To be annoyed at these childminders?

[Twopeapods]

Me and a friend have been meeting up most Wednesdays at the local soft play centre, and lately two childminders have been meeting there also on a Wednesday.

Me and my friends usually let our kids play in the toddler area where we sit while we have a cuppa, then when the kids want to go into the big area we go with them and take them down the slides, through tunnels, etc. They are capable but we just all go in and have a good play.
We have never seen the childminders come in to check/play/watch the children. They are between one and a half to two and a half. And they have four children between them. Last week one of the ladies brought a little boy in to the toilet while me and DD were in, and when the little boy finished he said 'I need to wash my hands' and the childminder said 'no, just leave it and go play'. I was quite shocked especially as the little boy had asked!

And often the children cling to me and my friend and join in with us to play. We usually don't mind too much if everyone is behaving, but today I just got really annoyed. The kids were wanting us to help them climb up the steps, go on the splat ball etc and when we went to go to another part with our kids, one of the other kids tantrumed because we were no longer there to help her up. I've now just been saying when the kids ask, 'go find your adult if you want to do that'. And when one of the boys starting pushing all the other kids in full view of the childminder, I told him it's not nice to push etc. While she just sits pretending not to see. And it is quite often one of their minded that are doing the pushing etc. The women are getting paid to look after these kids, and I would be furious as one of their parents and found out that they just get left to their own devices in the play centre etc. It just seems so lazy!
Surely IANBU????

[Snap8TheCat]

There is no either profession that would get treated and posted about like cms are.

MN would pull a thread who continually spoke so disrespectful about teachers or nurses or doctors.

Also some of the people you are calling cms indeed are nannies or another childcare provider. But don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.

[Alphvet]

Yanbu at all. Part of the reason I chose nursery for my kids was that there are more people accountable for the kids welfare and also mostly the kids are in one place.
I do think it's difficult when ratios aren't 1:1 and I found it really tricky with my 3 and 4 year old when they were younger taking them to soft play on their own

[Lovelymess]

YANBU - that's so annoying

[MumsTheWordYouKnow]

That sounds awful. Yanbu they aren’t looking after the kids properly by the sound of it. They should respond to their needs and help them, would those who say leave them do that with their own children when crying or not let them wash their hands and no you are paid to watch the children not just to sit their on your phone drinking coffee the whole time ignoring their needs. No.

[MumsTheWordYouKnow]

*there

[berliozwooler]

YANBU. They sound a bit crap.

[berliozwooler]

Our childminder worked together with a small group of others, was well known in the local community, and if there were any concerns in the manner of those expressed by the OP I would have soon heard about them!

I didn't even properly consider nurseries - all the local ones at the time were only "satisfactory". Much better for them to be in a home environment - the CM was the next best thing to me being there.

[kyph09]

There is no either profession that would get treated and posted about like cms are.

MN would pull a thread who continually spoke so disrespectful about teachers or nurses or doctors.

I’m sure i’ve read far more disrespectful comment about teachers and nurses (particularly midwives and health visitors) on here than about childminders