Mumsnet Talk

I've been a cm for a couple of years and have had some fantastic advice from this forum (thanks esp to Mr Anchovy and NannyNick), but I was looking at some posts the other day about tv watching and thinking that in my early days I was so stressed out every day and I'm sure it wasn't helped by the "mrs judgepants" posters on here.
So, in the spirit of christmas I confess -
I sometimes let mindees watch a bit of TV, not that much and usually related to something else we're doing (although I'm not sure I'll get away with many more pirate activities so that they can all watch Jake)
I sometimes leave children asleep in the buggy outside - wrapped up against the weather in my secure garden and I'm always within sight
Sometimes I don't have my day planned and have to wing it.
Sometimes snack isn't hugely healthy - usually because we've made fairy cakes (hides head in shame at the time we made hedgehog cakes and all six mindees were covered in chocolate butter icing)
Despite all this, my mindees love me, the parents all rate me as brilliant and the Care Insp gave me an excellent - so there mrs judgepants!
Go on cm - get those confessions off your chest, you'll feel so much better for it.

Aw I'm not a childminder but I would love to find one like you. I think the purpose of this kind of childcare is to provide a home-from-home environment that is full of fun. It sounds like yours is!

I gave my mindees chocolate at the Christmas party and sometimes they help me clean the car in the summer. I also let my very sharp toothed rabbit into the play room with them sometimes.

Sounds great. Are you genuinely worried? Love the idea of cleaning the car - my daughter would have loved that and I could imagine her coming home all excited about it! Variety is good.

My mindees are allowed to cuddle the guinea pigs

without gloves, face shields and specially adapted contamination overalls

Were having a sweet and cake party today 2-3 and all parents have brought in cakes and sweets got 11 children so gonna be busy

Mine dont watch tv (even my own children aged 15 and 16 have not watch tv for a few years now) we have 5 tv's in our house but today the pre-schoolers are watching a dvd while im on mumsnet

I'm not worried about it, but some people would be .

<stealth boast klaxon>

I know a cm who never ever (literally ever) has the tv off. The children love her and the parents rate her as brilliant.

wednesday girl why do you have 5 tvs if you don't watch it? Or do you and your DP watch at night whilst your teenagers are banned?

I'm not worried now, but it can be a very isolated job and when you go on here looking for advice and are beaten down with childcare professionals should -never have tv on, only feed children seeds and home organically grown fruit and veg and have no furniture in their playrooms in case a child sustains an injury - you start to think you're a rubbish cm even if you've raised children of your own who have managed to survive despite your "rubbish" childcare practices!
I took a mindee to a cafe the other day so that I could feed baby mindee and let older one choose a packet of crisps for snack!

I think my childminder was like this - and I didnt care at all lol. Like someone has said, it's all about the home -from-home experience as far as I was concerned, and if that sometimes meant an afternoon on the sofa watching a dvd with cm and other mindees, that was fine by me He also got to do visits to 'Grandma' - totally part of the cm's family and activities. She was brilliant and Im quite sad he had to start school!

Boys not banned from tv they just dont watch it
I have wierd children they dont like chips eirther

fives u sound lovely, and that kind of homely sounding setting is exactly what I would want if I could ever get a job that pays enough to afford it

Ps hedgehog cakes- fab fun and I wouldn t care about kid getting messy

Thanks for lovely messages. I love my job, its fab

I actually go to the toilet without taking all the children with me.

(ready so many times that due to not letting children out of site, childminders take them all with them)

I only take them if there is one that is in danger of injury in one form or another.

And no, I haven't written a risk assessment for it.

Just realised ... I haven't written a car washing policy

Oh dear, better get on to that. I suggest you risk assess a) possibility of drowning in small bucket b) possibility of suds allergy (better do skin tests!) c) possibility of tennis elbow or housemaid's knee from all the scrubbing and polishing and don't forget d) possibility of blinding (from sun reflected off superdooper shiny car)

I'm a nanny, not a childminder. My massive confession is that one year a parent asked me to make 20 (!) xmas cards with their toddler. She did about 8 happily enough over the course of a week but then point blank refused to do anymore. So i made the remainders in her style .
Mum never knew. I do still feel a bit ashamed years later, but she was insistent on that number.

What, you go to the toilet without taking the children with you....................
HOW.............................................. considering all mine are 6 & over, honestly, I have one that would follow me in there as well............................

..................................LOL

My confession - I am ridiculously crap at paperwork. I'm just so disorganised. Once contracts/permission slips are filled in, I do very little else in terms of paperwork.

Confession 2 - when I picked up mindee (3yrs) this morning, I told him I needed to hoover and his little face lit up like Christmas had come 4 days early . So, armed with the baby Dyson (mindee) and the fully-grown version (me) we hoovered the whole of downstairs. Then, he told me to do the washing and could he switch the machine on...so we did!

I could do with him coming tomorrow because the washing is still in the machine and I've got loads of jobs to do.

He's going to make a great husband !!

we watch a bit of tv most days, I take kids to bank, post office and round to visit my grandparents. I do the bare minimum of paperwork. the kids make cakes and lick the bowl. they jump in muddy puddles. I have loads of confessions! Today I got loads of lovely presents and cards with lovely things written in them. I love the kids I mind they have loads of fun and so do I! and I have stopped going to childminder drop ins-very judgey!

Housework

Muddy puddles

I took two of my mindees to visit an elderly neighbour who lost her husband last week to see how she was and if she needed any shopping etc. We were only there for 15 minutes and the little ones really cheered her up. I know there would be lots of people on here horrified that I took them into someone else's house but I think it was a nice thing to do - so there!

This has been a great thread...I have enjoyed reading how unique c/ms are!
Keep up the good work and have a very Happy Christmas and New Year

Forgot to say - and I told the parents and one of them got all weepy because she knows my neighbour and its such a sad time to lose someone.

I take my mindees to visit my dad in an old peoples home occasionally. They love it ... joining in with karaoke, flower arranging, etc and the old people love having them there.

I've had a child for 2 months now & not done a single observation or assessment . I've not put cupboard locks on yet or a bolt on my back gate(mindee not moving yet others are school age). I don't have individual hand towels & sometimes don't wash my hand towel every day, the cot sheet stays on a whole week before I wash it and we definitely lick the bowl & spoons when making cakes.

I chose my childminder precisely because I knew being with her would be exactly like being at home with me. She only has my two after school but if I needed a childminder for a younger child I would be exactly the same.

I want someone who will care well for my children in a home environment, I don't give a shit whether they have exemplary paperwork or not.

This is a lovely thread. I get a bit down when I read about people being unhappy with their childminders because 'they don't pay the CM good money to take them shopping/watch TV/do the school run /have dogs/visit friends/ etc because surely when you choose a CM you want someone to provide a home-like setting (ie your child fits into home life) as opposed to an institution (a setting specifically for child-based activities). The other day someone posted that it's a CM's job to entertain your child. That was really depressing.
Well done the CMs on this thread, you're doing a grand job!

Apart from the fairy cakes, I think you might be my CM. And my family love you.

Well my son stays with the mum of one of his friends after school - and neither of us care about forms/paperwork etc. He's like their 3rd child and I feel very happy about the arrangements!

You all sound brilliant and these are just the reasons I chose this type of setting for my child. We have the tv on at home so I'm positively delighted to find Pointless on when I get there (dd generally ignores all tv except track cycling for some reason), she loves leaf and puddle jumping and needs to learn that life isn't all about charging round so if my cm has an appt then I'd fully expect dd to be taken along.

Keep up the good work

Thanks Leecroakly, that's exactly why I started this thread. I provide a nurturing, safe, securing and stimulating environment. I'm not a children's entertainer and I treat all my mindees as if they were my own kids so if that involves the odd trip to the shops and a bit of housework mixed in with lots of trips to the park, arts and crafts and activities then I don't think that's a bad thing.

Speaking as someone who uses a CM, I need to just say I think you all do an amazing job. I have been with the same CM for 8 years and it precisely because she acts like a human being rather than a childcare robot that we love her. She's crap with paperwork, the dc's watch lots of tv, they eat normal food with the odd dose of crap and, when they weren't at school, she took them to town, to see her dad etc. She provides a complete home from home where my dc's feel happy and secure. The most important thing that she does for my dc's is not their nutrition, their education or their entertainment.... she loves them... unconditionally and we love her.

CM's get a raw deal on here sometimes and people should remember that we choose them over nursery because we want the home from home environment.

Thanks elliepac. Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you too .