to think that if you are a paid childminder, you should spend your days actually looking after the children....

[NewAgain]

....and not running around town, doing your shopping, meeting mates for coffee and taking your own children to after school activities?
I know a few childminders in my area, who I see regularly around town and on the school run.

Their minded children seem to spend half the day strapped into triple buggies and whinging whilst chilminder goes about her business around town.

Now whilst this is surely completely normal things for people to do with their own children, I would be pretty p!ssed off if I was paying somebody else to do this with my child.

AIBU to wonder if the parents of these children realise that these people are being paid about 4 times over to just drag several children around with them on their normal daily routine?

NewAgain - are you a CM fishing for compliments??

I also think (most) childminders are mental brilliant!

If I was to use a childminder I would want one that looked after my child as if it were their own - lots of fun & cuddles and shopping trips/coffee out/banking/post office/visiting friends etc. I could not be done with one who has a scheduled, child centered, ofsted driven agenda.

I would want one (as another poster said she had) that got a 'good' from ofsted, but an 'outstanding' from me. Quite frankly, I'd sooner go back to before ofstead was involved when more Grannies/Aunties/Neighbours who were 'good with kids' looked after them. I wouldn't want someone who is good with paperwork, understand the need for a separate handtowel for each child in the bathroom and considers a bit of 'out & about time' tantamount to not doing their job properly - shudder....

Haha!

I am/was actually a trained childminder, done all me courses/insurance and everything. I just couldn;t afford to get my house up to 'code'. And then DD1 was born and I realised it was quite hard with one so I put it off, and then DD2 was born and I though 'Fuck me' this is really hard and decided not to be a childminder after all as it wasn;t quite the nice stressfree existence I thought

Childminders can go out and about, good for them!

My SIL is a childminder, and is in fact, childminder to my two precious babes. They go everywhere...the shops, out to lunch (on HER dime, no less), the park and she shuttles them to and from playgroup. My children are social and happy. They say please and thank you without prompting (at 2 and 3), have been potty trained for a year, and I KNOW that this is thanks to the care that my SIL provides, and the fact that she isn't sat with them inside droning facts at them all day long. Sorry, OP...YABVU