So how strict are you with the weather.

[FussyElmo]

Do you expect the parents to pick up early - dont do the school runs etc.

I know Im a little different I pretty much guarantee I will do the school run as my children have to be picked up and our schools rarely close.

One of my mindees parents work at the hish school at the bottom of the road so they will always get to me IF it shuts. HOWEVER I do tell them that they are welcome to stay at my house if the roads gridlock as they dont live in walking distance all the other parents do.


What about you I cant think of the mindee sitting in the car for hours or worse freezing walking home.

[blue bear]

I will do what I feel safe, when schools have been open I have always tried to get the children in but if I have felt it was getting to the point of being dangerous to get home( live at the top of a steep hill) then I don't take them or collect early, I don't make parents pick up early from me but then they all live In walking distance from me with lots of relatives living close by as back up.
I just have fun, it's great having the big ones home to push the sledges.

[FussyElmo]

I will do what I feel safe, when schools have been open I have always tried to get the children in but if I have felt it was getting to the point of being dangerous to get home( live at the top of a steep hill) then I don't take them or collect early, I don't make parents pick up early from me but then they all live In walking distance from me with lots of relatives living close by as back up.
I just have fun, it's great having the big ones home to push the sledges.

We have so much fun on the way home snowballs etc and if the school closes all my parents know that I will be there picking up I just tell them in the morning if it shuts I will collect early.

[wendywu]

Our schools dont close and i can see the school gates from my front garden so it is not a problem. I would not expect them to get trains into London if they have been warned of the risk of them being cancelled.

I have slept children overnight often due to snow, dont mind that not so sure about all the parents staying as well :laughing:

[silvermist]

I will always do my best to collect children, I also put in my newsletter last month that I would be happy to keep mindees here if parents got stuck in snow and would provide them with a meal etc xxxx

[caz3007]

We were just leaving for school and got a text that it was closed. I have a before schoolie here, who is rather exciteable and his mum cant get here until about 11. Other full timer has just been delivered and mum said she may leave work early, just depends, but she is being collected at 3.15.

Hubby can walk from work and he is going to get a little bit of shopping if he can on his way home to keep us going, although we wont starve...lol

[LauraS]

I'd have been going to school if it were open as normal. Parents will collect at normal time, I expect. I may need to walk to the top of the hill to meet them, though, because we.live at the.bottom of a hill that is treacherous when icy.

[mushpea]

If I have to i will collect them early but dont really like having them longer than the 2hrs after school as the boy is very hard work and the girl is way to over powering with the little ones although we are working on this and shes slowly getting better,
Mine wont play in the snow as mum wont send spare clothes and i dont need wet cold kids that are moaning nor do I need a wet living room from where theyve been playing their wet clothes
however me and the littlies who do have spare clothes will be having lots of fun in it while the others are at school:D

[caz3007]

Hehehehe I found an old pair of pink wellies and mindie (boy) has happily gone out in them. He is wearing some of my Ds's clothes and will change back into his school uniform after. Its nice for Ds to have someone to play in the snow with

[FussyElmo]

Our schools dont close and i can see the school gates from my front garden so it is not a problem. I would not expect them to get trains into London if they have been warned of the risk of them being cancelled.

I have slept children overnight often due to snow, dont mind that not so sure about all the parents staying as well :laughing:

Bed and breakfast aka fussyelmo style. TBH in my kind offer was knowing that we dont stay gridlocked for long :D

I have one extra afterschool as mum is struggling to get someone to get her and her boss is an :censored:

All my parents have been told get to me safely.

Better get baking methinks may be having guests :laughing::laughing:

[Bananabrain]

My school is literally across the road and my hubs is reg'd as my assistant. It makes my life so much easier as if the weather is bad, I can leave the little ones in the warm with him.
I only have one today as all my current schoolies parents don't work Fridays.:thumbsup:
Slightly concerned that mindees mum won't be able to get here later as she said her boss won't let people go early! And is moaning that 'it's only a bit of snow' Happy to keep little one here the whole weekend if need be, more worried about mum driving!
Until a couple of years ago, I picked up from a different school [when my son was in primary] and can remember a parent not getting it when I said I may not be able to get to school as I would have a double buggy. He just couldn't get his head round why I couldn't pick up his son. Doh!
My bottom line is children's/ my safety. I don't negotiate! I've even made parents sign a disclaimer to say I may not be able to do nursery/ school runs!
I'm a childminder, not superwoman!

[ChocolateChip]

School runs aren't an issue for me it's literally a couple of minutes walk round the corner, so I am also on hand to pick up early if they have to close . I don't expect parents to pick up early, I would rather they drive safely and not rush because they are worrying about the time so don't mind if they drop a bit earlier or are later to pick up. The only thing I won't do is take the car out as I am not confident driving in it :o so no groups, but if it's the right kind of snow we will go out and have a play in it. Just too wet, slushy and miserable for that here today though.

[Tazmin68]

The majority of my families are great. Have had one issue today. I have a child I collect from per school at 11.30 depending on parents nursing shift pattern usually 1-3 days a week. I sent a text asking them to keep me updated on as to me picking him up from school as really bad snow. I have 5 children here ask three other schools all closed. Never heard from parents so looked on school website which stated closing at 1pm. I called school to check if child was there as cannot get the car out as local roads are impossible and would have needed to walk there with children and prob take about an hour. School told me child was not there. So decided to send another text informing parents that we would be leaving the house with 5 children and walking to collect their child. Guess what then got phone call from parent saying that they had kept him at home!!!!!

[Bananabrain]

The majority of my families are great. Have had one issue today. I have a child I collect from per school at 11.30 depending on parents nursing shift pattern usually 1-3 days a week. I sent a text asking them to keep me updated on as to me picking him up from school as really bad snow. I have 5 children here ask three other schools all closed. Never heard from parents so looked on school website which stated closing at 1pm. I called school to check if child was there as cannot get the car out as local roads are impossible and would have needed to walk there with children and prob take about an hour. School told me child was not there. So decided to send another text informing parents that we would be leaving the house with 5 children and walking to collect their child. Guess what then got phone call from parent saying that they had kept him at home!!!!!

Grrrrrr! That would make me very cross. completely thoughtless.

[singingcactus]

We are a bit different here. We all live and work on the compound so come sunshine or rain we all work our full hours. Sometimes the little school closes and i have a housefull of schoolies too. Not my dream day, but i go with the flow and crack open the painkillers at the end lol.

[manjay]

I'm strict:D We have plenty of snow up here in the hills so it makes sense to me to have an extreme weather policy. My decision is final and I make it each morning as to whether I am prepared to do school runs. It could be different each day depending on the mix of children I have. I am quite happy to walk a group of school children to school but when you throw a double buggy and buggy board into the mix it doesn't work quite so well. Our schools usually close anyway if it snows as it is very difficult for the teachers to get in from out of the area. The high school children go on buses which are cancelled at the slightest hint of snow. My own ds goes to the primary school but I would much prefer he missed a day than putting everyone at risk unnecessarily. Personally I don't consider the school run an essential journey.

[jillplum]

I live very close to the school and nursery so do all runs on foot. The parents know I can collect children early if required. We have had snow and ice for a week now. I live in North East Englan so we are used to it lol. Walked to toddlers this morning as I help run it so need to be there. Very rare that the schools close here. Double buggies with walking toddlers as well can be very hard. I remember 2 years ago we had to pull double three wheel joggers backwards to get over the ice and snow drifts :eek: The kids just laughed :D

[Pjs]

Not sure what to do if school closes early? I charge hourly so would you charge the extra hours, also if parent arrives late to me due to the weather would you charge them extra or is that just mean? Gonna be a fun walk back as mindee turned up without wellies today!

[caz3007]

Not sure what to do if school closes early? I charge hourly so would you charge the extra hours, also if parent arrives late to me due to the weather would you charge them extra or is that just mean? Gonna be a fun walk back as mindee turned up without wellies today!

I would charge the extra hours if the school closes early but all my parents are really good to me and if they were late cos of the snow, I think I would do that as a favour, it cant be helped.

[Pjs]

Thank you, yes I think you are right. Will do the same unless of course the late collection gets extreme. Don't fancy having mindee all weekend for free! :panic: thank you

[samb]

School runs - are for my children plus just 1 more once a week and so yes I have to do them. Not looking forward to it with a double buggy though. Not working today anyway so hoping it will clear by Monday!

As with any lateness for parents collecting I just say I expect to be kept informed and if i am then I just charge usual rate until pick up and if not I charge double! I really am trying to encourage polite communication and this is aimed at 1 parent who never tells me anything, hasn't worked so far but at least I am getting paid a lot for it!

[The Juggler]

i prewarned parents yesterday that if there was snow this morning on the ground I would not be pushing a buggy. They all have cars and would just have to go into work late. My buggy does not wheel in the snow you have to shove it through the snow - my shoulders can't take it any more - too old - lol!

As it turned out it was fine but snowed on way to school and I told everyone I woudl not be picking up from school.

[cathtee]

I took my mindees to school this morning to be told infants will close if weather gets worse, then had a text saying it was closing at 12.15,
but the junior school on same site was staying open, needless to say I collected the infants and juniors at the same time, sadly the head
at the juniors says that if the child is taken out it will be put as an unauthorised abscence,:mad: but parents wanted them collect early
for their own safety. So collected 4 and took them to their nan's aunties and moms so ended up with a free afternoon:thumbsup:

[Telabelle]

We had lots of snow today. Most schools were open, because it didn't really start til 8.30am. It snowed consistently ALL day, so by 11.00 roads were covered and cars were crawling along.

At 11.20am I put two plastic sledges into the back of the car, instead of the buggy. I drove most of way to a mid day nursery pick up, then used a sledge to pull the 2 three year olds along the pavements. They loved it and it was easier than pushing a double buggy on a summers day! Then we had to drive to school, which took 45 mins instead of 15, but we made it safely. I carry spare gloves, hats, wellies and waterproof all in one suits, so that if we do have to leave the car and walk, then everyone can be suitably dressed.
By 2.30 I had the 2 LOs and 3 schoolies home and playing happily in the snow. I needed a sit down and a good strong cup of tea tho!