sibling reduction

I would say that it is probably quite unusual for a childminder to be a single woman with no children of their own. I don't know the stats, but expect there can't be many. Probably even less single men who are childminders.

My dd was 5 when I started - it wasn't really about working from home - more about being S/E

Dunno. It's not the sort of job a single woman would want, is it? Maybe I'm wrong. I guess there are woman who can't have there own and so this is a good option, but they have the benefit of being able to work away from the home, so surely it wouldn't be their first though.

Totally Maureen.

I would have no problem getting a place in an all day playgroup setting for ds, but that's not what I want.

I want a family environment, a home away from home. Which is what we have at the minute whilst my friend minds him, but as I say, she's just doing me a favour & she's not registered. She said she couldn;t be bothered going through the hassle, but she is ideal. She has 3 kids of her own & she loves my little guy to bits

Is it common for childminders to be single women with no kids of their own?

I honestly don't think I could operate like that. I have great sympathy with my parents, because I'm a parent and I've used a cm too! I know how hard it is to leave your lo and I know how hard it is to make ends meet. I'm a bloody softy, that's my problem!

I don't think I'd be happy leaving my dd or a mindee hanging around for me. Sounds like she's spreading herself too thin. What if she's delayed at the first pick up or stuck in traffic. 10 mins turns into 20 and so on.

The other thing is, its all very well having separate areas for the mindees and all lovely and painted, but I was under the impression that parents that have to work and choose cms, is because they want there lo's to be in a family environment as close to their own as possible.

You know what she's doing right?

There are 5 registered minders on the list my local council give me.

2 of them no longer childmind!

1 of them has a son who goes to my dd's school & is a nasty little so & so & I wouldn't want my kids to be with him all summer.

Then I am going to see the other one on Monday. She has space for both my kids & it went well when I rang her, but we still want a meet up.

The one I saw on Friday had a great set up btw. She has just built a great new house & the whole of her extension (A bit like a little granny bungalow) is set up for childminding. She has about 5 rooms all painted bright primary colours & pics all around that the kids have painted. Great set up... but it's more like a creche/nursery & I felt that dd was a little too old to be with younger children all day.

Also she said she couldn't pick dd up at the time she is out as she had another pick up elsewhere, but that I should ask the school if it was OK for her to wait about for 10/15 mins..... I felt uncomfortable with this though. Do any of you do this btw?

Sorry chickenmama for taking over your thread!!

i don't offer a sibling reduction - i can't afford to - anyway siblings aren't easier to mind than individual kids - siblings bicker and fight more!!!

The reason its like it is these days, and this is in no way meant to 'diss' my fellow minders, is that Ofsted are making it so difficult for us. Unfortuantely, as a parent, you only see the cm as working the hours you need her for. There is so, so much more work that they do 'behind the scenes'. They are turning cm's into nurseries, with all the paperwork that comes with it. It actually costs a lot of money to become a minder and to stay registered annually (possibly going up to £300 this year!). So minders these days have to charge more to make it worth their while. I have been lucky that, because I registered long before Ofsted came along, I had a good reputation and I never had to do much to fill my spaces. These days its much more competitive and minders have to charge for everything. That woman that you saw, is still way off the mark with the way she runs her business, but if she's got 12, she must be doing something right!

Maureen, the friend I use at the minute (she just minded ds whilst I was at uni 2 days a week but now I need something more permanent) always says that to me! "You're good to me & I'm good back".

I'd rather someone hug my child & give him a kiss than worrying about the weeks wages!

No, you're doing nothing wrong, its your business. I actually only charged for hours used. Although we did set hours at contract time and they paid for those hours whether mindees were picked up early or not. TBH, I could have charged a lot more for part days, since it did mean I wasn't able to full time spaces, but as long as I was earning as much as I needed, I was happy with that. I have probably lost alot of potential money over the years, but (and this is going to sound really perfect cm like!) it really was more about the children than the money! I found with all my parents, that if I was good to them, they were good back.

I also agree that having siblings definitely can be harder work!!!

I know some do charge a full day regardless of hours, or maybe half day 'sessions' but I personally charge for the hours used. Having said that, I couldn't afford just 2 hours at 2-4pm so I would probably have a minumum of 4 hours or something (it's never come up). As for this lady with the £800 cat etc - she sounds like she's in for the money to pay for her luxuries and doesn't care enough about the kids. I mean, she really should be trying to get to know what your child likes etc. as priority! Weird lady

The other c/minder I am going to see on Monday will just charge me from 2pm - whatever time dh picks them up at for dd & from 9am to whatever time for ds.

I don't have a problem paying for childcare, of course not... it's just I couldn't get over the nerve of the first lady... especially when she told me she had paid £800 for a cat!! And when she said I was bound to recognise her car..it was the newest brand on the market

I want to choose someone who wants to know about my kids, not someone who wants to know how much she can earn from my kids.

I guess she charges for the whole day regardless because it would be impossible to find other children for 8am-2pm and 4pm-6pm. If she just charged you for 2pm-4pm she'd be missing out on the full day wages so it wouldn't be financially worthwhile for her.

I don't do half fees or retainers often
I would charge full fee if the child was under 5 and I was taking/collecting from school/nursery - but not for over 5's

I have a minimum charge of 4hrs (which doesn't include a homecooked meal) and 6hrs which does

So would it be usual where you lot are to pay a c/minder from 8am to 6pm even though she would just have the child from 2pm-4pm?

She said she charges this incase the child is ill & she needs to pick then up from school... even though she doesn't take kids when they're sick [This is usual, but they charge incase they are sick!?]

Is it also normal to charge full pay for each & every holiday? There is no mention of half fee/retainers anywhere in her contract [which she thougt I would sign there & then & she seemed shocked when I said I would bring it home to read]

Employed people get paid holidays, self employed generally don't. A builder only gets paid when he works - he's self employed.

The way around it, is to either increase your hourly fees by a couple of pence to cover it or agree on the same amount of holiday time with each parent and agree on 50% for each.

Yes - but that is confused by NCMA stating that childminder deserve (?) 4 weeks paid holiday

C/minders are self employed though rara.

Dh was self employed too & never got paid holidays. Now he is employed he obviously does.

I'm not sure what's usual for childminders either, but everyone else gets paid holidays so I just assumed they would too.

Some do and some don't WOS. I think most don't, I certainly don't. Its one of those grey areas that people will never agree on! We are, afterall self employed and I feel, that thats the price you pay. She sounds like a real charmer, that one! Glad you had others to compare with! I once had a mindee, who's mum had seen someone before me, who hadn't even asked what the childs name was!