Single Parent and Shift Work?

[sefrick]

I'm looking to come back relatively soon. I was active (sub) duty and a geo-bachelor up until fall of 05, and I got out to obtain custody of my son and go to school. He is going to be 9 soon and I'm still single so when I come back into the field it would be just me and him.

I'm wondering, in general, if decent child care sources exist around plant sites due to the shift work requirement. Hearing from single parents that are currently in shift-work or people who know single parents would be a plus.

Thanks in advance. 

[Mike_Koehler]

I think the rules vary by location. Here in the great eastern Washington desert child care in licensed facilities is regulated by ordinance to 6 am to 6 pm...... I know people who have had to turn down jobs due to shift work obligations. The key is licensed child care...... I do know of people who pay for child care overnight, but I would make extremely sure that I was really comfortable with these people since there is no screening.

Mike

[xobxdoc]

I had to get off the Ops shift rotation to get custody of my son. I work a flex 40 schedule now with weekends off. It's good to be off shift. Good luck.

[retired nuke]

I got off shift when my ex went back on the road- had 1 kid at the time. Had 2 kids when we split up, and since she was on the road and I was home on 40s, the kids live with me. Being on shift with young kids is difficult. You need a network to support it. I had to go on shift a couple of times to fill in, and it was difficult. If it wasn't for friends and a great daycare provider, I wouldn't have managed. Now it wouldn't be much of a prob - S/O can handle it. But doing shiftwork solo is hard.

[sefrick]

Thanks guys, that is what I was afraid of. However, I've always had the mentality that if you really want something, you can find a way to make it work so I guess I'll see.

[retired nuke]

Y'know, the maintenance field usually works days unless there is an outage - not rotating shift. There is OT available, and at least at the plants I've been, the mechs pretty much cover each other regarding night shift - if someone has a problem doing nights, they try to match them with someone that likes nights to cover that job when required. You may have to do an outage on nights every year or two, but you may get some coworker that is helpful with childcare, especially if you are a stand up guy, and pull your weight.
Just a thought.....

[fossilfool]

Hey-- I've been lurking for a long time on this board but this is one topic that I had to reply on.

In 1998 my Ex wanted to move out of state, but our son (11 at the time) wanted to stay. So we agreed that I would get custody. I had been an operator since 1982 and had an RO license since 1990 (so naturally had been doing shiftwork).

The first year I took a day shift Ops job, and then when the opportunity came up, took a job as an Ops training instructor. My heart was always in operating, but I learned a lot more as an instructor and it was a good experience.  I can't imagine missing all the swim meets and concerts I would have if I had been on shift-- as well as all the other things that came up.

Shift work is tough enough for a couple-- I know, we did that for awhile too. But in my opinion, to do it right, as a single parent you really need to try to be on a "regular" schedule. Even if you have a lot of support (I did it pretty much on my own), you will still miss a lot.

Even though in my professional heart I wish I was still "at the controls" in a nuke plant control room, I feel I did the right thing. My son is on his own and doing very well and I am very happy for him and proud of him. I am back in Ops on shift, but as a Shift Supervisor in a fossil plant--- you nukes have no idea how good you have it.

So I would recommend finding a day shift job if possible. It will make it easier for for you to be a parent and enjoy the rewards as such, plus it could be a benefit in terms of putting things into professional perspective. Good luck, dude!

[tr]

As you look, remember that a LOT of people at a plant only work shifts during an outage.  Make sure you look at jobs all over the site.  Some possible options are engineering technicians (people who do the various engineering tests on the plant), Quality Control (people who inspect and audit work done in the plant), work planning and scheduling, emergency planning, etc.  In many cases, the people in these jobs started out with a background similar to yours.

[RP Instructor]

Forty years ago, my parents separated, and my brother, sister and I were raised by our Mom.
Mom was a New York City police officer, and was required to work shift. As I recall, she did the best she could with babysitters, and eventually, we got to the age where we looked after each other.
You're a good man "sefrick", for doing what you need to do in order to be with your son. "TR" is correct, there are a variety of dayshift positions at a nuclaer power plant. Not all of us work shift , though like myself, we started out there. "TR" is correct to look at QC, Emergency Planning, Work Management (Planning and Scheduling), and (what we call at VC Summer) the "Test Unit"; they do the engineering tests that TR spoke of.