Message from childminder

[discombobulaty]

Aibu to think this is shit.

''Due to a change of circumstances I am no longer going to be working Friday pm. This unfortunately means that I need to give notice. Therefore My last day with xx will be 5th January.

Thank you''

So for context my child started with childminder 3 weeks ago, one afternoon a week, all seems to be going well, he's reluctant to go in but I get updates pretty quickly to say he's settled fine. CM newly registered and doesn't seem particularly busy.

AIBU to be fed up with this?

That's nothing, my sisters childminder made her pay all through covid when she wasn't there, then as soon as she reopened told her there wasn't a place for my nephew

We used after school club, then they closed that because the head teacher got fed up with breakfast club staff complaining afterschool club didn’t wash some mugs up on two occasions so he closed afterschool club. Parents kicked off. Two of us were governors. Eventually head teacher admitted he hadn’t realised it was that busy (40 families left with no after school care) and he let it re open. By then we’d found a cm. Cm then emailed cancelling after 2 months while we were on holiday and I spent a frantic 24 hours trying to make a plan (while jet lagged in Canada). 24 hours later she called and said she had decided she’d like to keep my twins as they’re older and it was the little ones she couldn’t manage on top of her dc.

then covid happened and dc haven’t needed childcare since thank god. It’s stressful but it’s low paid work and reliability is like gold dust.

No work on Fridays, or having to plan your day around childminding in the afternoon for £18.38.

I'm not surprised at her decision. 6 weeks notice is not unreliable.

It is hard on the child to just be settling and having to start again.

I think it's a risk you take when you decide to use a childminder.

Also, that pay is so cheap. Even for a childminder who are usually cheaper than nurseries.

I sympathise. Just too annoying. Nurseries are a lot more reliable. Sadly there are too many childminders like this.

This

Like what?

Who stick to their contracted notice periods and are polite when messaging parents?

Do you think she she should be obligated to work until the OP deemed it time to move on?

Would you have a dim view of the OP if she'd given 6 weeks notice to the childminder?

Yeah seems pointless her doing it then. Never mind. She gave you a lot of notice.

All the nursery's were wanting a full day £58 or 2 half days £30 x 2. I can't afford that. I'll try some other childminders.

Yeah, of course you’re not unreasonable to find it annoying and a pain in the arse, but that doesn’t mean that the childminder is being unreasonable. It’s just one of those one of those things things.

You are being unreasonable thinking the childminder is being unreliable

What's unreasonable or unreliable about that? 6 weeks' notice and a polite message - it's inconvenient for you but unless I'm missing something I'm not seeing anything unprofessional there.

If she is a new, and fully registered childminder then she will have to have worked hard to get all her accreditation and ensure that her home is both a safe and stimulating environment for the children. To decide to stop childminding after all that effort is unlikely to be a decision she has taken lightly.

I wouldn't be working for that pittance - sorry that should be for the £18.00/3 hours.

This

It may be annoying but not unreasonable and she has given you plenty of notice. £18 for an afternoon seems very low…?

You have a professional arrangement. She's not doing this as a favour to you, so can change things as work for her. Maybe a family need has arisen for her, maybe this is the time of year she evaluates her schedule for next year. She's given plenty of notice, so has handled this professionally.

Don't use her any more then 😉

Like what? We dont know the cm's reasoning.
Going to a cm 3 hours a week is too short anyway, most cm's wouldn't take this on unless it suited them to fill a short space, it obviously no longer works for her, giving 5/6 weeks notice will be more than what is required from her.
Do people think oh poor cm when a parent gives notice and thinks unreliable parents...no they don't.

I can see why you are annoyed given your child only started there a few weeks ago. Its the effort of sourxing childcare and then doing the settling in sessions. I would imagine the childminder was hoping to get several children in for that afternoon but since she hasn't, she has now decided it's not worth it so has had to give you notice.

How long has she been a childminder?

She's been working About 6 weeks I think.

She has been reliable and professional, notifying you politely with plenty of notice. She has also been unexpectedly inexpensive, at least to my understanding!

It's a funny time of year to make that judgement though. I'd wait and see what happened by the end of January, when people make plans for the new year, and see if I got better numbers by that time.

It could also be an unanticipated personal situation. She doesn't owe an explanation and is entitled to privacy. We can all resign from our employers anytime, so can she. Or she's decided the caregiving gig isn't for her.