what would YOU do?

aly · 31-03-2009, 04:02 PM

just after some advice if this was you what would you do??

My rate is normally£3.50.

A cm near me phoned and asked if I would take over her 2 before after schoolis, siblings{6&9} . i asked her {iknow I should have stuck to my own fees etc} how much S {cm} used to charge her and it was £3 each....just before I started i worked out I was goign to charge before and after £5 OR THERE abouts. but to take them on I though *** it I'll do £3 SO IT'S A DISCOUNT ETC.

Now this is not straight forward because usually it's either before OR after and only sometime both. the days are never the same each week. Last week i had them 5 days, 2 am 2 pm 1pm&am.
this week ive only got them 3am but mum asked today if I could have them am&pm 2moro.

still with me??

now i have had them since 23rd feb. I have noticed lately that they seem to use a lot of soap, tissue, drink hell of a lot.

so really would you ask for extra on invoice??? mum did say at the beginning that she doesn't mind paying more for things etc usually I wouldn't mind but they seem to take the mick....the 6yo when washign his hands rather than just the 1 squirt of handwash he will use 4-5 at a time

it's going down rapidly. they are constantly drinking, again I don't mind but feel with money how things are at the mo we can just about use what we got without extras using more on top.

does that make sense? I don't think they are short of a few bob, not that that makes a difference.

advice would be gratefully received

p.s sorry about caps etc my finger keeps slipping on caps instead of 'A' lol

**wendywu** · 31-03-2009, 04:05 PM

Sorry but mine get juice with meals but inbetween they get water.

And i know that Twinkles only does water full stop

**huggableshelly** · 31-03-2009, 04:12 PM

mine get juice with meals and water at other times too.

soap well I water mine down using half solution half soap, i know its not really the right thing to do but it is costly and I have also drummed it in to all my children that one squirt is enough to kill all of the germs if they decide to use more they will have to use a soap bar ... soap bars are kept in a named soap box then hung in their wash bags so the children really dont like this idea as it takes too long to get their soap out and use.

i would seriously cut back on the drinks and just offer water with a different drink for snack etc. I had one who only drank orange juice and asked parents to provide it as no other children drank it. This helped as the parents provided 2 cartons a week, once its gone its gone where as I was providing a carton a day!

**gegele** · 31-03-2009, 04:29 PM

there's only water in my house and i'm not planning on buying anything else when i get first kid. the only time we have juice it's for breakfast or snack time after school and it's always diluted.

i suppose that asking for mum to provide is a fair solution.

what about cheap soap from lidl? or big refill bottle?

sorry can't think, unless you use April and new tax year to up your fees!!

aly · 31-03-2009, 04:36 PM

thats great girls....I hadn;t thought about either diluting or cheaper soap. I will definitely do this. And I will provide water only from now on.

thanks.

**Twinkles** · 31-03-2009, 04:43 PM

I also only buy the cheap anti bacterial soap from Lidle ( it only squirts out a very small amount )

**christine e** · 31-03-2009, 05:01 PM

Now I have a tip for the soap, put an elastic band round the bottle neck when they push the dispenser down it stops it going down the full amount and a smaller amount of soap comes out!

Cx

**sarah707** · 31-03-2009, 05:06 PM

My lot only have water, full stop... also one squirt of soap is plenty and we talk about it together regularly... and they have single use cloths (face flannels) so that I'm not wasting money with tissue either, they just go in the wash.

If they seem to take the mick with loo roll we all sit down and have a chat about usage. They are generally so embarrassed it stops.

My biggest expense seems to be paper at the moment, mindee is into cutting it up. So I bought a really cheap ream from Tesco, rubbish for the printer but I don't mind what they do with it.

Hth

**miffy** · 31-03-2009, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by christine e

Now I have a tip for the soap, put an elastic band round the bottle neck when they push the dispenser down it stops it going down the full amount and a smaller amount of soap comes out!

Cx

Oooo Christine you clever girl - not thought of that one! Might give it a try - if I can get the elastic band in the right place!

Miffy xx

aly · 31-03-2009, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by christine e

Now I have a tip for the soap, put an elastic band round the bottle neck when they push the dispenser down it stops it going down the full amount and a smaller amount of soap comes out!

Cx

ooooh great tip

aly · 31-03-2009, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by sarah707

My lot only have water, full stop... also one squirt of soap is plenty and we talk about it together regularly... and they have single use cloths (face flannels) so that I'm not wasting money with tissue either, they just go in the wash.

If they seem to take the mick with loo roll we all sit down and have a chat about usage. They are generally so embarrassed it stops.

My biggest expense seems to be paper at the moment, mindee is into cutting it up. So I bought a really cheap ream from Tesco, rubbish for the printer but I don't mind what they do with it.

Hth

I just went and got some face cloths from wilkinsons for 25p

lidls I think tomorrow for hand soap...and water is free...well not as much as others lol

thanks