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Gherkin
03-04-2008, 03:31 PM
Hello. Have just had an enquiry from a lady wanting me to look after her 5 children a couple of saturdays per month - ages are 12/10/7/5/ and 3 and half. My questions are this - would any of you think about taking this on?

If so what would you do with the older ones (my children and all but one of my mindees are under 5) and what would you charge? (I charge £3.50 per hour normally with a 50p reduction for siblings. Hours could be anything from 4 to 8 per saturday I work).

Thanks c

angeldelight
03-04-2008, 03:36 PM
Well it sounds ok

Depends on the children though

But more important the money ha - how is she going to afford to pay for 5 of them ?

Your fees are going to be higher because it is a Saturday

Maybe you should wait till you meet the children and have had a chat with the parent before you decide anything

Angel xx

manjay
03-04-2008, 03:57 PM
My fee would be £5 an hour each!! So that makes £200 for an 8 hour day. think she would have to have a really good job to pay me that.

amanda xx

Mollymop
03-04-2008, 04:04 PM
I think you have to make it worth your while. So I agree that you should put your money up as it is after hours, to speak.
Or just do a total payment for all the kids combined for a saturday.

wendywu
03-04-2008, 04:17 PM
Give them all 50p each and take them to a jumble sale. You can get some cheap toys and diversity resources and they can buy the world!:) Then stop on the way home for chips with wooden forks. A good DVD to top the day off and they will say they have had agreat time as they show mum all the goodies they have got.:laughing:

katickles
03-04-2008, 04:58 PM
How the hell will they afford a childminder for 8 hours for 5 children????

The only things that would bother me would be giving up my family time & also how you would keep 5 children & your own occupied for 8 hours? If you were to go anywhere it would have to be public transport which for that many children wouldn't be cheap so as the others say - you'd have to make it worth yourwhile.

Not realy any help there was I?:laughing:

Let us know how you go with this one :)

Banana
03-04-2008, 05:10 PM
I just decided against a very similar enquiry.

I just didnt think I could do it with the little ones around too.

But if you could do it then go for it!

money would be good!

x

susi513
03-04-2008, 06:05 PM
Time and a half is a common charge for saturdays, some people even charge double time.

I charge are £6 per child per hour. No sibling discount on p/t places either. I'd be very reluctant to give up half my Saturdays, though. Actually I don't charge that cos I've never worked on a Saturday, but thats the price I've put in my contracts just in case I do agree as a one-off sometime.

I would do a trial, just like any other contract, to see how we get along.

Its the same sort of age-range as I've had this week. It can work. Some things need to be adapted, like football - no tackling cos a 12 yr old vs 3 yr old could be nasty! - try obstacle penalties. (take turns to be goalie, with kids/cones/props to be dribbled around before taking a shot). Could try some group activities like everybody helps to make a single duplo construction using every single brick you own. Or creating a comic or board game together. Put out a load of arts & crafts materials and see what they come up with. Of course they don't have to do everything together.

Ask them what they like, what would they normally do on a Saturday at home? Some children like to help go through your craft/cooking books and help with the planning!

Gherkin
03-04-2008, 09:12 PM
Thank you all for your responses. Still not quite sure what to do but financially we really need the money especially as my electic oven had flames in yesterday and has now kicked the bucket:(
I am going to talk to her tomorrow when my household is quieter as today all that could be heard was my grizzling 2 year old who is full of cold, my 3 year old who was excited by my adhd 7 year old mindee.
Enquiries are like buses had none for months and have three in progress at once and all with various complications.
I'll let you know what happens.
Cheers

angeldelight
03-04-2008, 09:14 PM
Your oven sounds like my oven so I know the feeling

Good luck let us know what you decide to do

Angel xx

wendywu
03-04-2008, 11:16 PM
Well sat at time and a half = £6.00 per hour x 5 = £30.00. So a 4 hour day would be £120 and a 8 hr day would be £240.00 :eek: So i would do it if you are a tad skint. The only problem would be if you could not get out because of numbers in the car:panic:

susi513
04-04-2008, 07:57 AM
You could maybe agree a short term contract in the first instance? Assuming the settling/trial goes well, you could do a contract for 6 months/12 months or whatever, with a fixed last date. Then if you really want your saturdays back - maybe by then you've got more weekday work - so you can walk away from this arrangement without having to find excuses because you'd have made clear from the beginning it was a temporary solution and the end date would be stated in your contract.

But if you find yourself in the months to come with days off in the week and you really get on well with the children and its working well, then you could then offer to renew the arrangement or move onto a long-term contract (provided they haven't signed up with someone else by then - advisable to make your decision and offer well before the end of the temporary arrangement).

miffy
04-04-2008, 02:42 PM
It sounds very attractive financially but I'm really curious to know what she and her husband do that they could afford to pay £200+ a day for their children to be looked after

Good luck let us know what you decide

miffy xx

Gherkin
08-04-2008, 07:05 AM
I think she would have been getting tax credits for child care. In the end though I decided not to get them round. My husband and I took a real hard look at my current schedule and how we could get things done like the cleaning in those weeks when I would have the 5 and weighed it up against house size, seats at table etc and decided against it. Think it would put too much pressure on me as I'm tired from my normal week anyway.

Money would have been nice though.