Does anyone here pick up kids (or plan to) from the bus stop on telecommute days? If so, how do you handle being away from the laptop? Do you block your schedule or do you just take calls while going to the stop? Do you tell your boss or do you just do it?
We were originally planning on putting DD1 in after-care, as both of our jobs were moving back to majority in-office. However, I just found out my return-to-office is being pushed out until Nov. So I am considering just picking her up from the bus stop every day, so she gets some mask-free time at home (school and after-care requires masks).
She is in 2nd grade, so she can't walk alone (and no direct neighbors have kids on her bus). But she will be self-sufficient when she gets home. The bus stop pick-up would leave me away from my laptop for about 10-12 min. I don't have any recurring meetings during that time slot, but I may have some one-off meetings, so I'd have to either block my calendar or take calls while walking.
I’m planning to walk my 2nd grader to and from the bus. When he returned to school 2 days a week this spring I drove him, and would just block time on my calendar and take calls during the drive if needed. I didn’t tell my boss, but I generally have a lot of flexibility to schedule my own meetings and plan my day, so it was never an issue.
Post by goldengirlz on Aug 18, 2021 10:04:14 GMT -5
I just go and pick her up. My company’s culture is very much “just get your work done,” so no one would bat an eye if I needed 15 minutes to pick up my child. If it’s more than a handful of minutes, I do block my calendar.
Our bus stop is across the street, so no need to block time and DH can still take calls, but in his case if he had to walk 5 minutes to the bus stop, he would probably take calls as he walks. Some of the calls he needs access to the laptop, but some of them are just providing advice/ air cover, so he is able to do that on the move.
Could you pay a HS kid to walk her home every day? My bus is not predictable enough for me to only block off 10 min for pickup.
Where I live a second grader is allowed to get off of the bus themselves so I would just have my kid walk alone but if I couldn’t I think I would rather pay someone to be responsible for this every day rather than have to break up my work.
I’m sure this varies a lot by what kind of job you have though.
Post by thebreakfastclub on Aug 18, 2021 10:12:29 GMT -5
Do you use Teams? I have it on my phone, so I'd just take my phone if someone was trying to call me. My 3rd grader is just walking to his stop alone though.
Last spring, aftercare ended at 4:30. We had a "walking bus" with a couple of other families. So I only had to pick the kids up once a week. I just ended my work day a little early that day.
Post by steamboat185 on Aug 18, 2021 10:16:24 GMT -5
I’d just go. I only deal with internal people, but if I’m on the phone close to pick up I just ask if I can call them back. Our company culture doesn’t much care, but if it makes you feel better just block yourself out for 15 minutes on the days you are at home.
Post by AdaraMarie on Aug 18, 2021 10:16:30 GMT -5
I block off time on my calendar so people don't try to schedule meetings for me at that time. I walk all the way up to the school for pickup, so I block an hour just to be safe even though it doesn't take that long. Gives me time to get dd settled and get back online without scrambling to make it to a call on time.
I've taken work calls to the bus stop before. It's not ideal, because the bus drops off on a pretty loud street. But most of the time I just pop out to the bus stop and no one knows any different.
Post by cricketwife on Aug 18, 2021 10:36:04 GMT -5
Chiming in with advice that you didn't ask for ;-)
I'm not WFT but my work can spillover into home time. I try to be very present with my children at pickup and not to pick up my children while I'm on the phone or otherwise engaged in a way that I cannot give them my full attention for those few minutes. Covid has changed a lot and that isn't always possible. I would suggest that you let her know if the morning before she goes to school if you know you'll be on a call and that she will have your attention at X time when you are done working. I'd also explain that some days you may not know, so if you are on the phone, she can always count on having you attention at X specific point in the day.
Post by ellipses84 on Aug 18, 2021 10:38:27 GMT -5
I block my calendar as tentative for drop-off / pickup every day even though I don’t actually have to do it every day. It takes a lot longer though. That way if someone who can see my calendar wants to schedule a meeting they will check with me instead of just assuming I’m free. Inevitably meetings are scheduled and I either call in from my phone while I’m doing it (not ideal if I have to talk and can’t be on mute) or I just say it conflicts with my calendar and don’t attend or try to reschedule. You could stand a ways from the bus stop.
Every employee is entitled to 15 minute breaks anyways, so I wouldn’t worry about your situation. Will you be able to hold a spot in aftercare for when you need it?
Post by cherry1111 on Aug 18, 2021 11:20:38 GMT -5
I drove to the school last year to pick up. It took about 30 minutes so I blocked my calendar and my immediate team knew what I was doing during that time. If I absolutely had to be on a call I would take it over Bluetooth but that was only about 3 times all year.
If it’s going to take you 15 minutes just block it on your calendar.
Post by sillygoosegirl on Aug 18, 2021 11:37:28 GMT -5
I have times blocked on my Outlook calendar for pickups and drop offs, so nobody books me for meetings at that time. (And even more importantly, so I don't forget to leave on time!) I also block 3 minutes at the start of my kid's online classes so I can get her logged in, for the exact same reasons. We're entitled to take a couple 15 minute breaks throughout the day, and if/when my break times are not flexible, I put it on my calendar to make sure it happens on schedule. Even people without kids (especially those who get scheduled into meetings for every available block of time) do this too, just because they will never get the chance to stand up and stretch or pee unless it's on the calendar.
I don't tell anyone if I just go for a walk to clear my head... just like I didn't when I worked in the office. The general expectation is that we are available at our computers throughout the day, but realistically, we were always all away from out desks for random periods and a million meetings throughout the day when we were in the office too...
We're about to do this. Last year we didn't have before/aftercare options and I was leery about the bus and mask wearing, so I did drop-off and pick-up at school. It ended up being about 30-45 minutes in the morning and the same or longer in the afternoon. It's 5-minute drive, then I'd have to sit in line forever, then 5-minute drive home. I would occasionally do calls during that time, nothing recurring though. But I would do email on my phone while I was sitting and waiting.
This year we were going to do before/aftercare... well, we did it for 3 days, until we had a COVID exposure. So when our quarantine is up we're likely doing just the bus... just to minimize circle of exposure. I'll be walking to/from the bus stop in the morning. I'm guessing it'll take about 15-20 minutes of my time. I told my boss (who has similar kid transport issues) and have blocked my calendar.
Definitely just block your calendar! I block for everything and then of course if something critical comes up then I figure it out but at least at first glance most people arent picking that time slot!
We too are doing 3 days a week after care but now both still WFH and bus stop is corner of our property and I'm pondering whether its "worth it" to have another circle of potential exposure ... so we will see how it goes but in prior years it was impossible to get an after school spot so had to sign up but now might end up giving a one month notice and not doing it... we shall see
Block your calendar and say nothing to anyone assuming you are not a senior employee. This is a perfect of example of where a dude would never share this info, but women do and it hurts them in the workplace.
Now, if you are senior, my position changes. I’m an executive at a major corporation, and I am pretty open about my work life integration with both men and women. And I encourage both men and women to be comfortable sharing this stuff. I don’t ask permission, but I bring it up when appropriate to normalize this stuff. I also encourage taking all parenting leave whether male or female. And most men that work for me now openly talk about this stuff, which I see as a major win.
I'm just doing it without blocking my calendar, but we are very meeting-light, especially in the afternoons, and generally informal. A coworker did this exact thing last year and it was fine. I used to try to do a regular call while dropping off at daycare and received feedback that it wasn't working well so I changed my schedule around to avoid that.
I did inform the team that two days a week I'm starting my work day later for drop off this year.
I have a recurring, tentative meeting on my calendar for a half hour daily, to make sure DS gets home safely. We’re only 1/3 mile away, but he has to cross a major road, so I like to walk up when I can. Aftercare is full, so it wasn’t even an option, but I agree with your point that it’s awesome to give them some at home/unmasked time when we can.
I was stressing about it, as I’m a high level manager and want to set the right tone, and my director/boss cajoled me out of it. He’s super supportive of this kind of flexibility, which we don’t always have in government.
I plan to take a call (Teams) on my phone if something is scheduled over the hold.
Love of my life baby boy born 11/11. One and done not by choice; 3 years of TTC yielded 4 MMC and 2 CPs, through 4 IUIs and 2 IVFs. Focusing on making the world a better place instead...and running.
Post by UMaineTeach on Aug 18, 2021 14:56:11 GMT -5
I’d probably just wing it like it was a bathroom break and coffee refill every afternoon, as if I were in the office. Hope that none calls and return the call promptly if they do. If someone wants to schedule an advanced meeting for that time, you say it doesn’t work.
But there are reasons I don’t work in business.
If it’s ok for you to mark your calendar as busy daily, do it.
I just go and pick her up. My company’s culture is very much “just get your work done,” so no one would bat an eye if I needed 15 minutes to pick up my child. If it’s more than a handful of minutes, I do block my calendar.
Same. I can be away from my desk whenever I feel like it, assuming I don't have a meeting and get my work done. I put "personal activity" on my calendar if I want to make sure no one schedules something, but for short time windows if someone schedules something I will just let them know that doesn't work for me and suggest an alternative time.
DS (4) will be going back to preschool. DH is WFH and I am hybrid. We plan to alternate pickups and drop offs and just block off our schedules. We walk and it’s about a half hour round trip. DH sometimes dials in on calls. We did it all last year and it was never a big deal. We are both senior level.
Post by wizardressofoz on Aug 19, 2021 5:06:12 GMT -5
I WFH and schedule a recurring mtg on my calendar for 30 mins when I pick up my 1st grader each day. My boss said that everyone will need to work around me. He comes home to chill on IPad or have a snack and does not generally interfere with work. I will occasionally listen to a call or do email in pick up line but usually don't.
Post by minniemouse on Aug 19, 2021 5:32:05 GMT -5
I don’t see anything wrong with blocking the time on in outlook. I know people that do that for their lunch breaks. We are lucky. The bus drops off in front of my house. In K & 1, I had to wait in the driveway or poke my head out of the front door to let them know someone was home. I can see the bus coming from my office window so just ran down there when needed. I did not block time out for that. A few times I put a caller on hold for a minute though. Lol.
Post by Velar Fricative on Aug 19, 2021 5:36:22 GMT -5
Last school year I just had my assistant put a vague block on my calendar (my boss knew why, but no one else needed to know why) so she or others wouldn’t schedule meetings during that period. I had my work cell with to take brief calls if necessary.
I have a recurring, tentative meeting on my calendar for a half hour daily, to make sure DS gets home safely. We’re only 1/3 mile away, but he has to cross a major road, so I like to walk up when I can. Aftercare is full, so it wasn’t even an option, but I agree with your point that it’s awesome to give them some at home/unmasked time when we can.
I was stressing about it, as I’m a high level manager and want to set the right tone, and my director/boss cajoled me out of it. He’s super supportive of this kind of flexibility, which we don’t always have in government.
I plan to take a call (Teams) on my phone if something is scheduled over the hold.
See, as a manager, I believe that allowing people to manage their own lives IS setting the right tone. I don’t want people to stress every time normal life things come up, especially during a pandemic when everything is that much more difficult. And not just kid stuff either — I have someone on my team with elderly cats that sometimes need unexpected vet visits. Cool, whatever. He’s awesome and I couldn’t care less.
We’re all responsible adults and we can manage our own commitments. The worst companies I ever worked for were the ones that made you account for every minute your butt wasn’t in your chair. That’s such an outdated (and harmful) way of thinking. American work culture is awful sometimes.