Prospective parent visiting Fri, eek!

As you know I have been taking a break from childminding. My three years that I am allowed is almost up and so I have had a lot of thinking to do recently. I have been missing childminding more and more and get a bit jealous when I read all your posts about the lovely things, and the every day things, that you are doing with your mindees.

Had two mums contact me today, desperate for childcare as their childminder sadly has had to give notice for personal reasons. I can only offer limited availability due to me teaching part time, but I am happy to do short term and ad hoc contracts to tide them over while they look for something more suited to their needs. I am meeting one of them on Friday. I'm so nervous!

One of the main reasons for me giving up was our grumpy downstairs neighbours. DH and I both think we can manage it, as it will potentially only be short term, and the Summer weather means we will spend more time outdoors. AND, we need to be a bit selfish as we need this financially and as a means of keeping my registration open so that I can go for it big style once we eventually move into a house.

Oh gosh, I'm excited and nervous. Also nervous about the amount of housework I have to do before Friday. :panic:

Ziggy, have you started back yet?

OOOOO good luck, you will be fab, and it will all come flooding back!

xx

Stay calm, breathe, and I'm sure all will go swimmingly :thumbsup:

New steps.. exciting.

You have two choices : talk to the neighbours and see if you can reach an agreement or grow thick skin and get yourself armed with some choice replies to their moans. I think because last time the grass looked a little greener to be back in a school and away from them, now you have done it you may find well braced for any moans....they might even have missed the buzz of people arriving and going and welcome that social happening back in their lives ....I am ever the optimist I know!

Friday will be fine, although that doesn’t stop the worries, we all have confidence in you...think what a lovely clean and tidy house you will have for the weekend.

Good luck.

Good luck Maza , you’ll be fine , your love for childminding will come across to the parents just as it does on here.
The neighbour needs to buy a bungalow if he doesn’t want upstairs neighbours! Plus financially you’ll be one step nearer your own house x

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Originally Posted by Maza

As you know I have been taking a break from childminding. My three years that I am allowed is almost up and so I have had a lot of thinking to do recently. I have been missing childminding more and more and get a bit jealous when I read all your posts about the lovely things, and the every day things, that you are doing with your mindees.

Had two mums contact me today, desperate for childcare as their childminder sadly has had to give notice for personal reasons. I can only offer limited availability due to me teaching part time, but I am happy to do short term and ad hoc contracts to tide them over while they look for something more suited to their needs. I am meeting one of them on Friday. I'm so nervous!

One of the main reasons for me giving up was our grumpy downstairs neighbours. DH and I both think we can manage it, as it will potentially only be short term, and the Summer weather means we will spend more time outdoors. AND, we need to be a bit selfish as we need this financially and as a means of keeping my registration open so that I can go for it big style once we eventually move into a house.

Oh gosh, I'm excited and nervous. Also nervous about the amount of housework I have to do before Friday. :panic:

Ziggy, have you started back yet?

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Sort of, registration going through slower than I hoped. But in the mean time I'm caring for a family in their own home. Must admit I'm loving minding again, wish I'd never left. Usual problems with challenging children who don't seem to be disciplined by parents but enjoying being out and about in the lovely sunshine. No regrets

Good luck Maza hopefully they will sign.

As for your neighbours what will they do if a family bigger, and with younger children move into your flat :laughing:

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Originally Posted by FussyElmo

Good luck Maza hopefully they will sign.

As for your neighbours what will they do if a family bigger, and with younger children move into your flat :laughing:

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Love this thought. I would so want to move out and sell to the biggest, noisiest family I could find (preferably one that leaves lots of half-repaired cars outside.) :clapping:

My lottery dream is to buy both the house# next to Nigel Farage and rent them for free to East European migrant workers. :D

Good luck for tomorrow Maza. I'm sure you'll be fab!

How did it go Maza

I came to see how it went too! xx

Awww, thanks for asking. We were away for the weekend at my mums 80th (remember the one with the joint gift dilemma?) so haven't had a chance to get on here.

The visit went well, but really not sure we can match the families needs with the hours I can provide, so not sure if anything will come of it. I enjoyed the visit and the mum and toddler seemed to genuinely love it here. She is going to try and sort it so that she can work one day a week from home to cover one of the days I can't do. Her house is on the market, so it would only be for the short term anyway, which suits me.

DH was slightly, mmmm, annoying in the run up to it. He kept asking why I was getting toys out when it was just a visit or telling me that we really didn't need to put x,y,z away as I could just explain that we wouldn't have that out if there were children around, and telling me that the mum was not coming to check how clean my skirting boards were etc. He just doesn't get it.

The mum wants to come back next week with the dad, so we'll see.

My mum's party was lovely. A great turn out and I had a good catch up with people I haven't seen in about thirty years.

good luck xx

and I don't think DH's every really 'get it' !!!:laughing:

:laughing: I have precisely the opposite issue when we have a prospective client visit. Mrs Bunyip goes into 'Obessive Compulsive Cleaning Mode', whilst I follow her around pointing out that it’s unfair to give such a false impression when we both know it’s always Toymaggedon here by 7:15 every morning.

I recall one of our first clients confided to me that she very nearly didn’t sign with us because she was "intimidated" by how clean and tidy everything was when she first visited. It made her feel bad about her own house, and wonder if we were snobs, or if we'd restrict the children too much: along the lines of "nobody’s house can be that tidy if they have children about all day."

:D

I know what you mean Bunyip. I definitely think I put off my very first potential parent years ago for being too clean/clinical. I think I've more or less got the balance right these days.

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Originally Posted by Maza

I know what you mean Bunyip. I definitely think I put off my very first potential parent years ago for being too clean/clinical. I think I've more or less got the balance right these days.

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A parent once admitted to me after I had taken her child on that she had seen 2 other childminders before me - the first one's house was so clean and tidy, she couldn't imagine children being allowed to play in it, the 2nd one's house was dirty and smelt of cat wee. I interrupted and said was it like Goldilocks and my house was "just right" and she said, yes and it was because I had a National Trust sticker on my car and she knew I would take her child out! :D