Really Stupid Question - Housework

[AliceK]

Sorry this is probably a really stupid question but when do all you registered childminders actually do basic housework? Not a full-on clean but basic things like hoovering. I'm only asking because I have a dog and therefore I HAVE to hoover at least the downstairs every day. At the moment I do it when I get back from the school run, it only takes about 10 mins and my youngest (21mths) "helps" me with it :laughing: . I'm thinking that once I get mindees who will probably arrive at 8am I am going to have to have the hoovering done by then. Do you all get up extra early and do the basics before your mindees arrive?
Sorry if this is a really stupid question :blush:

xxxxxxx

[Spangles]

I used to do the housework the evening before so it was all ready for the morning - I'm not a morning person so had no choice!

[FizzysFriends]

I hoover when they have finished lunch, after messy play, at the end of the day and before I go to bed :blush:

[chewy sweets]

Yeh as Spangles says I'd probably do it the night before so you wouldn't have to get up early to do it. Personally i don't see any harm in hoovering a room quickly with mindees there. We all hoover with our own children there!
But not sure if your allowed to with mindees?:huh:

[helenlc]

I tidy up and hoover/wash floor before I go to bed.

I like my bed and dont want to get out any earlier than I really have to!!

But if mindees are happy and are not scared of the hoover, then I dont see the harm in whizzing it round if you feel it needs to be done.

[Winnie]

Housework?? whats that:laughing:

I hoover outside of work hours, my :yawning: housework is done in my own time too, but when i'm working i do clean as i go in the kitchen....i occasionally hang the washing out....but thats all.

[huggableshelly]

I hoover at night and after a messy activity if needed when mindees are here

the mindees sit on the sofa with a book or play in the cleaner area whilst i quickly hoover

kitchen floor is done as a team, i use the big broom and 2 mindees use the dustpan and brush after lunch or playdough ... their mess they help to tidy up!

i have a mindee on a friday who loves dusting ........ yes i give her a duster she does skirting boards (in her own way) and i do cobwebs etc no sprays no detail dusting

craft cleaning ... paint brushes and pots - these are left for the afterschoolers as they use them then enjoy cleaning up after ... one loves cleaning the glue pot as rubs it into his hands then peels it off (i used to do that too lol)

the rest of the housework washing etc gets done at nights or wkends

[Daftbat]

I do it all as i see the opportunity. At worst case i hoover when last one has gone home, and clean kitchen floor. I sometimes dust around with one of the mindees helping me - they are all life skills!

[grindal]

I do some after lunch when mindee and my 2 are sleeoing/resting/shouting very loudly!! Hoovering tends to be when mindee has gone home at half four - DH did it last night. :clapping: :clapping:

[PixiePetal]

I hoover downstairs when DH has left for work and kids gone to school (they are teens, so no school run). He takes dog to work on the farm so I generally have half an hour to clear round anything that they all might have left about, daily RA check list too.

After messy play we clear up together (in their own way depending on age) then they look at books while I run hoover round to pick up rainbow rice, playdoh etc.


Other stuff I do at the weekend or leave it till Monday morning when my friend comes to do 2 hours cleaning :thumbsup: - mostly upstairs cos I never get round to more than changing beds and towels. (I do clean upstairs loo each day!)

[sweets]

i do most of my housework when mindees are around! i only have one 3 year old boy on a friday afternoon and we do it together then. he loves it and is great at hoovering and mopping! lol His mum has no problem with it either and always asks him if he has earned his keep on a friday afternoon.:)

[little chickee]

I tend to do my housework as and when it needs done - i childmind very much the same as i parent ( i have 3 schoolage boys) parents do housework when their kids are around and i think as long as you are not neglecting your mindees then why not get on a load of washing or put the hoover round- its all part of normal daily life and we are encouraged to provide a home from home setting. that actually reminds me - i've washing to hang out!

[AliceK]

Thank you for your replies. For some reason I had thought that it would be really frowned upon if I started hoovering whilst looking after mindees. Maybe I can just sweep the hallway and kitchen before 8am and then just run the hoover round a bit later on, as I said it will only take a few mins. I'm glad others do a bit as well. As you say it is a "home from home" environment.
Thanks
xxxxxxx

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I am usually hoovering around when the children are here as they make such a mess at mealtimes so i feel it is okay

[katickles]

Yeah I often end up running the hoover over the place as they do make some mess:laughing:

I will often run the mop over the wooden floor whilst they are sleeping aswell, oh & my washing machine is nearly always on the go!!

[miss mopple]

I run the hoover round before they arrive, after lunch and messy play, and again before they go home. By the time the last mindee goes I wash up the tea stuff and try to have my house back to looking like a home instead of a nursery

[RachelE]

Gosh, my huse looks like a bomb has hit it at the moment!

I hoover up whilst my 2 are eating their breakfast.

I have just swept and mopped the kitchen. I do the rest as and when.
I do all downstairs whilst the LO's nap, but my upstairs, well, thats a different story - must find the spare room before people come next week!!

I hate it when a parent asks to use the loo, or goes through the kitchen to outside and there's mess about - that always spurs me on!!

People assume because you're at home you have time to tidy! :laughing:

[Chimps Childminding]

I am usually hoovering around when the children are here as they make such a mess at mealtimes so i feel it is okay

Me too!!!

Although I have found a wonderful way to stop my house getting messy ......................................... we all go round to June's next door - like today when we had a joint birthday party for one of her mindees and one of mine!!! - all the mess is made at her house and then we leave and come back to my nice tidy one!!!!:laughing: (not really!!!!!!!):D

[pinklady]

Mrs Ofsted actually said to me that she wanted me to do ''light'' housework while minding. She said that the parents have chosen to send their children to a domestic setting after all and that you can make a lot of things work towards areas of eyfs. Like sorting laundry & matching socks etc.

I have wood floors downstairs and my dustbuster is never far from me :laughing: :laughing: I do a final sweep up at the end of the day and steam the floors if necessary.

[sarah707]

:eek: You all do housework!?! :p

[manjay]

:eek: You all do housework!?! :p

No! my mindees do mine:laughing:

[TheBTeam]

I am lucky i keep a man and he doesn't always want to go to the groups with me and as numbers permit i leave him at home pinny at the ready hoovering and doing the washing! Occasionally if we have had a really messy activity or meal time then i feel it is justified and of use to the children to see the work involved in keeping the place clean!

I will occasionally too when children are playing freeplay, sort out a pile of papers or dust round with dust wipes, or retidy the drawing and art stuff that is used by the children and kept out and available.

If mindees are sleeping and i am on my own with them then i will nip in and give the bathroom a quick once over, my house is open plan so they can be heard and movement is easily picked up.

Washing up is done with the minded children playing, i do not want to be left with a days washing up when they have gone, and i will wipe down the sides regularly.

I generally do my clothes washing in the evenings and leave in conservatory or if i know hot and dry then outside overnight and get it in in the mornings, and sometimes if kids asleep or occupied outside with cm husband i have done the putting away of stuff!

[Heaven Scent]

:eek: You all do housework!?! :p

Your house is always pristine so if you don't do it then one of you clones that you keep hidden in the loft must do it for you!!!! :laughing: :laughing: