"well. You can take them with you can't you?"

[Saltire]

FFS, am so angry/upset/pissed off/rsentful/annoyed*

*delete where applicable.

DS2's play is tomorrow. it has been moved, it was supposed to be Thursday pm 9as in after 6pm). its been moved to 6pm tomorrow. I rang mindee s mum and said, really nicely "any chance you could pick the mindees up tomorrow at 1pm, I know its short notice blah blah"

and told her why.

her reply was " can't you take them with you"

With no car or even if there was a car, noc ar seats. No ability to push buggy in snow and ice covered paths. almost 2 mile walk to school.

I think you need to get rid, don't renew that contract!

i think saltire hasnt got rid of this family as hasnt found replacements iyswim

its all very well saying get rid but we all have bills to pay

ugh this sort of situation is one of the reasons why I gave up childminding in the end. You constantly have to put your kids last, and the very rare times you ask parents to consider changing hours you can bet that someone will be shitty about it.

At the end of the day, yes, the OP was meant to have the mindees for those hours. but sometimes in life unexpected things to crop up, and it's not unreasonable of Saltire to have asked the family to consider changing their hours.

There always seems to be this attutude that childminders should put up and shut up. Dont you dare relax while the mindees are asleep, dont moan if people are late picking up kids, get on with all that paperwork in your spare time and be happy for it.

It always makes me laugh on here when people start threads on here about how much childminders are charging - youll always get someone saying "wow, im in the wrong job!" As if childminders SHOULDNT earn a decent wage for the really hard work they do.

In any other job, you might ask someone to reschedule a meeting/ask a boss if you could leave early and take half a day holiday in this situation. And all of you would feel disgruntled if they said no you couldn't. Especially if you felt that it could have been possible to do so. Why should a childminder not be allowed to be pissed of in the same situation? They are human beings, not bloody saints!!

I know i went off topic there and sound unhinged, btw. I feel cross on Saltire's behalf.

techinally as cm's are se, they decide their days and hours so saltire could have said i cant have your dc today and returned their fees for that day

blondes no he won't be in my class, he'll be at my school, so we'll have the same hours. It's not a british school and it works very well. Several teachers have dc who also go to our school and it works out really well. :)

Legally, in my school, yes I could teach him... but I wouldn't. No way! He'll be in another class when he reaches my year level.

Geraldine you don't sound unhinged but I laughed when I read that bit.

"Dont you dare relax while the mindees are asleep"
do people actually think this? wtf are they supposed to do while the dc are asleep? I know - paperwork...etc. but wouldn't the "expectation" be that they should get a short break if they have mindees who sleep? When DS started, he was sleeping for 3 hours (about 17 months) and just cut this down recently (26 months) because she has an after schoolie and needs to collect her.

But when it was just him and he slept for 3 hours, I had hoped she was at least taking some of that time to have a cup of tea.

When I'm home on holidays with DS or on weekends and he naps, I take a break once I get housework done. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.

yeah people do actually think this, I know as I remember the moral OUTRAGE on a thread here when someone who was a CM dared to MN when mindees were asleep! Didnt dare at the time post that I was both mntting AND watching some such crap as "18 kids and counting" while mine napped!

I MN when I'm having lunch at school and I"m a teacher! . Of course it's in the midst of other paperwork and report writing...etc, but I manage to fit in some 1 minute MN breaks

Well now I make cakes for a living, I legitimately can leave them unattended for hours while I mn! It's fabulous!

make cakes for a living.. that sounds like a lovely job..

star how wierd of your friend to say that.. sounds like she a teeny bit jealous to me..

its 100% less stressful than I used to find childminding, although I still get annoying clients in and out of my house on occasion, they have been and gone within about five minutes!

But seriously, I stand by my point, I think it's incredibly naiive to think that Childminders shouldn't sometimes get frustrated at these kinds of situations. I really, really feel for Saltire. Situations like this when the client has already been very difficult can really put the boot in. We all know that on paper she had the clients kids and so should just miss the play, but in reality, of course that is going to rankle. Why shouldn't she be allowed to feel annoyed and have a moan about it?

Saltire, I hope you have given yourself a decent sized Christmas break and that you enjoy it and revel in just being around your own kids and being in your jammies till ten if you so wish

Yes the body I think so. Not really a good friend anyway.

Saltire how are you doing?

I'm a mum with a CM whom I think is lovely - I think there's definitely a distinction between taking leave to do something specific and dropping DD off with the CM (eg I took annual leave to repaint our downstairs loo, after 2 years of saying we'd get round to it one weekend and realising if I didn't do it I'd be stuck with the previous owners' dodgy taste for ever). My CM was a bit surprised initially I was off and DD was still coming but when I picked her up with paint spattered jeans and hands covered in gloss paint she realised I wasn't pulling a fast one! On the other hand, my CM had a parents' evening the other week and DH picked DD up early for it, I would get time off work for that sort of thing so it's totally unreasonable not to be flexible on these sorts of occasions.

Saltire - I suggest you lay it on the line to these parents and say, look, I want to be at DD"s play, if you were at work it would be one thing but you're not working and if you can't even be flexible under these circs I'm going to have to give you notice. Some people will take as much as you let them.

Stropicana - us childminders go out of our way to look after peoples' children, I have an 8 yr old before and after school and I pick his 4 yr old sister up from nursery and have her till 6-6.30.

I give them both tea with my son as I feel its unfair for them to wait till Mum and dad get back at 8 (I don't have them till 8, they go to a friend of Mum's at about 6 depending on Mum's shift).

Tonight I'm am out at a concert so am able to finish early to get to Manchester and tomorrow she is taking little one to see JLS while I take the lad to his football party with my lad as they are in same team. We are friends but when it comes to work I am professional, she signs that she has paid me and although we had a bumpy start, its getting better.

Why do people have children if they don't want to spend time with them? If I did have a child in a play and wanted to see it, I would knock off any money they owed for the time they were not minded.

stropicana Fri 10-Dec-10 12:24:14
Sorry but you have agreed ti have the children at that time. Frankly it is nothing to do with you what the parents choose to do when they are paying you to mind their DCs.

It is a shame though for you but as another pposter said cake and eat it.

==============================================

I am so glad I am not minding for you then! I know its nothing to do with us, but how would you like it if you were a childminder who wanted to watch your child's play and you have babies/toddlers/2-4 yr olds who won't keep still or quiet and you have to go out? Your child already has to share you with other peoples' children and want you to watch them as they have worked hard.

Not all schools put on evening performances for working parents like ourselves (yes, believe it or not we do work!) to watch OUR children so are we to miss out? According to you we do have to. I'm lucky that my son is not in the infants now and at the moment I have no babies/toddlers to disrupt.

Next week I am available for minding the children, its up to the parents if they want to bring them or not but I am getting paid if they don't come. I have taken a week of not being paid between Christmas and New Year as I'm closed for business, I want a break!!

I missed my children's school play yesterday because I had a meeting I was committed to be at for work. if you work, you miss some of this stuff sometimes. I blame your school for excluding working parents, rather than the family with whom you have a contract. It wasn't much notice to give them either.

Saltire?
Are you ok?

I think schools should video the shows for parents like you Fridascruffs and put it on dvd with an option to buy. It does not replace actually being there but its better than missing the child's performance and you can show it when they are 21!!

Its time schools thought about parents who don't work 9-5 jobs and are not able to get time off unless they pull a sickie or take holidays often unpaid which they cannot afford.

I feel for you missing out and having to go to meetings when you'd much rather watch your little ones.

mumtoluke - most private schools do that, and then charge through the nose to buy it - and obviously every child wants a copy so school makes a fortune

saltire, are you alive?

Our school has done it before and its a small primary in East Manchester, I think they sold a dvd disc for £5 each as the whole school plus nannies, Grandads etc wanted to buy them! We were able to order them and have them a week later which was fab!

Saltire - have you buried those children (or better still the parents) under the snow?

our primary did it too and its a great idea.. think was only £1.50 to buy.. also stopped those annoying fathers with the bloody camcorders blocking my view..

just teacher at the back doing it.. very good idea..

Yes I am alive, thanks for asking, here under my festive name

have had a bit of a strange week. The 2 mindees went home on Tuesday - quite ill. The little one ahd a raging temp,a nd was scremaing and just wanting tos it on my knee. The older one had raging tempa nd a cough. Anyway rung mum, who was still off and was away to Sheffield shopping! Took her ages to get back - her and the dad, so they put mindees into car and said "oh we are off to ASDA now"FFS, take your children home and keep them warm.
Anyway, I've had neither child since,a lthough the muma and dad took them to leeds yesterday. The children are both still ill, the younger one has still got a fluctuating temp, cough lethary etc. and they take them to leeds for the fucking day.
Of course I don't hav ethem today either but have a funny feeling I will get a message saying that they have made a miraculous recovery because the mum has to go to hospital at Leeds tomorrow and A) won't want to go on her own
B) Won't want to take the mindees.

If your contract specifies that you only mind the children when the father is at work and he is not at work, you do not take them tomorrow.

If they want to bring the children tomorrow, contrary to the terms of their contract, if this childcare arrangement was organised somehow via the military, you must first call and confirm with the office who set the thing up since actually under the terms of your present contract, they are not entitled to childcare atm.

Don't have this contract extended in January. Now would be the time to tell them that you will not be doing it after this contract terminates and you can tell this office if there is such a thing, the reason(s) why. If they set it up/pay for it I think they'd show some interest. Shouldn't stand in the way of you getting other families in future I don't think