Parents sending children to cm while they are on holiday themselves

Juice, please don't despair, lots of brilliant cms about who are professional but homely, caring and warm.

Just wanted to add a quick and totally un-MN ((((hug)))) and best wishes to theBody and her daughter.

I used the word serious career sarcastically as your post seemed to suggest that child minders found all the paperwork difficult.

I personally don't as it's part of the business along with doing expenses etc.

My career was district nursing but I despaired at the growing slap dash and uncaring attitudes creeping into nursing that made me give up.

As a cm it's my own business and it's brilliant to offer a great service to parents not wanting to use nurserys.

My children were older when I started 4 years ago do no I
Isn't certainly didn't do this to be at home with them

Anyway enough from me but I think you really need to re think your prejudices, if you are indeed training cms ,as people like you are toxic with their dogmatic and simplistic attitudes

Would you have no child care alternative for parents but nursery??? Many parents would argue with you on that.

You are so so wrong.

It's in my policies that Granny and Grandad come to visit and that's what they're called so no, not a lie. I'm struggling to believe this new revelation of yours, though. How very convenient! I did wonder at what point you'd be making it, though.
We're perfectly capable of reading your posts, by the way, and we know what you said. We disagree with your opinion.

So, while we're laying all our cards on the table (drip-feeding!), let me tell you some of my background. I have 10 years CM experience. I have a degree in Early Years and I train and support CMs, too. I'm in regular contact with other childcare professionals including nannies, childminding support teams, early years experts, child development experts etc. I am related by marriage to an Early Years Lifetime Achievement award winner who has devoted her life to improving Early Years provision.
So, there you go. Just as knowledgeable as you claim to be. In actual fact, I'd say more knowledgeable because I'm doing the job professionally - yes I am professional in spite of your ill-informed opinion - rather than gleaning my opinion from apparently chatting to a couple of childminders during course breaks, probably whose children are older and have merely commented to you that they don't know how they'd have managed years ago. The fact is, they would have managed, as I have done and thousands of others like me.

Shall I tell you why you are unprofessional and why I'm struggling to believe you?

It's precisely because of this judgemental stance you have. It's not professional to come on here, lecturing and hectoring those who don't agree with you.

Working with our own children is perfectly manageable. There's nothing unprofessional at all about that except in your own prejudices. From the EYFS point of view, they're treated as minded children and included in our numbers. There's nothing in the EYFS that recommends we send our children elsewhere, no directive from OFSTED, no best practice recommendations, yet here you are, insisting that your personal opinion is the right one.
That is why you are unprofessional. Calling us silly does nothing to convince me of your professionalism, either.

"it has been ultra-professionalised "

But where does that leave someone like me who was looking for a homely environment for my child. I didn't want a nursery environment. Fortunately, I found someone who looked after my child full-time and another child part-time as well as her own 2 children. She was amazing in the way she incorporated the minded children into her family life. My child thrived. This was before the Ofsteding of Cm-ing. Now cm-ing seems to be more of a nursery-at-home. As I've heard before - if I had wanted to send my child to a nursery I would have done, I didn't. However, as cm are now more like nurseries, where is the real choice?

Not soaring far from it lacking.

thebody - out of interest. Had you not had children do you think you would be still in your 'serious career'?
Was it having children which made you decide to be a childminder or would you have become one anyway?

MAD - isn't it the case that the government are talking about making it easier to be a childminder? I find that quite scary and another reason why I would not want to use one. I think childminders should be professional, should have to be accountable and so on. I also think encouraging babies/toddlers to call relatives of childminders 'granny' is very weird and confusing for a child. My 17 month old says 'daddy' randomly at the moment but he knows who daddy is and I would never encourage him to keep calling my mum's partner daddy for example.

Oh dear it's views like yours that make cms leave.

We do the paperwork and obs etc, some of us actually had quite 'serious careers' before childminding.

Looking after children should b a professional business and all your posts now are avoiding my question.

Am I not professional to now stop work and put my dd first? Remember this has come out of the blue for me, you don't plan for events like this to change your life

And is tanith unprofessional to include her
Indeed into her family.

I still don't belive you train childminders though as your posts are soaring in knowledge, sorry.

Also, PLEASE tell me another example of a PROFESSIONAL role where it would be encouraged or recommended you take your kids to work with you.

Childminding is either professional.. or not. I am suggesting if it is a professional role, then the professional childminder has no business having their child with them. There are many roles that are not professional where these boundaries can be relaxed.

You can't have it both ways.

Read what I'm saying. Honestly.

I am saying that childminding has changed, it has been ultra-professionalised and in the current climate and with current expectations I think it is going to be harder and harder to sustain the sort of situation where women CM so they can be with their young children. It will be different where the CM's children are coming in from school in the evenings etc but it really is quite tough now to do what needs to be done in the time allocated and not really that easy for women to be doing obs and planning and following the curriculum and documenting as well as doing a mother role at home too. I am frankly SHOCKEd that anyone professional inspecting would have encouraged a CMing could to have their mindees call them granny and granddad and suspect either a) they assumed it was an innocent one-off on the part of the child or b) that's a lie too.

It's not exactly a secret that women are leaving and have left in their droves since it has become more professionalised, you yourself are saying this is what you are going to do as you felt your children come last. I really don't understand what I am saying is so controversial. A lot of people feel that the role has become overprofessionalised, in much the same way that there is a major drive for the role of doula not to be. That's fine for those who really have a genuine passion and commitment to early education in and of itself but it really doesn't sit well with people cm'ing for money so they can stay home with their kids.

My job relates to child development and I do a lot of training of CM'ers and very many of them have said this very same thing to me.

You train childminders and you don't think it's professional to take children to work.

That's the funniest thing I have ever read on mumsnet.

I suggest you Are deluded or quite simply liar who is now trying to justify your previous comments.

Well I know loads of childminders and they all have their own children. Ones without are in the minority.

Oh you are all quite silly!

Read my post again. I said that I didn't think it was a great idea to do any professional job in the presence of your children and that as childminding has changed to a more professionalised role it seems a bad deal for everyone concerned to choose to do it to structure your job around your child.

I also said it's not a great job to do unless you have a very high-minded true vocation for it, that it is not a good job to choose to do these days for the sake of fitting work round your family.

It is not really shocking to suggest that having your child with you while you work might just be distracting or might potentially reduce a person's availability to work professionally. Childminding was not always so but it is now and the costs and charges have risen in line with this, so I don't recommend it, no.

There are jobs people can do with their kids pottering around in the background - ironing, sticking stuff into envelopes, sitting at a till etc. However, these days cming involves a lot of observation and paperwork and there is a curriculum so it seems a bit different to that.

I train childminders by the way so I do have a LITTLE bit of knowledge . I think there's a lot of pressure and certainly it seems nowadays to be a very different job with the EYFS etc. It is a professional role and there are really no professional roles where it would be appropriate to take your child to work with you.

Thanks redglow she's getting there and yes have to agree how funny mum is now with bubba.

Wishing your dc well again the body this thread seems so petty when you have had a real problem to worry about.

Susie how funny after all that the mum chose to spend the day with her baby after all.

Faye, mad? Any comments??

Am I unprofessional for closing my setting to put my injured and traumatised child first as I can't in all honesty carry on now taking payment for not putting mindees first( which I absolutely have done for last 4 years)

Or is tanith unprofessional for bringing mindees into her home and treating them exactly like her own children.

Sorry to make this personal but I was called unprofessional and I find that totally unforgivable by people who have no knowledge of me and certainly no knowledge of child minding.

OP- frankly none of your business what the parents decide to do while their child is with you. Mum might need to get fit again, she might need a day shopping undisturbed for things that her baby would not enjoy, she might have a lover. It's none of your business. Try to avoid transposing your opinions onto other people or you're in for a rough time inlife. You should instead feel flattered that the mum trusts you enough to look after her child even though you are judging her for doing so.

Bloody hell susie, you don't know when to stop, do you? She doesn't know what a hoiky bossom, judgey pants you are though does she?

i think some replies are a bit harsh/rude --she want being critical just asking -well i think if i had dd in childcare 60 hours and had 6mo, and had, nt to pay cm i would have them with me. susie well done you certainly are putting in the hours glad your enjoying your job.

Susie all the cms I know ( including me) had waiting lists so we must be doing something right.

Is that it faye,?mad. ?Do you support working mothers or just those who don't have young children.

I know and all gone quiet.

The attacks are upsetting arnt they when you think how bloody hard most cms work to offer a wonderful setting for the children.

That your own extended families relationship with
Mindees is held up as unprofessional and indeed nasty.

I do wonder what the motives for this horrible attitude are, so very sad.

Tanith I am unprofessional for stopping as I can't put mindees needs first and you are unprofessional for having your own children at home and daring to be a working woman.

I actually think that's it really how dare a woman work.

Smurfy, that's lovely of you
Hope you have a great week - looks like you've chosen the right one weather wise!