Mom Refusing to Pick up Stepson from School on Her Day off Backed Online

A mom's refusal to collect her stepson from school on her day off work has been supported online, after she shared her reasons for the move.

The mom explained that her decision has caused a rift in her family, with her husband dubbing her "unreasonable." In a post to popular forum Mumsnet, the mom explained they have a one-year-old son together, while he already had a seven-year-old son from a previous relationship.

At the moment, the stepson splits his time 50/50 between his two homes, but it's a schedule that is set to change thanks to his mom's new job.

According to research, parents will lose around two hours per week of work time thanks to their children, whether that be leaving work early for childcare or dealing with distractions while working from home.

Some 55 percent of working parents have missed at least one full day of work due to childcare issues, research suggests.

"I always wanted to keep my career going but also wanted to spend some time at home. So I ended up dropping a day at work so that I could spend it with our son and just do things with him, spend time with him, get out and about before he starts being tied to school holidays," the mom wrote in the post.

"I do not rely on DH [Dear Husband] financially due to this and I am still able to provide my half of the bills so I felt it was my decision and he was happy for me to do it too. After everything we went through it just seemed like the right thing for me to do."

Her husband's ex, she explained, recently started a new role with longer hours and asked if the couple could increase their time with the stepson by one day a week.

"However, the day falls on my day off and I am now being asked to facilitate it by being available to take and pick up my stepson from school, be around generally if he's off like holidays or sick etc," wrote the mom.

"I took the drop in hours to spend time without our son, not to look after my stepson so my husband's ex could further her career. I love my day with my son and don't want our time being tied to school hours, having to be back from wherever if we choose to go out or having to look after my stepson too during the school holidays. I know it's just one day but it's important to me.

"In my mind this is a problem for my husband and his ex to sort out and I'm pretty adamant right now that I'm not getting involved," she added.

Mumsnet users agreed with the mom and her decision, with most believing the issue belongs to the biological parents.

"Yeah, this is one for your husband to sort out. If he wants to facilitate his ex's new job by having his son four days instead of three, he needs to sort something with his own working hours, not yours," wrote one user.

"Also, if your stepson is going to be at your house for four days and his mom's three days, i'd also have your husband point out to her that this would mean a change in maintenance arrangements and he'd be living with you the majority of the time, not her," they added.

Another agreed, writing: "I can totally understand that you want to cherish your time with your child, especially having been through difficulties to have him. Don't bend to fit in with others, you wont get this time back."

"I don't think you are unreasonable. It's a big ask week in and out and severely limits your ability to go out for the day with your son. I used to have a zoo membership, go to eureka etc," noted another user.

"You've taken a hit on your earnings and pension to have this quality time.
Solution would be childcare or DH drop a day."

Newsweek was not able to verify the details of the case.