Typical Day

[AZMummy]

Hi everyone!


I am in the process of registering but am getting my knickers in a bit of a twist as to how things will be. I have 2 kids at home with me at the moment, Z who is 4 & A who is 8 months. Z will be at school when I'm registered and I only plan on taking on 1 child during the day & maybe a school drop off and pick up. I wouldn't say I struggle at the moment but I do leave the kids to play whilst I cook or clean etc (supervised but not with me totally engaged) Would anyone be willing to share with me the general structure of a "typical" day but with detail on stuff like when you tidy / wash up after breakfast, lunch etc. Also for those of you with mindees of different ages how to you balance activities and your time amongst the kids? I'm suddenly beginning to feel
a bit at sea and wondering if I'm up to this? I really want to do it and know that we will have so much fun but I'm worried I may be rubbish at it and not as super nanny ish as so many childminders appear to be. Am I normal in feeling this way or should I take it as a sign I may not be suitable?

Thanks for any replies in advance!

[vals]

you find that your prioritise change. Things like the washing up can be done all at once rather than after each meal, but you can still do some while you are working. You don't need to be actually playing with the children all the time, they need time to play with you in the room but not interfering. Its then that you can do some paperwork etc. As soon as children are old enough they need to learn to tidy up. When all the children leave my house each day, the tidying has been done.
When I first started minding I couldn't work out how I would walk to school and cross roads with the children. I soon learnt to manage and have had 6 with me plenty of times.

[AliceK]

As you get to know the children and the stages they are at and the phases that they are going through you will be able to judge if you can leave them alone in a room with you popping away to get on with something and being able to hear them. I certainly don't spend the whole of my day in the playroom with the children, I am popping in and out, dealing with whatever they need me to do, observing etc but I can very often be found in the kitchen getting on with washing-up, sweeping up, preparing meals etc. I know all my children well and know when they can and cannot be trusted and I act accordingly. There's always time for me to pop a load of washing in, run upstairs some days and make beds. I have a LO at the moment who has started to become a little bit rough in play with another LO the same age so I am spending much more time with him in my sight for the time being until he learns to calm it down a bit.
Have faith in yourself, spend time getting to know your minded children and you'll soon see how much "full-on" time you need to spend actually with them in the same room.
Good Luck

xxx

[mama2three]

Although there will be times when you can get on with the things you describe , washing up etc..I think its fair to say that at least some of the time these things will just pile up til the kids have gone home! It can be very full on , depending upon what children / mix of children / agea nd stage they are at. Im not trying to put you off ..far from it I cant see any reason why you wont do brilliantly , but just be realistic. Its a job like any other ...and caring / entertaining / interacting with the children is the main part of our days. You dont need to be supernanny. A flexible and relaxed attitude to the children , to the housework , even paperwork is much better all round. Theres no such thing as a typical day for me - and i would think thats the same for most of us.

[shortstuff]

I agree with Mama2three, there is no typical day. I am mostly filled with part timers so the mix of characters can change all the time. You get to know the children and make your own judgement calls along the way. You will be fine if you take the time to know each child as an individual, as that.s what they are. They are all unique and all need different things from you.

[LauraS]

I agree, on Wednesday the afternoon naps coincided and between checking on sleeping los I managed to wash up, dry, prepare dinner, change my bed, hand the washing out and put a load of washing on, all in the space of an hour (my lunch hour lol). Most days I manage to tidy the mess we make as we go along (but have no free.time when kids are all napping for anything indepth). Some days the place (and me) looks like a bomb has hit and I only start tidying and cleaning once the kids have gone home and I have done the teatime and bedtime routine for my own family. It's lovely on the days when you have a little free time to do something domestic, but equally there are days when I am scrubbing the hall floor at eleven thirty at night, and that's with a husband.who is thoroughly domesticated and supportive.

[AZMummy]

Thank you everyone for the reassurance! I think in still in that post baby / maternity leave bubble and lacking any routine here with my own two. I think possibly I'm just a little overwhelmed with everything that has to be done to register that I'm losing sight of the job itself! I *know* I will enjoy it, I will find it incredibly hard but I think I will be good at it. It makes total sense that I will get to know the kids and work everything through from there. This registering process is taking over all my thoughts at the moment - I have childminding on the brain and keep flitting from being so excited to panicking! Of course at the end of the day it's about caring and interacting with the kids and that is why I am going down this path in the first place! Focus!!