Basically the title. I’m one of the unlucky people that was affected by an RTO order last year after years of being fully remote and moving further from my company’s office. I was mandated last summer to return to office full time, no hybrid or teleworking allowed. And no hopes of it coming back. Since then, life has felt SO chaotic when you factor in work, life, kids, appointments, marriage, commute, meal planning, etc. I used to have so much freedom thanks to WFH due to a flexible schedule and shorter days (since I had no commute) but now I feel like I am losing so much time each week just by being on the road.
I live 40 minutes from my office but when I factor in daycare drop off and pick up, it’s exactly an hour on the road from my house to daycare and then to work. 2-2.5 hours on the road round trip per day, depending on traffic. And 1.5 of those hours I have my kids in the car as well. I live in a “daycare desert,” so we unfortunately have to drive an entire county over for quality childcare and then I drive another county further than that to work.
I feel like all I do is waste valuable time on the road and I sometimes daydream about what it would be like to not have to work anymore or do the daily rush out the door with kids and then zoom through rush hour traffic to *maybe* get to work on time. I feel like I’m almost always late. Surely it has to get better?
So with all that being said- what’s your daily commute? Am I being unreasonable to be this exhausted by this routine? My kids are very young too so they will not be in school for a while. Unless I find a new job in this abysmal job market, this is my routine for the foreseeable future.
(And before anyone asks: My husband helps get us all out the door in the mornings and preps food/outfits for the kids the night before but I am solely responsible for childcare drop-off and pick-up, as he is fully remote and their daycare is on the way to and from my office.)