Male Childminder - Yorkshire - Honest Opinions Please!

[Jack Yorkshire]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and imagine this question has been asked a numbers of times so apologies for that.

I am a father of a little boy, 20 months and I am considering a career change into child minding. Obviously I want to get peoples opinions, experience and advice.

Do you know any male child minders?

What are your personal thoughts?

My career currently has nothing to do with child care and I have no formal qualification in the subject, other than my own experience.

Our sons is currently in full time nursery, last week we had 2 days at home and really enjoyed spending the time with him. We have a good size house (2 ground floor rooms dedicated to him already, plus a kitchen) and I just thought it would be such a rewarding and enjoyable job.

Feel free to contact me via PM or on this post.

Thanks for all the help!

Jack

[Rick]

Hi Jack,

I could have written this exact post 18 months ago! I used to be a civil engineer, didn't like my job so I looked after my son while my wife went back to work. I tried volunteering in a school but found the class sizes too high so considered a smaller group of children. Having met up with other parents and childminders at play groups I decided to register as a childminder and I haven't looked back.

I have had to work hard to get myself known in the local community but so many people know me now that I can always find work. I am the only independent male childminder in our region and it is a unique selling point!

Good luck if you do decide to register

This thread might help you

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...ildminder.html

[shortstuff]

There have been similar threads before and if memory serves we all agreed the more male cms the better.

Good luck with the decision making.

[Kiddleywinks]

As a female childminder, I think it's a wonderful idea!

I personally feel there should be more male childminders as a lot of children have little or no male influences in their formative years, and it's good for them to have a balance.
(My own DS lives in a house of females, rarely sees his dad (- not my choice), and thrives when he's around his uncles which sadly isn't often enough due to distances)
I looked for a male childminder in my area before I started minding myself, and there were none, still isn't - We had a gentleman on our course but sadly he felt overwhelmed with the negativity he was receiving from people he knew!

I think you would need to develop a thick skin, but we all have to do that although for different reasons (comments like getting a 'proper job' - are you kidding me?!)

There are some male childminders here, and I love reading their no nonsense approach to problems we females tie ourselves up in knots about (Yes Bunyip I mean you ) so I'm sure they, like MTK007, will give you as much advise from a male perspective as you can cope with

Good Luck, and I say go for it!

[loocyloo]

welcome!

where abouts in Yorkshire are you? I've met two at least in north Yorkshire ( I know, its a HUGE county! ... but they are the ones that come to training! ) and I am aware of a few others, although I think they all work with their wives.

I think male childminders are great, and can offer a fantastic role model for children, especially those without a male influence.

like kiddlywinks, I do think a male childminder has to develop a VERY thick skin, but if its a job you are passionate about then go for it!

x

[Jack Yorkshire]

welcome!

where abouts in Yorkshire are you? I've met two at least in north Yorkshire ( I know, its a HUGE county! ... but they are the ones that come to training! ) and I am aware of a few others, although I think they all work with their wives.

I think male childminders are great, and can offer a fantastic role model for children, especially those without a male influence.

like kiddlywinks, I do think a male childminder has to develop a VERY thick skin, but if its a job you are passionate about then go for it!

x

I am also in North Yorkshire, so that is encouraging. In fact thank you everyone for the comments so quickly! Thick skin isn't a problem, I'm one of 6 boys and currently work in recruitment....

[lynnslittleuns]

Hi Jack.

I'm in East Yorkshire & I do know of one or two male childminders but definitely not enough.
As Loocyloo said they mostly work with their wives.
Seriously consider going for it. It's a great career if you enjoy working with children & yes, more
Males are needed.

Lynn xx

[mama2three]

Hello Jack,
Childminding is wonderfully rewarding , but exhausting frustrating , undervalued too...
there are many hurdles to overcome on the way to having a rewarding career both personally and financially.... being male is just one extra hurdle !
Not everyone would be happy using a male childminder , there are still some very narrow minded people out there. But likewise not everyone would be happy using a childminder living in a first floor flat , or owning a dog....
Makesure you do your research and have a true idea of what childminding is all about , then go for it!!

[loocyloo]

I am also in North Yorkshire, so that is encouraging. In fact thank you everyone for the comments so quickly! Thick skin isn't a problem, I'm one of 6 boys and currently work in recruitment....

give the FIS or your local childrens centre a call and ask to speak to someone about childminding. north Yorkshire is split up into areas and each have their own support, childminder groups etc. maybe you could pop along to one and have a chat to some of the minders there. x

[suziealderton]

I am also in North Yorkshire, so that is encouraging. In fact thank you everyone for the comments so quickly! Thick skin isn't a problem, I'm one of 6 boys and currently work in recruitment....

Just wanted to say hi! Im in west/north yorkshire border x

[Jack Yorkshire]

give the FIS or your local childrens centre a call and ask to speak to someone about childminding. north Yorkshire is split up into areas and each have their own support, childminder groups etc. maybe you could pop along to one and have a chat to some of the minders there. x

Thank you, good advice.

I think I have a long way to go and lots of reading, meeting and advice to get in the interim.

[Tulip]

Good luck Jack you'll get loads of help and support on here

[Smiley]

Hi Jack

I agree with mama2three and it's also worth considering the financial side as childminding income can be very up and down here one minute and gone the next.

Good luck with your decision

[kellyskidz!]

I think its a fab idea, its your unique selling point that we all looked for when we started, to stand out from the crowd so use it!
I used to work in a nursery and we had a male member of staff, the manager told all parents in the newsletter that he was joining us and mentioned something about a positive male role model and not one parent out of 40 had an issue
In this day and age when a lot of children don't see their dads as much as they'd like to its good for them to have a male figure to look up to and learn from.
I'm guilty of ending a game of football with a little boy too early, as he would play it all day, and I imagine a little boy would feel more comfortable talking to a man as they get older, as girls tend to talk to females more and open up to them.
I'd send my daughter to a male childminder, I know what some peoples perceptions are (that would be that a male around young girls could lead to abuse) and I think its silly, women are just as capable of abusing a child, its the disgusting nature of the person as a whole not what sex they are. Many cms have their partners as an assistant so its they same thing, just cutting out the female minder lol
Let us know if you decide to do it and good luck!!x

[bunyip]

Hello Jack (avoiding "hi" as you're probably sick of the pun )


Well, speaking as a former rugby-playing male CM who used to remove body parts from railways in his past job but can now be found wiping noses and cross-stitching individual children's names on towels......

I love being a CM though my experiences of being coincidentally male are somewhat mixed.

On the bright side, the blokes in my 'local' are an 'ard bunch of farmers, ex-miners and iron workers. All but one think what I'm doing is brilliant and are always asking how it's going. Thay all bought me a drink when I got through my first inspection.

Most parents are ok with it, and one client even picked me out as a male role model for her lo (who only has a 'weekend dad' so to speak.)

OTOH, some people are prejudiced and some will use it against male CMs. Sadly, because we're self-employed, they can get away with discrimination which would be illegal under the Equality Acts if we were directly employed. I had one parent use it as an excuse when she gave notice, but then she was so desperate to justify her mistakes that she'd have said anything. The main problem I run into more often than I'd like is with dads. It sometimes happens that mum comes to visit, loves everything here and is fine with me and goes away with paperwork ready to sign. Then macho bully dad - who had previously delegated the choice of childcarer to mum cos, after all, it's her job isn't it, all that kinda stuff - pokes his neb in with the 'head of this house' veto and says "no". I end up getting an embarrassed tearful apology from the mum as she phones up to explain. This is a particular problem with military families from the nearby base. Presumably, childcare is still "women's work" whilst the masculine thing to do is to charge/fly around firing off hardware at people whose only crime is living on the wrong part of the planet. Hey ho.

I find I have bigger problems with so-called "fellow-professionals". I presume this is cos they don't like me being in their cosy little world - or maybe it's cos, if I were a real man I'd get a real job???

I nearly gave up during my induction training when, during a break, I overheard the other trainees (female) discussing how unsuitable it was to have a male on the course. I think the phrase was, "men are not emotionally or biologically suited to childcare." This just made me more determined in the end.

I think one of the high points was when I was on a 1-day PLA course and a highly experienced CM introduced herself to me and said, "Well I suppose you must be gay." to which I replied "only if you aren't."

Anyway, I don't mean to paint a bleak picture. The pluses far outweigh even the few minuses I mentioned (and I do seem to be an 'idiot magnet' at the best of times.) Go for it - you may find you only have positive experiences.

[Samijanec]

Hi Jack and welcome, childminder or not men have a huge, important role to play in children's lives. Go for it, you'll love it and just think of all that father / son bonding time you'll get!!!

There's a male childminder near me and I know he's in high demand!!

Good luck with your new venture!!!!

[Jack Yorkshire]

Thanks again for the additional info and opinions.

Really helpful.