Lear
08-06-2011, 08:46 AM
........and it went really well - I'm registered to mind 3 children (2 under 5 as I have 3 children myself - one of which is a pre-schooler).
The lady was lovely and really put me at ease - I was a bag of nerves before she arrived but within minutes of her being here I felt relaxed.
I offered her a cuppa and whilst the kettle was boiling I walked her round the house and garden. I have a downstairs toilet but she also wanted to see upstairs - she said this is necessary on the first visit.
She looked in every cupboard in the kitchen and asked where I kept cleaning things, knifes, etc which are all up very high in a cupboard above the cooker. I don't have any locks on the cupboards so explained that there is nothing dangerous in any that children can easily access. She said that was no problem at all - even for the cutlery draw (with blunt dinner knifes, forks and spoons).
In the bathroom she suggested that I use kitchen towels instead of hand towels. My husband had left the toilet lid up so I quickly put it down and then throughly washed my hands (I cursed to myself that he had done this but in hindsight it was a good thing - she later commented that she noticed how I washed my hands and that I must be hot on hygiene)!
She loved my labels on the toy boxes and how I stored my toys. I keep them all boxed in a big cupboard in my lounge and she said how great this was as at the end of the day, I'll just want to sit down with my husband with no toys in view.
In the hallway she advised that I put a hook up high near my front door for my keys to hang.
She asked where I kept chemicals/garden equipment in the garden so I showed her my shed and told her how it was always locked and said the same about the side gate too. She asked where I kept my key for the door into the garden and suggested that I kept this in my pocket if outside with children. My husband had been fixing the gate the day before and as it was raining had to do this sheltering under our large parasol - it was still up yesterday and the sun was shining and she said how she liked how I've got a shaded area (another thumbs up to my husband as minutes before her arrival I'd noticed he'd lift the parasol up although I'd told him to put it down and put it back in the shed).
We then sat down for around 2 hours where she asked me various questions and scenarios. She said I could refer to my pre-reg booklet andl guided me through anything I wasn't sure of.
At the end of the visit it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders although they are still a little weighted - my CRB still hasn't cleared and has been at Stage 4 since 27th April :(
The lady was lovely and really put me at ease - I was a bag of nerves before she arrived but within minutes of her being here I felt relaxed.
I offered her a cuppa and whilst the kettle was boiling I walked her round the house and garden. I have a downstairs toilet but she also wanted to see upstairs - she said this is necessary on the first visit.
She looked in every cupboard in the kitchen and asked where I kept cleaning things, knifes, etc which are all up very high in a cupboard above the cooker. I don't have any locks on the cupboards so explained that there is nothing dangerous in any that children can easily access. She said that was no problem at all - even for the cutlery draw (with blunt dinner knifes, forks and spoons).
In the bathroom she suggested that I use kitchen towels instead of hand towels. My husband had left the toilet lid up so I quickly put it down and then throughly washed my hands (I cursed to myself that he had done this but in hindsight it was a good thing - she later commented that she noticed how I washed my hands and that I must be hot on hygiene)!
She loved my labels on the toy boxes and how I stored my toys. I keep them all boxed in a big cupboard in my lounge and she said how great this was as at the end of the day, I'll just want to sit down with my husband with no toys in view.
In the hallway she advised that I put a hook up high near my front door for my keys to hang.
She asked where I kept chemicals/garden equipment in the garden so I showed her my shed and told her how it was always locked and said the same about the side gate too. She asked where I kept my key for the door into the garden and suggested that I kept this in my pocket if outside with children. My husband had been fixing the gate the day before and as it was raining had to do this sheltering under our large parasol - it was still up yesterday and the sun was shining and she said how she liked how I've got a shaded area (another thumbs up to my husband as minutes before her arrival I'd noticed he'd lift the parasol up although I'd told him to put it down and put it back in the shed).
We then sat down for around 2 hours where she asked me various questions and scenarios. She said I could refer to my pre-reg booklet andl guided me through anything I wasn't sure of.
At the end of the visit it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders although they are still a little weighted - my CRB still hasn't cleared and has been at Stage 4 since 27th April :(