Is it time to say goodbye to Childminder?

With covid I think she is right to stay off believe that is what most people do ?
If she works in your house minding your children and you want to fire her you need reason, notice ect. If making her redundant again process and redundancy payment.
Redundancy ok if they going to after school September but wouldn't be valid if you getting another minded in your home.

She sounds completely unreliable. It is one of most parents top requirements so I am surprised she thinks this is the right job for her. You have been amazingly understanding to stay with her and I think she will have issues getting a replacement. Taking time off for a 20 year old unless it was a very serious illness is odd. Maybe there is something else going on with her as it just seems so strange.

It's possible she isn't "taking the piss" but has some form of health anxiety- and that extends to her adult son too.

That said, the working agreement you have has become untenable due to her unreliability.

I agree that the best action would be to let her go.
I don't think it's necessary to go into the actual reasons why. When she has been present she has been capable and formed a good caring relationship with your children so thank her for her services and part on good terms.

You don't need to feel guilty or obligated. Good luck

I'm a Registered Childminder but have paused my registration so to speak because both I and my children kept getting ill. I couldn't be as reliable as I wanted or needed to be. My children are MUCH younger though and need me. Frankly taking time off for a 20 something is strange, I mean unless he is incapable of getting out of bed and is seriously unwell, needing help.

The EYFS states that childcare providers have a duty to minimise the spread of infection so she could be taking it incredibly seriously. It's mostly a case of shutting the ill person away upstairs so long as they don't come out and interact with mindees. However it depends on the illness and different insurance companies will say different things.

Something just feels very off to me about it though, as if her heart isn't in it at all.

The bottom line is, it's not working for you. I think it's time to move on. I would speak to her now though, particularly if she's on the same page you put an advert on. Perhaps she doesn't realise quite the impact that it's having on your family.

Also, just to ask, are you actually happy for your children to be in a house with someone with Covid? I'm currently on day 9, my daughter on day 11, both still testing positive so both potentially transmissible. If your children got Covid then they'd be at home for who knows how long and that would impact you too.

Just jumping back on to say my absolute bugbear is this 'I feel I need' language, which frames something completely unreasonable (no doctor in the world would tell me but...) language as moral. It takes away your room to give a reasoned response ('But medical advice is that you don't need to isolate any more')

For that alone, I would call it. And when your mum needs you to be available too. You need to put yourselves first.

If reliability isn't part of the service she's offering then you need to find someone else.

She doesn't sound too bright if she doesn't understand that working parents might find lack of childcare due to her time off a problem.

Gosh, my childminder took DS from age 2 to 11 (from full time to school runs) and in that time she took 2 DAYS off sick, both times with a migraine.

Yours has been a CF.

Goodness, not working with a cold! If a parent can do it, a CM should. I'm sure you'd rather a less than stellar job and she's actually there when you need her than being off for a week!

you say she ‘works for us’, does she come to your house? Or is she a Childminder who has other kids there too?

JFC drop her like she's hot.

With our eldest we left a childminder for taking 5-6 weeks off a year in addition to holidays. Always for mild 'illness' which never stopped her sitting in the garden with a cider. Never any consistency, but if you asked the gentlest question you'd think she'd swallowed a wasp.

My regret is not doing it a year earlier. We were mugs with a case of the previous first borns and no idea what was ordinary. Completely disrespectful and taking the piss.

Echoing what everyone else has said.

It’s certainly extremely irritating for you, but I’d especially think about the impact on the dc with so much chopping and changing, especially the youngest.

What a complete joke! Good that you’re drawing a line, it’s going to transform your stress levels I’m sure to have some reliable childcare.

She's taking the piss. Please tell me you've given her notice.

She’s hugely unreliable, I would definitely leave.

Does she come to your house to look after your children? Does she look after any other children at the same time?

I would have binned her off ages ago. When she refused to do her job in order to look after a 20 year old.

Time off to care for the 22 year old son would have had her sacked off for me, nevermind all the uncertainty and mind changing. Get rid OP. Tell her that as you and DH work and you've used all your A/L, you are going to have to find a new CM. Wish her well and move on.

I am usually a firm advocate for childminders as I think they have a challenging job however yours does sound completely unreliable.

I would be actively looking for childcare elsewhere for the summer and making plans for September.

Many childminders will have school break spaces as the term time children will be home with parents (our childminder is an example of this as DH and I both teach) so look elsewhere for holiday cover.

She does sound quite unreliable, unless of course she has just been unlucky in regards to illness recently. If she doesn’t charge when closed then I’m sure she would rather stay open. I know I can’t afford to close so do so as little as possible. I’ve even cut my holidays short this year and I’m not taking as many as usual (I don’t take many to begin with)

just a couple of points worth mentioning. She doesn’t ‘work for you’, you are not her boss you use her services. She is her own boss with her own business. Also, I see you are meeting with another childminder. You are not ‘interviewing’ her as you stated, you are going to see if she provides a service that is suitable for your needs and you are a good match as such. When parents visit me it’s a chance for us both to see if what I offer will be a good fit for them (and they and their child like me) and equally if I feel my setting is suitable for the family, the child will fit well into our little group and I can work well in partnership with the parents.

I'm shocked you're still with her tbh. I'd have binned her off months ago.

Find another childminder. She doesn’t need time off to look after her 22 year old son!

One of the fab things about childminding is that you can usually work while your kids are sick!

Do you pay for her sick days? If yes she is taking the mick, I think I had off about 4 days in nearly 10 years of childminding, and those were just days myself and my children had a sick bug from one of the little ones and I was waiting the 48 hours to pass to be able to open again.

I'm a childminder and I took a week off with COVID in October. Before that, I think I've had one day off in the last 3 years (that includes for both myself and my children (both with additional needs).

I work Term Time Only at parental request and my contracts say that I can take up to 5 weeks off but I never do. I have a break in the hols.