To do meals or not?

[Fb1988]

If you was starting again would you do meals or just snacks? Fruit, veg, toast, ect?

Any other advice too :)

Thanks Faye x

[The Juggler]

speaking as one who used to do tea time meals and stopped - I'd say don't.

I do provide lunchtime meals, either cold lunch, omlette, pasta - nothing fancy but best thing I ever did was stop doing evening meals :thumbsup:

[Demonjill]

My fees do include meals and snacks but ive never had to do a proper cooked dinner yet as the latest pick up i have had so far is 5pm.

My own family do not eat before this time so im not going to cook early just to save folk cooking for their own kids when they finish work..... I have to!!:D

[rickysmiths]

I have always done meals and always would.

They are included in my fees because I can't be bothered to work out individual bills on a day to day basis.

I love cooking so it has never seemed a chore to me.

[md0u0131]

I do meals but I just do it at the same time we would normally eat. To be honest it's good for my 3-yr old as she likes eating with the other kids anyway.

[AliceK]

I have always included all meals in my pricing and nearly all of my mindees do / have stayed for tea which I do for about 4.30pm, but if I could I would probably not offer it, it costs me a fortune and is a lot of hassle. But saying that my own kids have to eat and they would be eating before 5.30 / 6pm when the last mindees leave so it might be difficult to feed my own but not the others.

xxx

[Bridey]

I do meals - after all, my son and I would be eating anyway. If you are going to cook for 2, you may as well cook for 10! ;)

I think the meals I cook and the fact that I open later than the school after-school clubs have done me a great favour. Despite the competition being much cheaper, I am still full because I offer the better service to busy working parents.

Saying that, I only work before and after school so I have plenty of time to cook. I don't think I would manage if I worked a full day.

[smurfette]

My latest finishes are 530 and the odd day 615. If we happen to need to be eating before then (my own kids have activities like football at 6 some nights) then I plate up some for anyone that's still here .. Otherwise we don't eat Til they are gone. Parents appreciate we have given them something but have never asked for dinner and I have never offered . On pick up i just say x had some spag bol or whatever. I did used to text mum of my 530 finish and say we were having whatever for dinner and was it ok to feed her but apparently she used to eat a whole dinner at home again anyway! So now I just tell her what she has had on pick up. For lunches yes I do provide and it's not a cooked dinner unless I have left overs so pasta, sandwiches, egg/beans on toast. I tell parents if they want lo to have a hot dinner i am happy to reheat whatever they send. Most don't and are happy to give dinner at home. I do provide breakfast if early enough and snacks . Again if parents are happy with what I provide.. Yoghurt fruit toast crackers. If not they send their own. One mum wants lo to eat organic and expensive fruit like blueberries so sends her own. No way am I spending that! SO you could have a policy of I provide .... And if you want lo to have anything different please send what you want . Getting tied Into dinners is time consuming and restrictive so be careful about committing to it!

[PixiePetal]

I do meals for EY mindees staying till 5.30 or later if parents wish - they usually take me up on the offer. Older children can have it with parents at home as presumably they all need to eat and older ones do not go to bed quite so early as the littlies. For them it means parents get home in time to do bath and bed routine in a relaxed manner - with any luck :)

My family are now teens so we all eat when mindees have left - they ate together when mine were young.

[Rebecca Foster]

I have always done meals as this is included in my fee's, ive found that parents are more happier if you provide meals as sometimes by the time they get home it can be late:)

[watgem]

I used to do evening meals but some wanted it and some parents didn't and I felt it was unfair to feed some and not others so I stopped, and am really glad its been 2 years now, I have more time to spend with LO and less stressful as I don't have to come up with menus that cater for different tastes/allergies etc. I still do morning and afternoon snacks which works really well:)

[Roseolivia]

I'm changing the way i do mine. I have always provided a hot meal on an evening but it's getting more expensive and doesn't always get eaten. I'm now doing a hot meal at lunchtime for my daytime mindees and all kids will have a snack tea (beans on toast, spaghetti, pizza etc) Found i was spending more time in the kitchen after school and my dp was having to eat on his own as i'd eat with the kids. My own 2 kids will eat with the others but they can have supper when me and dp have our tea at 6pm.

[funemnx]

I stopped doing evening meals a few years ago and wouldn't go back to it unless I had to.

I used to find that no one child liked the same food as another and when you're feeding 6 children, it's impossible to please all of them every day.

A lot used to end up in the bin and I would finish my day feeling stressed!

[Chimps Childminding]

I don't do meals!! I only have 2 siblings who are here until 6 and their parents send something for me to warm through (pleased as the older one in particular is very fussy :rolleyes:) All my other mindees are gone by 5 so no need for them to have tea here.

My sons are all grown up so we eat later!!!

Have to admit its not something I would offer to do if I could avoid it - i find it stressful enough with 3 or 4 lots of parents arriving between 4.30 and 5 to pick children up without trying to cook (plus I hate cooking :D)

Ours have a snack of say toast, crumpets etc around 4 so that keeps them going till they get home!

[QualityCare]

used to but soon stopped it, parents never ask, just accept that they are to provide a healthy lunch and fruit snacks l will give water or milk to drink and should a parent forget the lunch box l will provide a sandwich meal, if a child is particularly hungry l will give a snack. It is so much less stressful and reading many posts on here l am so glad l don't. The trouble is so many children are fed convenience foods at home and when we give home prepared fresh food the children don't like it even if they are with us all day 5 days a week from babies home influence is always stronger.

[LittleLegsCM]

I wish I didn't.
Most if the time its only tue, weds, thurs but it is such a pain. We dot get in from the school run til 3.55 and they go home at 5 so I'm literally rushing around for that hour getting it cooked (if it's not something that can be done before) getting them fed and ready to go. And usually 1 of them doesn't like it or refuses to try it!

Oh and I had a dad basically tell me off the other day because I offered his older son (the after schoolie) a yoghurt before his younger son and the other toddlers had finished. The poor boy had already been waiting about 10 minutes, the toddlers were no where near finished and there was only a couple of minutes before pick up so I didn't think it was fair for him not to have it. Explained to dad that whenever I can I try to wait until all have finished but with such little time and slow eating toddlers it's not always possible but that still wasn't good enough :angry:

[loocyloo]

i do meals.

i find easier to feed all the children the same. my schoolies, that start in september, will only have a snack, but that is parents wishes, and to behonest, snack will usually be either some componant of the evening meal/little portion or simple like fruit & toast. my children have always eaten with mindees, from now they will either have it as a snack, or a main meal, depending upon their activities!

i include meals in my fees as its easier than charging seperately. my parents all love that i do meals and they don't need to think about them!

i usually prep tea when LO sleep after lunch, but sometimes the night before, or first thing! i used to do alot using the timer on my oven, but now i have an aga so have had to change the way i cook teas, but i'm getting there! i've been a nanny/childminder for over 20 yrs, and have always cooked in the afternoons !!!

[Ripeberry]

My fees do include meals and snacks but ive never had to do a proper cooked dinner yet as the latest pick up i have had so far is 5pm.

My own family do not eat before this time so im not going to cook early just to save folk cooking for their own kids when they finish work..... I have to!!:D

Like that :) At the moment I've got two mindees who finish at 6pm twice a week and I cook their tea at 5pm, then my own kids have something at 6pm because they don't like what the mindees eat.
The DH does not come back home until 7.30-8pm and then I get to eat, so I'm cooking three times in one evening because everyone is so :censored: fussy!

[Ripeberry]

I wish I didn't.
Most if the time its only tue, weds, thurs but it is such a pain. We dot get in from the school run til 3.55 and they go home at 5 so I'm literally rushing around for that hour getting it cooked (if it's not something that can be done before) getting them fed and ready to go. And usually 1 of them doesn't like it or refuses to try it!

Oh and I had a dad basically tell me off the other day because I offered his older son (the after schoolie) a yoghurt before his younger son and the other toddlers had finished. The poor boy had already been waiting about 10 minutes, the toddlers were no where near finished and there was only a couple of minutes before pick up so I didn't think it was fair for him not to have it. Explained to dad that whenever I can I try to wait until all have finished but with such little time and slow eating toddlers it's not always possible but that still wasn't good enough :angry:


He sounds like a control freak....the dad :mad:

[lisa1968]

I always used to provide meals for the children in my care-full timers had up to 3 meals a day plus snacks;part timers had1 or 2 meals plus snacks.I did it for 7 years-then I got totally fed up of;
-racking my brains every week to come up with a menu that everyone was happy with
-chucking more food away than the kids actually ate
-spending more time in the kitchen than with the children
-phone calls and visits from environmental health
-keeping a note of fridge temps
-keeping all my food receipts,not just for the taxman,but for environmental health cos if theres ever a breakout of food poisoning in the setting,they can possibly trace it through the receipts!

5 years ago I decided enough was enough-it was starting to get me down.So i wrote a letter to all the parents telling them that I wasnt going to provide food anymore and they were all absolutely fine.The only food I provide now is healthy snacks and drinks.Its made life so much easier!!

[Carol M]

I do meals, but agree it is stressful.
Not just the cooking, it's the planning/shopping/batch cooking/ space in freezer/ parents picking up just before tea time/catering for all tastes/ BLW stuff and all the extra washing up it causes :laughing:
It would be so much easier just to give them lunch box from home and not do cooked tea.
Parents like their children to eat here as it would be quite late to feed lo's by the time they got home and prepared something.
I do my best to always offer a healthy balanced daily diet but it is costing a fortune! I have changed from fresh veg to frozen as easier because I don't have to shop a couple of times (evenings) a week and make best use of my slow cooker.
I charge part timers for lunch/tea. All included for full time.
Carol xx

[janminder]

If I could start afresh I would not do cooked evening meal just cooked lunch then the schoolies would either have to have school dinner or accept that if packed lunch they would not be getting cooked meal unless it was something really quick like baked beans on toast. I have been finding it very hard making a workable menu with up to 5 after schoolies to feed, one being halal (which means cooking halal meat separately) and them all obviously having their own likes and dislikes (although they will try something for me). Allowing children to do after school clubs, go to the park or library and then trying to dish up in time for a 5.30 pick up is hard. Some things I can put in and leave cooking when leave for school but cooked evening meals are definitely difficult.