how many of you provide..

[mushpea]

evening cooked meals?
I have provide a home cooked meal for the last 3yrs and am now getting fed up with parents turning up half way through and disturbing the kids, kids not wanting/liking it, and generaly having less time supervising and playing with the kids and also having to come back early from the park to cook.
so i am thinking of stopping the hot meals and offering either a snack or a sandwich , fruit, youghurt type meal instead as this can be prepared in advance and stuck in the fridge.

Just wonded what everyone else offered for evening meal and also how to word the letter to the parents that i am not offering the meal no more.

[angeldelight]

I have the same problem with parents arriving early during meal time - the attitude of one parent is she is paying for the meal so its up to her if the child does not get to eat it :eek: It does not matter that I have stood preparing it - plus the waste

I am thinking of stopping hot meals also - I am going to be honest and just tell parents I am no longer going to be giving hot meals.

Hope it works out for and the sandwich system works out better

Angel xx

[TammyN]

i will offer a hot meal and a snack meal for my full day children, as it's getting warmer so can offer more variety. i don't have parents come earlier to pick up so no problem for me plus my lo's always want their tea around 5 so i cook for all the children together.

[The Juggler]

I would do as someone's suggested before. If they want to come early they come before x o'clock otherwise they don't come until after xx o'clock. i.e. no pick ups during mealtimes.

Won't stop you preparing it and them coming before you sit down:rolleyes: but at least they won't disturb the children once eating.

You could allow for dentists/doctors appointments etc which need to be during your 'banned' time as long as they arrange it with you in advance then at least you'd know they weren't staying

[Mouse]

I haven't provided an evening meal for years. Even when I had a child here till 6pm, I didn't give them tea.

Now the latest pick up I have is 5.30pm. When we get in from the afternoon school run I give the children a drink & snack. We usually get in from school about 3.45pm & some children leave at 4.30pm. On those days snack will be fruit. Often they don't even bother though as they'll get in from school & head straight outside. They know snack is available if they want it.
When I have later finishers, snack might be cheese, fruit & crackers - something that is quick to make or can be made up before I go out.

To be honest, afterschool is always a bit manic & I don't see how I'd have time to cook :p

[AliceK]

I would do as someone's suggested before. If they want to come early they come before x o'clock otherwise they don't come until after xx o'clock. i.e. no pick ups during mealtimes.
Won't stop you preparing it and them coming before you sit down:rolleyes: but at least they won't disturb the children once eating.

You could allow for dentists/doctors appointments etc which need to be during your 'banned' time as long as they arrange it with you in advance then at least you'd know they weren't staying

I've had to send a letter out stating this as parents were coming early just as the children were sitting down to eat. I ask now that if they are coming early, between 4 - 5pm that they either call or text in advance. That way I can have their child ready to go.

xxxxxxx

[The Juggler]

I haven't provided an evening meal for years. Even when I had a child here till 6pm, I didn't give them tea.

Now the latest pick up I have is 5.30pm. When we get in from the afternoon school run I give the children a drink & snack. We usually get in from school about 3.45pm & some children leave at 4.30pm. On those days snack will be fruit. Often they don't even bother though as they'll get in from school & head straight outside. They know snack is available if they want it.
When I have later finishers, snack might be cheese, fruit & crackers - something that is quick to make or can be made up before I go out.

To be honest, afterschool is always a bit manic & I don't see how I'd have time to cook :p

I agree I have an older child who goes at 5:15 and I'm finding it more and more difficult to get him fed before he goes home with little ones here. The others don't got until 6pm and that is much easier to manage.

[sweets]

i dont provide tea as i think children should eat with their parents.all my children go home by 5.30 if they went home later i may have to rethink.

i only have under 5's and i told parents from the start that sometimes we wouold have a hot meal at lunchtime and sometimes just sandwiches, depending on the weather or where we are. we eat lunch about 12 and then at about 3-4 i give them a snack of a plate of fruit or some toast or something light just to keep them going till they get home and have tea.

[manjay]

i dont provide tea as i think children should eat with their parents.all my children go home by 5.30 if they went home later i may have to rethink.


I agree. I also want my own children to be able to eat their own tea in peace. I did start off offering it but changed as preparing and serving the meal took me away from the children too much. I just sent a letter to all parents explaining my reasons

[PixiePetal]

I used to do it every day when my own kids were similar ages and DH comes in late from work anyway so I either ate with kids or him.

Now mine are teens, have a snack after school and go off for homework/chill and family eat later.

No schoolies at the moment and don't mind doing meals if mindees stay till 5.30 or later. One contracted till 5.30 was being picked up 4.45 so I said I could not do meal on mondays when I have another mindee going home at 6 as it is too early for him and I can't do 2 meals. He now has no meal on Monday but will do on Wed as it is just him for now.

Will have to re think if I get more on Wednesday.

[louise]

I provide hot dinner. I don't mind all my mindees are until 6pm. My husband doesn't get in untill just gone 6 and my son goes to bed at 7. So he needs to eat earlier and its nice for him to have company when he eats. Yes it can be manic and hard to find something they all eat. Parents let me know if they are going to be early. If i have already preped something 9 times out of 10 its something im cooking in bulk for all of us or something i can freeze.

[Hebs]

i provide an evening meal, always make it in the slow cooker so i'm not slaving over it all day

kids get what they are given, they can take it or leave it

:D

[nannysue]

I do a cooked meal at lunchtime and if any are here for tea its more of a snack.... sandwiches, something on toast etc and we have our tea when everyone has gone. Its easier that way with lots of different going home times between 4.40 - 6.30 !

[barbarella68]

I provide an evening meal but am finding it extremely difficult as either they don't like it or they play up. One girl of 6 I look after seems to change her mind weekly to what she will eat. If I say well that's all you are getting I feel guilty because the parents are paying me to feed their child.This is the way forward for me( to say eat it or nothing else), but how do you stop feeling guilty if they don't eat what you give them.:(

[nokidshere]

I provide an evening meal each night at 5pm for all the children - 8-10 including my own two.

The eat what I make or don't have any - there is no alternative and I simply tell the parents wether they have eaten or not.

If the parents arrive whilst the children are eating they simply sit in the living room and wait for them to finish. I never feel guilty if they don't eat (although its quite rare) though, I make child friendly meals of things I know they will like and if they dont want it thats not a problem for me.

[KarenM]

I am planning on providing a hot meal (dependant on weather) but my husband is my chef so he does all the snacks or cooking during the day so it doesn't take me away from the children. The couple of days I have done, it was nice to all sit down for meals, including my 10 year old.

[Tealady]

I provide my main meal at lunchtime. Schoolies are expected to have school dinners which in our area are v.good and affordable.

I provide a tea, sandwhiches, beans on toast, sausage rolls & Salad, that type of thing. My parents are very good at the moment and will wait in the lounge whilst the children finish if they turn up early, but last year I had a boy whose parents took him away before he had finished, so I used to grab a sandwich bag and send him away with it.

[snufflepuff]

My last mindee goes at 4.45 at the moment so too early for tea. I have a schoolie that will sometimes be with me until 5.30 in the school holidays, but im not planning on giving him tea. i'll do a snack at some point though so he can last until he gets home to have tea with his Mum. I think to be honest it will be a pain in the bum- having to be back from outings or whatever to get tea cooked, other mindees paretns arriving while im cooking tea, then having to cook again later when DP gets home.

[AliceK]

I provide an evening meal but am finding it extremely difficult as either they don't like it or they play up. One girl of 6 I look after seems to change her mind weekly to what she will eat. If I say well that's all you are getting I feel guilty because the parents are paying me to feed their child.This is the way forward for me( to say eat it or nothing else), but how do you stop feeling guilty if they don't eat what you give them.:(

I always find out when I take a new child on if there are any foods that they REALLY do not like and then I will avoid giving it to them but usually there isn't much that they REALLY don't like it's rather a preference thing with them I find. I cook and they either eat it or not. If they don't then I just let the parents know that they haven't eaten much but as I keep telling my DS (the worst culprit), I'm not a cafe!!! Meals are planned in advance and they get what they're given. They soon learn that if they don't eat their meals then they don't get "treats" afterwards.

xxxxx

xxxxxxx

[barbarella68]

I did ask parents when she first started if there was anything she didn't eat and they said no. When I gave her chicken apparently she didn't like it but her brother said "she eats it at home".I think she is trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

[Toothfairy]

I stopped doing cooked evening meals last year. All my Mindees go home between 5pm and 5.20pm and they have a snack at 4pm. They bring packed lunches and I just provide drinks and snacks now.

[peanuts]

i now dont do evening meals, did up till last summer though. by the time we get home from school, have snack, do homwork there is not too much time to play. i have 4 different pick up times for the children i care for so i would continually be up and down to the door.

[AliceK]

I did ask parents when she first started if there was anything she didn't eat and they said no. When I gave her chicken apparently she didn't like it but her brother said "she eats it at home".I think she is trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

:laughing: :laughing: Sounds like my own DS. He changes his mind about what he likes from 1 week to the next. I don't pander to their mind changing anymore. They can either eat it or not. At one point I was making 2 or 3 different dinners and if mindees didn't eat it I'd panic and get them something else. I don't do that anymore. I know they don't really hate anything I give them they're just being fussy most of the time.

xxxxxx

[Hebs]

I bought a small stamper and ink pad, and if they eat all their tea they get a stamp on the back of their hand, it's amazing how much more they'll eat to get this stamp :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

[Gherkin]

I still provide a hot meal in the evening but if its school holidays I will swap the meal to lunchtime to make life that bit easier.

I did consider stopping the hot meals but I still have to cook for my two and from mid-July I will have one mindee here till 6 every day so its just as easy to cook for all of them.

I do find the meal times for the little ones hard work. When they turn one they start eating my food but I have one who has only had jarred food at home and she is not receiving my food well even though she could eat it easily.

I have just changed my rates as well so that it is one price per hour if parents provide food and a higher rate per hour if I provide food as my food shopping bill is through the roof now.

[AliceK]

I bought a small stamper and ink pad, and if they eat all their tea they get a stamp on the back of their hand, it's amazing how much more they'll eat to get this stamp :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

What a brilliant idea. What does the stamp say?

xxxx

[Playmate]

I haven't provided an evening meal for years. Even when I had a child here till 6pm, I didn't give them tea.

Now the latest pick up I have is 5.30pm. When we get in from the afternoon school run I give the children a drink & snack. We usually get in from school about 3.45pm & some children leave at 4.30pm. On those days snack will be fruit. Often they don't even bother though as they'll get in from school & head straight outside. They know snack is available if they want it.
When I have later finishers, snack might be cheese, fruit & crackers - something that is quick to make or can be made up before I go out.

To be honest, afterschool is always a bit manic & I don't see how I'd have time to cook :p

I'm with mouse on this one and my own children don't like stews or casserolles so slow cooker every day wouldn't work for me. :D

[funemnx]

I stopped doing an evening meal when we had to register as a food business (I thought is was stupid!). The uproar from parents!!! :eek:

Anyway, stuck to my guns and 2 girls (5 and 7) who's school doesn't do cooked lunch needed a cooked meal as they don't go until 6.00 so mum used to bring something for me to heat up. The parents kept going on and on at me to provide a meal for them 2 days a week so I gave in - all I get from the girls is I don't like this that or the other and it's driving me mad! I've resorted to spag bol 1 day and shepherds pie the next but now mum's not happy that they're having the same thing all the time - can't win..... :mad:

[huggableshelly]

I started hot meals when a young mum joined me, she used to feed him toast and put him to bed at 6pm. He was picked up from mine at 5:30!
More afterschoolers came, I was cooking for 7/8 all picky eaters and parents picking up from 4:30pm onwards leaving no time to actually play, relax or park. On days we walked home it was brisk and military like in order to stil to eat at 4!

I gave up the hot dinners, my own kiddies would complain by 7pm they were hungry again so now snacks at 4pm only and if a child is staying till 7pm for some reason then they join in with our family meal.

[Hebs]

What a brilliant idea. What does the stamp say?

xxxx

it's a smilie face :thumbsup:

[vickieford85]

I do and I wish I didn't because I would like to eat with my children in peace, as monday-friday they share all 3 meals with mindees.
However as my last mindees go home at 6:30pm I cant do that to either of my children more so the 14month old he is in bed by 7pm any later and he is screaming the house down.

[Tinglesnark]

i feed my mindee because he is still a baby and my 2 have their dinner at 4. i managed to tweak mindees routing to slot in with ours with no problems and i find the 3 of them eat really well when they are all sat next to each other so for now i am happy. i dont think id want to feed another 3 though! i might offer meals for new starters at an extra cost :cool:

[ChocolateChip]

I do meals for mine, as my schoolies (and one of my lo's ) are here regularly until 5.30/6.00, also my own kids often have clubs and need to be fed by 5 at the latest so it makes sense to feed them all. I do ask the schoolies to pay £1 towards a cooked tea, lo's get all their food provided in the cost.

I was thinking of stopping it a few months back, but the feelers I put out made it clear that the parents think it's a valuable part of my service, and tbh I can see why, some parents work a long day or have a long commute, or their lo needs to be fed and in bed fairly early- the last thing they want to be doing is rushing home with a tired, hungry child and having to spend time cooking their tea instead of sharing the day with them. In fact I have parents who have upped their hours specifically so their child can join in with our mealtime, which I take as a compliment! :blush:
In an ideal world we would all be eating round the table with just our own family, but as most working parents know, life just ain't that simple, also some children don't get that experience at home so they might as well get it at my house.

[babs]

i don't do evening meals 3 mindees go home at round 6 to 6.15. i think evening meal should be with parents. i do provide a snack after school depends what they want sometimes they just snack other times ask for a sandwich, today they had burgers. i always tell parents what they have eaten as it varies daily... normally do a hot meal at lunch time but depends on weather ...

[Gizmo]

I have 2 los 16 and 15 mnths they are here till 6.00 and give them both dinner with my own girls the younger one is so fussy and will only eat fish pie or mince and tatties but the rest get fed up with that every week have asked Mum what to feed her and she says just to give her a slice of bread and butter if she wont eat but its so frustrating

[rachelle]

I do a hot tea but my little mindee is here until 7pm and as he's not yet 2 he needs dinner. He eats with my own 2, whatever I'm cooking really. J who left a couple of weeks ago used to eat with us too but he another 7pm.