To take DS3 with me to work? AIBU?

[ShortbreadPGTips]

I’m a single mum to three children, ex moved out in March. He lives nearby and the dcs stay there every weekend. When the kids start school again in September, I’ve been thinking of starting a cleaning business. I’ve been a SAHM since my eldest was born 6 years ago.

I have two older children who are in full time school, and DS3 is still in nursery. He only goes to nursery 1-4pm every day. I tried to start the business a few months ago and put an ad up, but people were requesting a cleaner Tuesday 10-12pm for example, and I couldn’t do it because of my son. But now I’m considering starting the business again, and just take DS with me. I could do cleaning when DS is in nursery, but I also need to be back to pick up DS6 and DD5 from school at 3.30pm, so it will be very hard. If I took DS3 with me to work, I could get more done and work from 9am til 3pm. I thought of bringing some colouring books and crayons with me and just let DS get on with it while I clean. AIBU to do this?

Wouldn’t that be a H&S nightmare?

Would your insurance cover you for any accidental damage your child did?
What would you do if your client was at home?
Would you tell you client?
Would your child actually be happy enough to do this? Everyday? Most days?
How would you supervise him when you were working in a different room?

It only takes a moment for a curious child to break an irreplaceable treasure, or to fall down and have to go to the emergency room. Childcare is an actual job! If you have to take your child once in a while because you have a crisis, it can be forgiven. As a policy, no way!

As others have said, I don't think this would work. An alternative suggestion - could you do babysitting at the weekends? Going rate around here is £10 per hour and it's mostly while kids are asleep so fairly easy money. As a mum of 3, I would have thought you could pick up work fairly easily.

I would be extremely unhappy if my cleaner even asked me about this, and think it would show a worrying lack of judgment.

Personally it wouldnt bother me, we have a playroom full of toys that id be happy for him to play in whilst you cleaned but i have children his age and my house is child friendly, i can totally see why others wouldnt like it though.

My mum used to be a cleaner when i was little and took me to work with her, her clients were happy with it and she had plenty of work however it was all people with children my age who were happy for me to either play with their children or watch tv whilst my mum worked.

What will happen in the school holidays with your older children i wouldnt be happy with 3 children tagging along?

Id switch your son to mornings at nursery to open up a larger client base for yourself.

Dictate to your clients when YOU are available. Most can be flexible if you are any good. Good cleaners are like gold dust.

I think that yes, YABU as most people wouldn’t want you to bring your child. Apart from anything else, would your insurance cover any accidents caused by or to your DC?

My cleaner asked to bring her child with her and I had to say no as our stairs are very steep and I was terrified the child would pitch down them if not supervised.

Sorry no from me. How would it even work 🤔, you would need people to childproof their homes, how can you be working upstairs cleaning a bathroom while simultaneously watching a 3 yr old?

I recently hired a cleaner. If she brought her child to my house I'd sack her instantly. My house is and always will be a Child Free Zone.

I wouldn't want a cleaner bringing their toddler, you wouldn't be able to get at much done with him around (precisely why I'm paying a cleaner), and it's not fair to him. Also the breakages thing, you wouldn't be insured. Rather than him going to nursery 1-4 every day could be do three longer days and you offer those as your working days?

Its a no from me to , as well as the PPs points re insurances / breakages / child proofing , what happens if your client has a dog or cat that is not use to toddlers , if your LO picks up a dog toy the dog may want to play and be to rough or may be possessive .

That said why dont you trial how it would work for you , offer to clean a friends house for a few quid / bottle of wine and take DC with you be honest with yourself did you do a good job ? did you have to stop to see to DC ? etc

I know that every child is different, and I know my DS. He has his moments, but he's a very independent child. When we drop his older siblings off in the morning, he will happily sit and play in his room, do some colouring or watch CBeebies while I get on with the housework. I think bringing him along with only work if the client had kids and a playroom that he could play in as another poster mentioned.

With regards to nursery, I'll speak to them in September and see if he can do 3 full days instead. If not, I'll just need to find a way to get the work done whilst he's in nursery from 1-4pm and do most of the work in the weekends when the kids are at their dads.

To those who already have a cleaner, when do you have your cleaning done? Mornings, afternoons or in the weekends?

No sorry, it won’t work for many different reasons. However, some things you could do:

Switch your child’s nursery hours. Tip - most people want cleaners at the end of the week so it’s looking good for the weekend.

Unless he’s abusive, get your ex to step up some help with child care, school drop offs and pick ups etc - they’re still his kids too.

And best suggestion, drumroll....

Set up as a teachers cleaning agency, term time only. Gives the help when they need it and more affordable than 52 weeks a year. I know teachers who’d love that. As an additional service offer to take in internet supermarket shops and put them away if they order them for when you are there.

Good luck!

A no from me. I have let my cleaner bring her child (who would sit quietly with her activities and is much older). I would be concerned as my home is no longer "baby proofed" and it would be difficult for you to concentrate on your job if you are at the same time looking after a toddler in a different environment

I was going to say about the 30 free hours you can claim. I love kids but wouldn’t be happy if a cleaner brought a 3 year old along. So wish I could afford a cleaner! My house is a tip!

I used to have a cleaner who brought her child along a few times & it was awful.

I was supposed to be working from home, but I either ended up entertaining her child whilst she cleaned or she entertained her child in my house, distracting me from my work and not cleaning.

I ended up sacking her as she simply wasn't doing the job I was paying her to do and my work suffered.

I know it's hard, but if work & looking after your child was compatible, we'd all take our kids to the office with us, but we don't & for good reason.

I would be ok if my cleaner brought her child as a one off in an emergency but as a general arrangement I wouldn’t be happy. You wouldn’t bring a small child to work in any other job so why cleaning? Is he really going to sit still and colour for two hours?
Yabu

check and see you maybe entitled to 30hours funding if working?
I wouldnt be keen on cleaner having dc had one who brought her baby who napped in pram/car seat but she stopped once child mobile... then swopped with a friendd so they worked as a pair and covered each others 'shifts' less money to start but they could offer more slots ...which lead to more customers....

If he's old enough to sit quietly with crayons, is he over 3?

You could get 30 hours free childcare pw (there's no minimum earnings limit in the first 12 months of self employment) .

My cleaner comes in the mornings 10-12am.
Sorry you can’t clean and keep an eye on him in someone else’s house. What if he breaks something or hurts himself?

Depends on the client. I used to let our single mother cleaner bring her 3 year old.

He played on the floor of the living room with toy cars etc whilst she worked. It was fine. Depends on the child and depends on the mother and depends on the customer.

My cleaner sometimes randomly brought along her young child. I ended up watching him because he was trying to play with my dog and obviously didn’t understand he was actually winding the dog up.

That was the last time.

Sorry, hardly anyone will want you to bring him, even if they have a playroom stocked from Hamleys. You sound as if you are expecting the houses you clean to be empty but I’m often at home and so will your clients, especially those with their own DC.

No, I would not be happy about a random child being in my house for several hours. No matter how much you tried to keep an eye on him, there is a chance he could damage something or make a lot of noise. I want to pay for full-time cleaning, not half cleaning and half looking after the child.

I’ve had cleaners .would not be happy with this at all.
You won’t be able to do the job properly with your child there