The childcare schedule
The childcare schedule
How your hours get planned each week, where to find them, and how to change them.
How a week gets planned
- Rufus plans the week ahead, around school, loisirs, the nounou, who's away and the hours each of you agreed.
- He posts it in WhatsApp, usually at the weekend — a picture of each person's week. At this point it's a proposal.
- You check your own week, and say yes or ask for a change.
- Once it's confirmed, it goes into the Google calendar called Childcare. From then on the calendar is the one to trust.
Household jobs given to you that week appear on your schedule as Task, and count towards your hours — see How the house runs.
Reading the calendar
Add the Childcare calendar to your phone. Events with a time are shifts — yours or someone else's.
| Looks like | Means |
|---|---|
Emily — both 17:00–20:30 | Emily has both children |
Cristiana — Ateyan 19:30–20:30 | Cristiana has Ateyan only |
Emily — DAY OFF | A whole day off |
… (standby — nap) | Aletheya is asleep. Be in the house; it isn't hands-on |
All-day notes are not shifts. No loisirs, Nounou away tell you what's different that day. Please don't move or delete them.
- Aletheya goes to bed at 19:30, Ateyan at 20:30. A shift ending at 20:30 usually means the last hour is Ateyan on his own.
- Collecting a child? It's in the note on the event.
- Two shifts overlapping by 15–30 minutes is on purpose — it's the handover.
Changing something
Small changes — do it yourself. To start or finish a bit earlier or later, drag your own event in the calendar, then message Rufus: "I've changed Thursday to finish at 18:00." No need to ask first.
Bigger changes — talk to us first, don't edit the calendar:
- Swapping a shift with someone
- A different day off
- Dropping a shift
- Anything next week or later
These affect other people. Changing who is on a shift in the calendar won't reach us, and two people will think they know what's happening.
Something wrong today? Phone Rufus — the number is in WhatsApp. Don't use the calendar for anything urgent.
What we aim for
- At least one whole day off a week, named in advance.
- No more than 8 hours in a day.
- A break every few hours where the day allows it.
- The hours we agreed, not more. If a week is creeping over, say so.
- What you'd rather not do, we plan around — tell us.
If any of this isn't happening, say so. It's usually a mistake on our side, not a decision.
