I'm not complaining but..........................

[ziggy]

Last May i was minding 2 brothers full time when their mummy told me she was pregnant and would be finishing work end the end of June. As a widow living alone, childminding is my main income. I had a couple of part timers but not enough to pay bills etc. I spent days crying and worrying how i was gonna manage.

Luckily another family came along, again 2 full time boys, mummy a teacher. I did have to reduce fees slightly to compete with local nursery they were attending.

Fast forward to March 2013: I have moved house, am managing with 2 full timers and 2 part timers, have turned away schoolies, as not worth hassle financially. New mummy is due to have another baby any day, so all being well should have this family for next 4yrs at least. Will be having boys part time during school holidays, plus 2 part timers, plus a family i minded from beginning:clapping::clapping::clapping:

Then last week at soft play, original mummy who left to have baby has decided to go back to work in June and asked could i take hers back. Sadly i wont have places for them but cant believe how things can change in less than a year.

Just nice to see a positive future for a change

[Toothfairy]

Glad things are looking good for you :thumbsup:

[phoenix2010]

Aww what a shame they cant come back to you

glad things are looking up :clapping:

I was the same , for the first year I wasnt even earning enough to pay my bills and was racking up my credit cards at such a pace just to live

but since september , Ive filled all my spaces , plus have some evenings and overnight (it suits me as a single parent ) and Im now earning enough to not only pay my bills but have managed to pay the £7000 of debt that I managed to obtain when things were slow

such a relief as I love this job and have worked so hard to make it work , it does all fall into place in time

[lisbet]

So glad things are going well for you! :jump for joy:

And thank you for sharing- as a new childminder trying to get established (with all the government meddling going on:mad:) it is really encouraging to hear things like this.

Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong, but I have a lovely family booked for a holiday-cover placement and as of today another 24hr a week contract - can't wait to actually start working with children again!

[sarah707]

Brilliant news! Long may it continue :clapping:

[RuthJ]

Aw, that was lovely to read!

Lovely that things are going well for you :)

I remember when I first registered, a local childminder told me she was full, whilst I was struggling to get my first mindee. I thought "I can't imagine being full, how on earth do you get to that stage?!" And 18 months later I'M FULL!!!!!

[CLL]

I wish I was full. I have been registered for over a month now. I have had a few enquiries but no one has signed. They have said I live too far away, I didn't think 2 miles was that far! I also had a mum around today but she declined my services due to me taking holidays. She would have been saving £60 per week using me as opposed to the nursery she uses currently so over the year it would be a saving of £3000 which I thought would compensate (I don't charge for my holidays anyway). Anyway I just wanted to ask you all if you think having 5 weeks off per year is too much (2 at Christmas, 2 in summer and may week), if so do you not take time off or what do you take? and also is 2 miles too far to travel to a childminder? One even requested that I go and collect her children from her house in the morning and return them at night. It is so hard I want the business but I know if I give in to what every parent wants then it defeats the purpose of why I wanted to work for myself in the first pace.

[chezzagriff]

So far after a month I only have a little one 2 afternoons, got a parent coming out tomorrow for a full time place so got my fingers and toes crossed! If she decides to put her child in my care then I can stop worrying about how I am going to provide for my 2 little boys and just start enjoying my job and the extra time I get to spend with my 2 :D

[scottishlass]

I wish I was full. I have been registered for over a month now. I have had a few enquiries but no one has signed. They have said I live too far away, I didn't think 2 miles was that far! I also had a mum around today but she declined my services due to me taking holidays. She would have been saving £60 per week using me as opposed to the nursery she uses currently so over the year it would be a saving of £3000 which I thought would compensate (I don't charge for my holidays anyway). Anyway I just wanted to ask you all if you think having 5 weeks off per year is too much (2 at Christmas, 2 in summer and may week), if so do you not take time off or what do you take? and also is 2 miles too far to travel to a childminder? One even requested that I go and collect her children from her house in the morning and return them at night. It is so hard I want the business but I know if I give in to what every parent wants then it defeats the purpose of why I wanted to work for myself in the first pace.

Hi I only started minding in November but this is pretty similar to the holidays I am taking - a week at Easter, 2 weeks in the summer and 2 weeks at Christmas. Like you I won't charge when I am on holiday and the parents I have re happy with these holidays as it means they can take holiday at the same time for no charge. Don't think this is a lot of holidays as most parents would get at least this amount anyway! X

[phoenix2010]

I wish I was full. I have been registered for over a month now. I have had a few enquiries but no one has signed. They have said I live too far away, I didn't think 2 miles was that far! I also had a mum around today but she declined my services due to me taking holidays. She would have been saving £60 per week using me as opposed to the nursery she uses currently so over the year it would be a saving of £3000 which I thought would compensate (I don't charge for my holidays anyway). Anyway I just wanted to ask you all if you think having 5 weeks off per year is too much (2 at Christmas, 2 in summer and may week), if so do you not take time off or what do you take? and also is 2 miles too far to travel to a childminder? One even requested that I go and collect her children from her house in the morning and return them at night. It is so hard I want the business but I know if I give in to what every parent wants then it defeats the purpose of why I wanted to work for myself in the first pace.


I take 5 weeks but spread them out , usually one week at Easter , one week in May/june, two weeks in August , and october half term

I dont take much time over xmas , usually just xmas day and boxing day , new years day and any other bank holiday that fall during that time , I could imagine taking 2 weeks at xmas putting alot of parents off , most dont want to take 2 weeks off at that time of year and would struggle to work around it i think , just my personal feeling

anyway Id rather take my time off when the weather is nicer

[lizduncan72]

I take one week at Easter, two in the summer holidays and two at Christmas and never had a problem with parents agreeing