Back to work ... just 10 get-ups to go!

Wow 3 minute commute FAB.  No excuse to be late then.

Expect some regression. Expect some phonecalls from school, saying AS has an upset tummy etc.

Your boys may internalise their anxiousness and you may have to say "you'll be fine, see you after school" and you will feel like the worst mum in the world for doing that, but they may try it on to see if they can get mum to come to school to take them home. Often our kids like to know we are at home when they are at school and they hate the fact that we are no longer at their beck and call, but they will get used to it after a bit.

Try and get everything organised the night before, lunch boxes, PE kits or whatever, to keep, morning rush as calm as possible with no excuses to not be able to find their stuff or any delaying tactics to stress you out. Talk about what fun they'll have with so and so at the child minders and how you wish you could go there too, but you have to go to work.

I'm sure you have thought of all this already, but lots of repetition and reassurances will be needed and maybe put a note/photo of you all together in their lunch box/school bag saying how you are hoping they are having a good day and that you are thinking about them.

Good luck in the new job. Let us know how it all goes.

Like Serrakunda, my main issue is finding time to fit other things in (and appointments for the children). And I have one day off in the week, leave work early on two other days and don't work school holidays. Plus my husband mainly works from home so can step in when required. Childcare in itself hasn't been a problem for us - other than when we had trouble finding the right sort / person many years back.

I wish you luck with it. A short commute is good though!

Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments and great tips and thoughts. It's all quite daunting at the moment, I'm in education so I will at least have the school holidays off with the boys.
Lolapola x

Hi JMK,
It's going surprisingly well so far! The boys go to the same child minders for an hour before and after school (but 30 mins of that is getting ready/walking to school or back again), I work just round the corner from the child minders. It was more expensive than using the boys' school breakfast club but it means the boys go to the same place twice a day (there's no after school care provided by their school).
The boys have both settled to the new routine well, the only down side is a slightly more rushed evening schedule ... where I used to be able to go with their ideas more, it's now "reading, spelling, make tea, bed" - but they do get to play everyday with lots of different children and the child minders.
I'm settling into my new job and it's not too onerous on planning and marking which is a god-send, the worst it gets is 2 hours of Year 6 (10-11 year olds) on a Thursday afternoon and although they are noisy, I have taught classes that were a lot worse!
Friends have also stepped in on several Saturdays to give me time to pop off on my own and get some jobs done for a few hours which has been great!
Having said all this, I am now officially counting down to half term in two weeks time ... although it will feel very different to the half term break I used to know!!
All considered, I feel I have been very lucky with finding my new job - the people are great and it's so close that full time work is possible without putting too large a strain on the boys or me.
Thanks for asking, hope all is well for you and your girls
Lolapola xx