would you believe ds (5) or the childminder? childminer took ds and the children elsewhere

[user1469643462]

It is the summer holidays so ds has to be with a childminer, for 3 days a week. I pay her for the actual care she provides, then i pay for any visits to places on top of that, they were supposed to be going to the zoo today and i had paid £21 for ds's zoo ticket and i know that isnt loads but tbh with the cost i had already paid for her to look after him it was almost today's wages! ds goes there with 2 boys and a little girl aswell all around the same age give or take. Ds got home and was telling me all about his trip to the local museum (which was free) i did not have a problem with that he seemed to have had a great time. I phoned up the childminder and asked if she could just paypal the money back over and she said that she had no idea what i was going on about and that she took them to the zoo I know children do love to use their imagination, so i was a bit undecided, ds kept going on about the objects he had seen and told me a story about a man showing them the kids bit. ds has never been to this museum and it was just odd how well he was explaining it. I would love to phone the other parents but tbh i dont actually know them! it's all very odd...

Childminder sounds a bit dodgy. Is she actually registered etc. Have you seen her paperwork, certificates, first aid etc. I would be looking very closely and would be coming straight out with. Ds says he wasn't at the zoo can you explain please.

However OP.
Surely you need to child care.
I think you have to Let it Go

Salty-but if you asked her further questions-which rides did she go on? She she find any scary? Did they go really fast? Would she deny all knowledge of them?

"Remember the coins?" ??
Yeah, sadly I'm also sliding off the fence now and into the "CM is a liar" camp. It's one thing for a child to ignore the animals and remember some obscure part of the trip - that's completely normal - but for an adult to try and jog the child's memory of the "zoo" by reminding him of the "coins"? That seems fifty shades of fishy to me.

Sounds like she took the Tuesday lot to the zoo and the Wednesday lot to the museum, but billed the Wednesday lot for the zoo either by mistake or on purpose. I hope it was a mistake but she's dug herself a massive hole covering up her error

And at fastday and Coconutty...the "receip" and shitzu are priceless!

Yeah, I'm getting more and more suspicious of the CM now. Remember the coins? Not... remember the camels? Giraffes? etc? Errr... no

Maybe the child minder doesn't know what a zoo is

Aha! I think you've cracked it. Yes, we should stop being mean about the CM who obviously missed out in her childhood and was perhaps told by her own evil parents/caregiver "Yes of course this is the zoo darling" when visiting a small museum. Poor poor CM :(

:o :o :o

This is a 5 year old, a school aged child. Of course he would know if he went to a zoo !!!

I would say that you are really concerned that your child may be making up stories and whilst this seems not to be so important as it is just a zoo / museum outing and he had a really nice day he needs to understand that saying things that aren't true can have consequences. Ask for proof to present to him so you can have a chat about it. Surely a child minder wouldn't have a problem with that? Unless she isn't telling the truth.

Nah, he never went to the zoo. I'd leave the poor child alone now and make sure he does not feel he is not believed.

As for the cm, words fail me. If she made a mistake you'd expect her to own up, apologise and pay the money back. Unless she has a lovely sideline in collecting money for daily outings, expecting young children not to be believed, and then pockets the money while taking the darlings to free museums etc.

I think she butted in with remember the coins to stop him saying anything. If he's never been to a zoom before, I'd expect him to be excited about seeing lions, tigers, elephants, anything other than coins.

Not a bad little earner if she pocketed £21 off each parent ....

This is all very odd. I'm hoping you bump into other minded children's parents in the supermarket!

Just skimmed this huge thread so probably missed loads of facts, but if we're talking about Chester Zoo then I can agree with other posters who say they've been there and hardly seen and animals at all. We saw one rhino and a bear up a tree and not much else apart from the animatronic dinosaurs. We were there for a whole day and very disappointed that most animals were hiding (probably due to the heat) though I'm glad they have big spaces to roam around.

Actually with the coins comment, I'm more inclined to believe the cm is innocent. If she was intent on deceit wouldn't she have mentioned a big animal? She obviously knew that the coins were a big part of his day! Also if he's never been to a zoo before and there were non-animal stuff he might call it a museum? Or misheard slightly, both words have the 'oo' sound in them
Only op knows if the cm is coming across as trying to hide something. As ds has only been there a couple of times, possibly she did get him muddled with another child at some point? E.g. She's asked the wrong parent for £21! Also don't always assume young children know today, tomorrow and yesterday, they might sound convincing but not always right!
What am I trying to say? Not sure, if you like the cm maybe let it go, ds sounds a bit stressed by it all but at the same time it would be nice to know where they actually went!

finally rtft phew

sounds very fishy to me what wa sher body language like op did she look anxious or panicky

who says to a child remember the coins at the zoo-i would say remember giraffes or elephants or something

We have been Chester zoo members. My elder two would genuinely go to the zoo just to spin the wheel on the coin machine. I can imagine prompting DS2 (5) to remember where we'd been by saying "remember the coins?"

I'm on the fence. Whatever happened, the cm appears to be behaving oddly.

Oh lord, now after reading Gertrude and Thisisnot's comments I'm back up on the fence again! I don't know what to believe...

This thread just goes round and round.
Asking as a CM for years,

is she definitely Ofsted registered if she is she would need proof of entry and tickets to claim her expenses as she runs her own business and she would have photographic proof for ofsted

Have scoured the thread to see if you came back to say and can't see it but apologise if you have.

If she's not registered then she's not a cm but a babysitter.

If you think she's lying give her notice.

If she not and she's on here, and all the cms I know are on here, she will be giving you notice.

But once you've jogged a child's memory by referencing their favourite part they will then recall other things especially if it happened the day before.

If you go to Disney world on Monday the child won't then ONLY remember the white twix on Tuesday,surely?!

Is this still going on? FFS just ask the woman!

"DS keeps talking about the museum he went to on whateverdayitwas but that's the day you were going to the zoo. Did you actually go or was there a change of plan?"

That's all. Not too accusatory but she'd have to brazenly lie her way out if she did cheat or she'll look genuinely amused and put you straight if she didn't.

She has asked her. Now I'm waiting to find out if Op has taken DS to the museum today.

Remember when you fell out of the helicopter over the zoo? Remember the tigers?

m.youtube.com/watch?v=SLVrNht9q_0

Shelagh OP DID ask her almost exactly that. The CM said they had been to the zoo. So yes, if she cheated then she brazenly lied.