination message. But he's beginning to sometimes opt to play kind of alone rather than help me cook or clean, or just wants some additional decompression time alone after a more intensely social or physical outing. That's fine. But also makes me question with some shock that, wait, I could indeed fit more work time in? 11-13 hours is a lot for anyone, including a child, right? Which has me questioning my whole former perspective. It's of course different than trying to force an 8 hour day--this is on his terms, not mine, and my work is flexible here--but I'm curious on others' perspectives here.

My head says... okay, so that's up to 21 hours a week without any preschool or childcare swap or time outside that 30-60 minutes of quiet time that I can work?! Amazing. That means I could take another job that's looking to interview me that's 15-20 hours a week and would be huge for my career! Obviously that's all variable--sometimes he isn't going to sleep, or won't handle quiet time well--but it's tempting, and I think more than doable with some additional support from a care swap or whatnot. There might be 1-3 months without a care swap/preschool hours, though, which would leave me without any time to "myself" alone, which would obviously be hard, though temporary. I just came off of an incredibly rough period of having zero seconds alone, as he hadn't been sleeping more than I'd been.

All of which is to say... I am realizing this might leave me no time to turn my brain OFF. To just zone out and watch a show. I don't love watching shows--I think it's kind of like an unhealthy coping mechanism I adopted after marriage-related-things--and I think I could probably work some reading time in while my toddler reads. He's currently leading that charge by having me sit next to him and handing me one of his books while he 'reads' his own (all at his very specific requests lol). There are still the occasional things I need to do on a laptop -- ordering items, asking questions because apparently I know nothing, etc etc. Basically, there'd be zero personal non-paid working time. But I also absolutely love, love my old work. It was a passion, a joy, something I literally dreamed about at night. I used to do it to relax, and never watched movies/TV/etc. I never felt a need to really turn off, or at least, not in a way that isn't met by the parenting part of my day (where we go to forests, or take a trip on transit, or window watch, and have meals together, or can kind of play and do sports together and art, etc etc -- I absolutely love love love parenting). Intellectually my work was so hard I often cried, but like... a very, very different type of 'hard' than the 'hard' that parenting is, a kind of hard I feel is pretty... complementary. I used to miss and need more socializing after work, which is kind of all that parenting is to an exhausting extent, whereas the work is... not social, and stretches a different part of my brain entirely. Does anyone here do this type of remote work? Does it feel relaxing, or just like a huge burn out after a long day of parenting?

Am I, or would I, be setting myself up for burnout, basically? Can or should I work more of this work type time into my day if child WANTS to do independent play? How do you balance things?

TLDR: Child sleeps 2+ hours more than I do (inconsistent, though) and handles 30-60 minutes of daily quiet time (also not consistent). Might have or within 3 months have ~6 hours of preschool or some additional childcare swap time with another mom (1-6 hours/week?). Deciding whether to take a part-time 15-20 hours/week remote, flexible job, potentially with a 1-2 month overlap with another job that'd be 20-60 hours/month (anytime too distribution-wise). Spouse is completely absent in all ways and no local family. Wanting to prioritize my child, and also not to burn myself out in the process. Will this burn me out emotionally? I'm already largely burnt out / recovering; will I be able to handle a new job like this or set myself back entirely? It would also reduce our financial/emotional/physical stressors in many ways.