home from home ??

[jane5]

I am starting at 6.30am for one of my regulars for the next 6 months and I have said I may be in my pj's when she arrives

Mum is absolutely fine with that as she is just thankful that I have agreed to keep lo because she usually started at 8.30.

So far I have always been dressed but it will cover me if I oversleep one day, I am not a morning person and I am never usually awake before 7am

I will take my dd to the hospital or doctors with lo's in tow and the mums are ok with that or they would have to take time off work.

I nip to the local shops but do my main shopping online because I hate doing a big shop with children

I clean up after the lo's and put the dishwasher or washing machine on but do a proper clean at weekends when they are not here.

[breezy]

I have a couple of mindees here who love helping with the dusting and hoovering, their next steps are down as " mastering ironing and coffee making"

[rickysmiths]

I have a couple of mindees here who love helping with the dusting and hoovering, their next steps are down as " mastering ironing and coffee making"

I like it! Start as you mean to go on.

[Bridey]

Years ago I worked for a mother who lived across the road. My own son was a baby so there were no school runs ... we ALL used to be in our pyjamas at drop off! I've worked for the family for 9 years now so I don't think it did any harm!

[mushpea]

we go shopping and I hang out the washing and empty the dishwasher, do lunch etc whilst working.
I've only ever had one complaint and that was from a parent of a schoolie who told me that I shouldnt be doing paperwork or cooking my dinner whilst the child was here, she told me that she paid me to be with her child 24/7 and I told her that it is not what her child wanted and that sometimes her child preferd to be on her own or play with the others which is when I did this paperwork etc and then I asked her when she did her housework and cooked her dinner to which she looked puzzled so I expalined my setting is a home from home setting so everything that goes on in a normal home happens here and that I would not be constantly glued to her child.

[buildingblocks]

hi everyone just wondering what u all do

when i done my pre childminding registration one thing always sticks with me with what i was taught and its this ......

Who told you this!!! Remember you are your own boss and so long as you can 'justify' what you do to the parents and Ofsted nobody else's business. I told someone from the LA the other week when the LA pay me minimum wage for all my 6 places full time then they can tell me what I do

no answering the door in your dressing gown, we must be ready for work ( this i do agree on ) but .........
I agree with this but I know of a local CM who used to frequently do this and have heard of another. I have done this on a couple of occasions when I started work at 5.30 on a Sunday (my day off) when mum went off on a drugs raid and dad was at work

no doing house hold washing
I don't personally but this is because my washing line is a rotary one that has to go in the middle of where the children play so I do it all Saturday night and hang out on a Sunday

no doing your weekly tesco shop
Would always have said no to this (mainly because I hate shopping at the best of times) but it would always depend on age and temperament of child/ren. Having said this I now do this every week as I take my mum shopping on a Saturday - in her 80's - and when I took on my Saturday child mum was made aware of this as it meant taking child with us. She was happy with this. Have to say he is a little darling who loves it flirts with all the ladies and little girls we see when out and about and actually really enjoys the experience.

no socialising i.e cuppa with friends and co
rubbish we often have cm friends round with their mindees and in the case until recently it was the only way one of my mindees mixed with other children during the week. My mindees over the years have always had contact with mine an d hubby's parents who have been frequent visitors over the years and provide children with older people to socialise with I am age of grandparents so our parents in their 70's and 80's were a generation they weren't used to

house work basically kept to a minimum
hate doing it when the children are not here let alone when they are here

now im frightened to do wrong and never have but id really like to get out and about more without feeling like im doing wrong e/g i went to my mums today for a cuppa , took little one who was perfectly happy but all the time i was thinking "is this aloud" , i worry what the parents expect from home childcare i should of mentioned this to them on there first visits but i just wondered apart from the usual learning journal what every one else does with there day

Would always just drop into conversation oh we are off to see my mum today so they know what your plans are but thats just me as I like to keep the parents informed as to roughly what we are doing as they like to know

ps we do go to playgroups 3 times per week,park,ducks,homebased activities but when u have a little one all day i dont want to feel bad about nipping into town for instance thanks x x

I have to go into town every couple of weeks to do banking for my mum and to pay her bills as I don't have a choice as I work 6 days a week but again I just say to mum oh I've got to do mums banking to morrow so we are off into town and then the park. Have been know to be asked to pick up the odd thing whilst there for parents

[fluff1975]

With you all on this one too!

I did do the 'big shop' when I just had the one mindee and he was 7 wks old! At such a young age his mum was desperate for someone to be his 'second mother' (her words!).

I do visit my parents for lunch about once a month and take with me whoever I have that day. I keep a full RA of their home, and just make sure I'm extra vigilant. The children's families love that they are getting that experience as none of them have grandparents or grandparents who are local to them. Mum and dad have an orchard which is great not only for the fruit but for picnics too! There is an accessible stream running through the village and in the summer we play on the park there and watch the cricket matches on the green. It's bliss!

Like someone already said, I am home-based, not a nursery!