long day !!!!!

[lou lou]

i look after this little boy and i am now getting really fed up with the times they are picking him up last night it was ten to nine he was picked up he had been with me since nine that morning bearing in mind he does not have a sleep during the day and he is a little boy that does not stop and is on the go all day and wants your attention all the time, his mum does not phone to say what time she is picking she just turns up when ever it has been happening a few times now and i just have no evening by the time he has gone last night i did not get to cook any tea for me and my partner so we ended up having take away and my little girl did not get to bed until ten last night which is just to late as she has fo be up today for playschool. It got to quarter to nine last night and i said thats it to him no more toys and wamted him to sit down and chill out so with that he started crying just in time for when his mum walked in and she wanted to know why he was so upset to which i said he is tired and said no to any more toys am i being unreasonable but i just dont want it at that time of night i like to be flexible but there is flexible and flexible!!! The trouble is i did it once and said nothing and now it has got out of hand.

[mama2three]

what time is he contracted to? you cant go on like this , you really need to have a major chat with mum and lay down some groundrules. and introduce some late collection charges too!

[angeldelight]

Do you have a contract ?

You should not be having this child over contracted times with out prior agreement

You sound fed up and tired with the situation so put your foot down before you really start to resent it then find no fun in your job

Speak to parent and explain you are no longer working to that time and you need to review her contract then work out what you can and can not do

Good luck

Angel xxx

[lou lou]

yes i have a contract but she works flexi time so that is why she came to a childminder as when he went to a nursery she could not do that, i know i am sometimes too soft but it is getting me down so i am going to have to sort it out, the trouble i dont want to loose him as also i have to think about the money, but she never said it was going to be this late for picking up time i think as i did it once and did not say anything she probably thinks it is ok to do it all the time but i do think she could tell i was not happy last night.

[angeldelight]

yes i have a contract but she works flexi time so that is why she came to a childminder as when he went to a nursery she could not do that, i know i am sometimes too soft but it is getting me down so i am going to have to sort it out, the trouble i dont want to loose him as also i have to think about the money, but she never said it was going to be this late for picking up time i think as i did it once and did not say anything she probably thinks it is ok to do it all the time but i do think she could tell i was not happy last night.

Ah I see what you mean

I had a parent that was like this years ago and like you made a rod for my own back

What does she do though because most jobs they still get a rota - my parent used to get it on the Friday so I at least knew my hours for the following week

I mean how are you supposed to have a life if you never know where you stand ?

Also after a certain time example 6 in the evening you need to start charging an over time rate

Maybe sit and think what you can do and have a chat with the parent I can see at this stage you dont want to let her down but she is going to find it hard to find someone like yourself that just puts up with it

So maybe you could meet her half way ?

You live and learn and next time you will know what to do if you have a parent that does these sort of hours

I hope you sort something out - let us know

Angel xxx

[miffy]

You need to talk to mum asap - start with the contract and look at what you've agreed in writing, if it's no longer working or practical then you need to re-do it.

Hopefully if you talk it through with mum you can come to an arrangement you're both happy with but at the moment it's not working for you so be honest and explain that to her.

Miffy xx

[little chickee]

Even though she works flexi time she still must have some idea of what her working week is going to be.

i would be prepared to be flexible - as you say you dont want to lose the child - but try to get her to let you know at the beginning of the week what time she will be picking up.

Just explain that the boy is struggling with such a long day and the late pick up and you could say that its difficult for your daughter too.

and definatly introduce time and a half or even double time after 6pm - im sure this will make her manage to collect him earlier all of a sudden.

surely the idea of flexi-time is so she can organise her work hours to suit the needs of her child. doesnt look like thats what she is doing.
do you suspect that she is leaving her son with you even after she has finished work?

[nokidshere]

As well as getting the hours in advance (I have one parent who lets me know sunday evenings what she needs for the week) I would also introduce some winding down for the child.

Can you not incorporate a bedtime routine for him into your own? Maybe give him a bath and get him ready for bed - even lying down in a quiet place after 7pm - collecting a sleeping child is no real hardship - most will stay asleep.