To remove my children from childminder because she reported a parent to ofsted?

[threelittlespeckledfrogs]

I am a regular but have changed my name as I am aware I may be flamed for this.

I have three children, a five year old and two year old twins. They go to the childminder's at seven and she takes my daughter to school and picks her up and looks after the twins all day. I had always thought she was a lovely woman and my kids seem to like her.

In light of the recent publicity over the law on looking after friends' children, we were having a conversation about it. I said that I thought the law was outragious and couldn't see what difference it made. I also said that I couldn't understand what kind of busybody would shop someone to ofsted for looking after a friend's child. She then said that she had shopped someone for doing exactly that.

I asked her why and she said that it was unfair that people should be looking after children without having registered.

What made me more than anything though was that she said that the woman she shopped had to stop caring for her friend's child, and that she then took on this child as a mindee.

So not only has she forced a mother to pay for childcare when she was previously able to have her child looked after by a friend, but she has also gained financially from it as she is minding the child.

I am really angry about this and I have seen her in a totally different light now.

I don't want someone like this looking after my children, so I have given notice and the twins will be going to a nursery and my daughter will have to go to before and after school club.

But I am tempted to tell all the parents of her mindees what she is like.

IBU?

MrsJammi

I completely agree that parents should have a choice. After all, I became a childminder for that exact reason - imo nobody was good enough for my children!

The reason CM's get so emotive is the small minority of people who actively work as a childminding business whilst being unregistered, not the friends who want to help each other out...

All this talk of being "untrained" is ridiculous.

I am untrained. At what point are the govt going to tell me I need a license and training to look after my own bloody children.

I find it interesting that none of the CM's that post have an issue with friends minding the children of friends if money doesn't change hands but as soon as there is reward they start bleating on about the safety of the children etc. If safety isn't an issue when there is no reward why does it become an issue when rewarded.*Because this has nothing to do with CM's worrying about the safety of children and everything to do with them worrying about their bottom line.

It smacks of selfish pettiness.

YANBU - the childminder has deliberately disrupted a young child's life for the sake of financial gain.

IMO childminders who are clearly that business minded - ie trying to max out their profits - are not going to be providing the best care for their mindees

I'm with the CM's on this one

Tinkerbellesmuse, as much as you think it's petty, how would you feel if someone came in and did your job for free and took away the need for you? Because that is basically what unregistered CM's do isn't it? Do you do your job completely for the love of it or is it a means to earning a living too? Of course they are annoyed when people are earning a quick buck at their expense - and probably not declaring to the taxman either.
CM's are CM's because they are trying to earn a living.

As for saying they don't care about children's safety is a ridiculous statement. I know many CM's at my local school and think they are undervalued and treated as nothing better than babysitters by certain parents.

I think this talk of taking away business is misleading. If i ask my mate round to help fix my computer I am 'taking away business' from someone who does that for a living. Except I'm not really because a certain number of people will not know a friend who is good with IT - and will go to the computer shop. That's market forces.

Same thing with CMs - people who don't know a friend willing to look after their DCs (ie most people) will want a registered CM.

But the OP wasn't talking about an unregistered CM, just two friends helping each other out. From the post, no money was exchanging hands.

With most jobs there will always be someone outside the profession who can do the same thing as a favour to a friend. I presume CM's therefore pay for everything from cleaners to personal shoppers etc so that they dont take business away from anyone else.

There should be 100% trust in a CM, the parent deserves to know it was her who reported her and then took on her business.

Come on babyelvis I didn't say CM don't care about childrens safety at all. That would be stupid.

What I said it is a bit rich to bang on about a situation being unsafe just because you have discovered that someone is being paid:

E.g. Fine for little jimmy to play at his neighbours house after school. Neighbour has son in Jimmy's class and has raised two other children without maiming or scarring them but god forbid Jimmy's mum buys her neighbour a bottle of wine to say thanks or extends a reciprocal offer of help. Then the CM's start hopping up and down claiming little Jimmy's health is at risk and he is in great danger (of god knows what) courtsey of "not being cared for by a professional".

I haven't thread this thread, but maybe some people would consider me to be an unregistered childminder.

I am looking after an eight year old boy for no reward whatsoever about twice a week. The reason is that I am doing it is that his father is sick with clinical depression and his mother is working full time on a minimum wage job. The father is barely fit to look after himself, yet alone a child.

They cannot afford a childminder or after school club. They can barely afford the mortgage or even to eat at the moment. It is not depriving anyone of their livelyhood.

Do I really need to register as a childminder? I shall be offensive contraversal, is it really that skilled/ difficult job looking after a child? I am sure I do as skilled a job as many "professional" childcarers.

I am a SAHM am i taking business away from Nurseries and CMs because i choose to look after my childmyself at home. Babyelvis I would rather someone that i know a trusted friend look after my child than someone i do not know from Adam. If mates cant do favours for mates what has the world coming to. My dear friend looks after my child from time to time i suffer from mild depression and need some time alone, she is like a mum to my dd and loves her as such, why the hell should i pay for a CM when there is my friend who dd knows well.

Reallytired, he is over 8yo so, no.

I still think its nanny state gone mad.

Unless you have a childcare qualification the state seems to think you are unfit to look after children.

Today we had a different friend round who is seven years old round for the day. Her granmother is sick with cancer and her mother wanted to visit the girl's granmother.

This returning a favour as the girl's mother looked after my son when I was recovering from childbirth. There is no change of money involved.

Prehaps OFSTED would regard this as illegal.

Did the lazy journo OP ever come back on this one?

Or just pull the pin out, lob the thread title, and run?

Lots of people, including me took the bait on this one.