Can you tell your house is usedfor cm?

[Nature'sKids!]

I mean apart from toys, or artwork, how has it impacted on your home? How much, if anything, did you have tochange?

[pinky33]

During the day you can. But outside working hours it's just our home.
The children fit into our environment not the environment fitting in with the children.

[Twinkle-Toes]

Our dining room is now a 'play room'......other than that we just look like we have young kids. Safety gates, highchairs etc

We did buy a shed to store most cm'ing related stuff in but stuff went mouldy

[FussyElmo]

Only in the dining room other than that its my home

[AliceK]

If you came into my house and didn't know I was a childminder then No you probably wouldn't know you'd just think my own 2 children were very lucky in having their own playroom full of toys and that their artwork is up in there too. The only thing that would give it away is my noticeboard in the playroom. Luckily as I have my own 2 young children I don't feel my house has been taken over as they would have their things around anyway but if my children were older then it would be different.

xxxx

[JCrakers]

In the week you can probably tell because I dont take the stairgates down and the child seats are kept at the table and the plastic table cloth is kept on etc. the conservatory is the playroom and is jam packed with toys. At night I just close the door but its all still visible

Friday evening after work I put all the work related things away until Monday morning

[sharonmanc]

have nto started minding yet, but my dining room will be my main play room, and it is not much different to how i have it for my own children, the only difference will be a notice board for art work, which I want for my daughter anyway, and toys which are a few more than you woudl have for one little girl. Also the garden has a little play house and slide which quite alot of people have for their children anyway.

I am hopign to keep my home as much like a home as possible

[VeggieSausage]

mine now resembles a childrens nursery school - posters, welcome posters, certificates, artwork, mountains of toys and stuff EVERYWHERE!!! I lack a playroom, thats what I really want, no room however.

[snufflepuff]

Nope! I never take my certificate/ parents poster down but if I did, you would never know I was a minder. My son is 2 so I'd have toys everywhere anyway (although less of them, lol!) and paperwork wise it's just a shelf full of files in the spare room and a small shelf in the living room. I like it this way- I don't earn anywhere near enough money to let childminding take over our home and lives.

[Wendybird]

Mine looks pretty much like it did before I started CM, however, you definately know that little people are very important here. All our low shelves are filled with toys. Low coat hooks in the entryway, changing table, booster seats, etc. I'm actually very pleased with how my home looks. I keep it tidy and am lucky to have some really beautiful toys, so they don't bother me. There is too much (which doesn't stop me getting more!) and I won't be sad to put away the big little baby things for DS2 - like playmats, bouncy chairs, etc. I also have a large wooden farm, which doesn't flat pack like I thought it did when I got it - so is always out. I think I'll be selling it on reasonably soon - I need stuff that I can rotate and put away as we live in a very small house!

[flowerpots]

If you came into my house and didn't know I was a childminder then No you probably wouldn't know you'd just think my own 2 children were very lucky in having their own playroom full of toys and that their artwork is up in there too. The only thing that would give it away is my noticeboard in the playroom. Luckily as I have my own 2 young children I don't feel my house has been taken over as they would have their things around anyway but if my children were older then it would be different.

xxxx

Same here

[Alibali]

As my children are older, then yes, you would definitely know, I no longer have a dining room (with beautiful mahogoney furniture) or a conservatory and i have photos/posters and artwork in my hallway, so you'd know as soon as you come in. I don't bother clearing it all away at weekends anymore- just have to take it all out again a day later. At Christmas i clear it all, but other than that it's there to stay!!

[rickysmiths]

Mine does because my children are now 17 and 18 and I am lucky enough to have a room soley for the minded children but we use it as a spare room. It has a sofa bed in it but the billies and trofast units with the resources on are always up.

I take down all my certs etc when I'm not working and replace them with pictures. I only have one stairgate at the bottom of the stairs and it is one that rolls away so hardly shows when not in use.

No other rooms so any signs though so if I shut the playroom doors I have my home back.

When I used my only sitting room which I did until last year when we had the extension built, I used to take the toy boxes out into my shed when I wasn't working so there were no signs that I was a childminder when I was off duty.

Overall it doesn't bother me though, all my friends and family know I'm a cm.

[Monkey26]

As my partner and I don't have any children then yes I would say people would guess I am a childminder as soon as they walked in the house!

When you open the front door there are 6 children's coat pegs and a plastic box full of wellington boots to the left. Then on the right hand side is our playroom which has 'playroom' written on the door with those lovely wooden letters (but we still close the door post childminding hours and I don’t even notice the letters anymore!). Then just up from that a roller blind stair gate at the bottom of the stairs.

As you go upstairs/further down the corridor to our living room and kitchen no there isn't much evidence of childminding

But then you hit the garden and come face to face with slides, bikes, sandpit etc etc hahahaha!

Love my job though and our home is definitely, over all, less childminding orientated than our previous flat where we didn't have much storage space or a playroom so I am happy and very lucky to have an understanding partner xx

[The Juggler]

ohhhh yes. actually if they thought I was mad enough to have so many toys and I wasn't minding I'd be mortified!

[singingcactus]

Yes, people know straight away that I'm a childminder when they see our home. Don't have a problem with my home looking like kids play here every day. It doesn't look like a nursery though, I'm not a nursery, I don't want to look like a nursery, my home looks like a home where children come to play, and more than just my own children (2 of whom are teens).

[Chimps Childminding]

Those that know my sons are now 19 and 20 would know I was a cm as i have toys, stairgates, high chairs, giraffe coat stand, posters etc. I have to admit I put as much away as I can if I am off for a few days, but don't bother too much over the weekend. I have an open plan kitchen/diner which I use for cm and use a babydan playpen as a room divider so most things are on display all the time!! Sometimes it gets me down and i would LOVE a playroom, but doubt I will ever get one

[lozzy23]

Oh yes you would know.

I have an open planned house and the minded children have the run of the downstairs. My own children are older and have all their stuff in their own rooms. So before I became a childminder I had a lovely clear home.

NOW.........in the hallway: certificates on notice board on the wall, children's coat hanger, basket for after schoolies bags, large easel/notice board.

Lounge/diner - large storage unit with baskets of toys, games and puzzles, children's table and chairs (put to the side at weekends), large box of dressing up clothes. Hidden to the side of the sofa - large wooden dolls house, book box and happlyland box full of toys. Worst of all a pile of paperwork, which I look at and shuffle around several times a day Outside the french windows is a fenced area for the children with playhouse, sit and rides, children's bench, sand/water tray and music wall.

Highchair in the kitchen, two booster seats on the chairs and fruit/veg posters on the wall. Bathroom - poster to remind children to flush and one for handwashing.

I could hide in the utility room, although I am storing a large cardboard puppet theatre in there.

Bless my very patient hubby.

[Playmate]

Yes you would know and i'm proud of that I work along side my hubby and it is our lives. To some we may seem sad, but we are passionate about what we do and that is deliver quality home base care Our certs, notice board and stairgate comes down when we have our holidays, but the rest of the time it stays up. Everything is packed away neatly into our conservatory at night time. One of son's friends (19) recently stated he loved our house because it felt homely and fun

[Roseolivia]

Yes, but i also have 2 under 5 children of my own so there are toys everywhere anyway. It doesn't bother me but my dp always whinges about toys everywhere but seems to forget our 2 children.