Providing Meals

[bandlady]

As the title says I am wondering whether or not to provide meals for my mindees and wondered what other peoples experience of this is.

All my mindees at present bring their own food but I am finding that a lot of them are bringing ready meals which I do not really agree with and the amount of time spent heating up and cooling down meals I could have prepared a similar meal for them.

Could you lovely people who supply meals give me some idea of what you charge?

Thanks

Denise

[Louise0208]

i provide meals as parents were just sending the children with junk!

i charge 80p for breakfast, £1.20 for lunch & £1.80 for evening meal :)

my evening meal child now has a varied diet (he said it was chicken nuggets & chips every night at home) hes gutted when he has to have dinner at his own house :o

i dont cook different things for the children (apart from my daughters dairy allergy we have no dietry requirements), they have what we have otherwise they starve.....simple as! im not one of these that will cook a different meal if a child wont even try it or mum says 'well he tried it when he was 9 months old & didnt like it so he wont eat it now' (bearing in mind the child is now 6 yrs old!!)

chilli, roasts, curry (not hot), salads, pastas, home made pies.....they eat anything!

[funemnx]

I charge £2.00 for each meal - I do it but I don't like doing it!

It's very demoralising when you've got 4 children eating a meal and 1 doesn't like one thing and another says they don't like something else! I'm not a bad cook either! Shepherd's Pie, Spag Bol, sausages and Baked potatoes, homemade pizza all with a variety of veg, yog and fruit for afters.

If they don't eat it, it goes in the bin but they'd better not tell me they're hungry 1/2 hour later :mad:

[the happy house]

when I previously childminded I used to provide all meals. I didn't charge extra. But... I found the meal preparation took time away from the children.

Now I'm re-registering, I've decided I will provide breakfast and lunch, but only provide evening meals for children staying beyond 6pm (and as my rates increase substantially after 6pm I can't see many parents wanting that service, lol).

[clio0602]

I provide all meals and found that when parents provided, due to an allergy, they sent junk and it caused hassle with the other mindees and dd wanting the same. HTH

[gigglinggoblin]

I provide lunch, wouldnt mind doing breakfast but no one is here then, I do tea if they stay after 5 because my kids are starving by then so they have what they have. I dont charge extra if they are here for 3 hours or more and put it through my accounts as an expense. It doesnt take long to do lunch and they are playing right next to the kitchen so its not a problem. I dont like doing tea much but the alternative is my own chidren chewing the furniture.

[Ripeberry]

I provide breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks for my mindees but only have two at a time at the most so not too much trouble. I put it through as an expense to reduce my tax bill at the end of the year ;)

[Stormy]

I started out providing meals but hated the waste of home cooked food going into the bin. Then had vegetarian/vegan and allergy children and just couldnt do one meal suits all so I slowly phased it out and now all parents provide lunch.
I have a healthy eating policy which very clearly states what is and what is not allowed. For the last four years I havn't had any problems, my parents have been happy to know that their little ones have a taste of home when they are with me.
I also have links on my website for healthy options and recipes.

[grindal]

I provide a lunch, but insist all children must have eaten breakfast before they are dropped off. I also get parents to provide their own snacks!

I did not do lunches last year, but became concerned one day when a mum asked me to make sure her sons meal was put in the fridge because it had been left out overnight - as there was no room in their fridge :panic:

My lunches are often cold finger foods, or soups, or eggs, cheese on toast etc. I include lunch in my hourly rate.

[rickysmiths]

I have always provided all meals and snacks inclusive in fees. I don't mind cooking, they all get the same (dietary requirements taken into account) and I find it easier to account for. I couldn't be bothered fussing if x was off for a day or came late and missed breakfast one morning taking amounts on and off the fees. Too complicated :laughing:

I am even doing a packed lunch for a little one who has just started 2 full days at pre-school. Mum and Dad provide the lunch bag and get to wash up the contents at the end of the day!