Things I love about childminding...

[lisa1968]

After reading a couple of threads about the downsides of childminding-a lot of which I agree with-I thought I'd add the things I love
I do get gifts from all my parents for my birthday and christmas,and also for my own kids and hubby(because,as one parent says,he has to put up with the kids too!!);I know we get paid for what we do but it doesnt meet the national minimum wage(which many parents don't think about)and it is nice to be appreciated-after all, we care for parents' most precious possession
Parents who say'What would I do without you?' and mean it.
Parents who offer to set fire to the ofsted offices if i ever get less than a good (which i never have)
The 3 year old gorgeous boy who gives me a kiss when he goes to nursery,says he loves me and calls me his Lisa Mummy.
The 11 year old who has just started senior school and was horrified when her mum suggested that maybe she was too old to come to me now
the parent who brings me a bottle of wine on a friday 'because you bloody deserve it'
the parents who despaired over ever getting their son out of nappies-then managed it within a week with my help and the mum cried because she was so grateful
the nursery teacher who recommends me to parents
the 5 year old who said she was going to live with me if her mum ever died!!

I could go on..........
Moments like this far outweigh the negative things and i do think that i am very lucky with the parents and children that i look after.

Yes there are downsides but every job has them.At least i don't have a boss to answer to!The paperwork is a pain,but anyone that runs a business has their fair share of paperwork to do and I do think it could be a lot worse!!

• not being told what to do
• not being told when I can and can't take holidays
• the 2 year old who told me I was his "best friend" last week
• the parents who recommend me to everyone they meet
• being home when my DD gets home from school (even if she does go straight to her room)
• running through the woods in the Summer, when I could so easily have been stuck in an office

need I go on?

the children

sitting listening to & watching children play together well & seeing/hearing their happiness.

Looking through the photos of all the children I've looked after, day trips we've had, things they have achieved with my help, I made a slideshow for my website and was almost in tears

The smiles on their faces.

When they tell me I am the best childminder ever

Helping the parents (gives a warm glow, whatever job I did I have always liked the ones where I am helping people)

When a child has settled in so well they are part of the family.

When a parent chooses me to care for their child, it's such an honour and my dh buys me flowers every time

:) being paid to play
:) the kids
:) the families (well most of them)
:) every day being different
:) never having time to get bored
:) going out and about every day
:) having much more fun than people who have a "proper job"

agree to all the above but for me most of all is having the luxury of being at home when my own dd walks through the door from school... thats wonderful...

and so never ever having to ever use a nursery or a cm for my own children..

I do agree with the comments on the other thread but I still love my job, we just all need to have a little vent once in a while :)

Things I LOVE about my job:

:) Having a big extended family.
:) Being lucky enough to have tiny babies from 5 and 8 weeks old who have grown up with my family.
:) Being here for my own children (although that does make the job a lot more stressful )
:) Mums telling me their children adore me and that I'm their '2nd mummy' (awwww)
:) The reference my nearly 7 year old mindee gave me a month or so ago - she wrote it to add to my collection and it's the best of the lot
:) The references parents have written for me over the years (some are so amazingly worded, I burst into tears!!! )
:) All the stuff parents keep giving me 'just because' - beer (they know I like my Stella!! hehe), chocolates, sweets, home cooked meals for me and dh, nice hand cream, more beer etc
:) Outings in the school holidays, especially all the trips involving a picnic in the nicer weather!
:) Watching each child develop and turn into their own unique self
:) The 6 year old mindee who constantly makes me cards saying 'I love you very much Looney'
:) The way my wonderful mindees reacted to ds2 when they all came back when he was 10 weeks old. I still get a tear when I think back to how lovely and attentive they were and bless them, the younger ones were only 8 months, 17 months and 19 months old at the time and I never expected them all to form such a bond!! (having said that, ds2 is now 2 and a handful so they don't think he's quite so cute now!! )
:) The constant comments around the playground saying things like 'I don't know how you do it' and 'wow, don't you do a good job' and like the one yesterday 'i was chatting with another mum about you yesterday, you know like you do, and we were saying how amazing you were and how well all your kiddies listen to you' It's a little embarrassing sometimes (never was good at hearing nice things lol) but it's also lovely because sometimes you feel you're having a bad day and maybe this isn't the job for you and then you're reminded that clearly it is :)
:) The 7 year old who I no longer look after looking all sad at me saying 'I wish I still came to your house, I loved coming to your house' (not that I liked them being sad - ykwim!)
:) LOVEMYGIRLS said another one before I could.....PHOTOS & Vids!! I LOVE looking back through these and so do the kiddies. We often have a slideshow on the laptop or TV and discuss what we were doing when I took the pic etc. I made a DVD with a slide show of photos for my very first mindee with music playing which linked to the photos etc. and I cry EVERY time I see that (they moved away so not here any more). I still love looking through the photo gallery on my website and reminding myself how tiny some of them were when they started with me!

God, I could go on forever but I really should make the most of my little quiet time and have something to eat!!!

Love this thread

Just thought of another.........I love how when I arrive to school early on a Friday and go and watch the end of singing time in the hall, one by one the mindees start bum shuffling around the hall to where I am and snuggle up with me and the mindees. Tis sooo cute

Oh and how little mindees have funny little things like say like:

Breakcrubs (breakfast)
Farmer Christmas (instead of Father of course)
Blesh (the name for 'sneeze'

etc.

yes yes yes to the above.. think its the bloody cold weather that has us all in its depressing grip!!!

i am reminding myself of all day picnics to the woods on a lovely sunny day with sandwiches, ice creams, play areas, hide and seek and my lovely mindees all hot and tired.. and I am not stuck in an office with lots of boring stuffy old adults...

please please snow, ice and cold go away!!!

Thebody - I've been feeling the very same recently, everything getting me down and it's all so depressing. This is what I love about this thread as it's reminded me of why I DO love it and it's cheered me up big time. Just very much in need of a break like a lot of people (next year I will be having the whole Christmas break off )

Oh god, how could I forget.....BEING MY OWN BOSS AND HAVING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS! 10 years of working in an office prior to this, bitchy higher up people taking credit for the work I'D done! . Now I'm successful and only have myself to thank :) I have a large waiting list and always having to turn people away. I think success is quite important to me, obviously part of my personality

Oh......and one of you MNetters may recognise yourself here........the parent who uses you temporarily and then thanks you when they say the pre-school commented on how nicely they share etc. :)

Oh, another comment that really made me LOL recently.......I'm chatting away to 2 year old and then say 'oh, I must get a drink, I'm thirsty' to which she replies 'oh Looney, you want a DIRTY BEER' and when I say 'oh no, not until you children have gone home and my boys are in bed', she says 'oh, you're having dirty WINE instead' Cracks me up!!! Oh and before anyone says anything, no, I never discuss alcohol with my mindees like that and I've never called it 'dirty' - that's her mum saying that but it didn't half make me laugh!!!

Guess what I'm having for dinner tonight..............one of my favourite dishes one of my mindees mum does She's a FAB cook!!!

Oh and another said 'I'm dropping some stella round for you tonight' even though I insisted it was fine! LOL

I'm very lucky and am reminding myself of that!!! (it's been a VERY tough week thanks to ds2's behaviour so I WAS feeling ultra fed up until this thread!)

totally agree with you looney.. we are generally very lucky to have our own business and to be the boss... lol to the beer and wine comment..

think for me last 2 weeks have been the toughest yet cming... having to de ice the car, being sooooo cold and so much bloody snow everywhere day after day and the task of getting all littlies hats, gloves, coats on.. fighting with car seat straps!!! etc.. got us all depressed..

this thread has cheered me up no end.... even if one of my nice but scatty mums 'forgot' to bring money with her yesterday!!! i always get it but a bit ggggggrrrrr..

hey ho.. roll on the spring...

Hey I'm glad I added this thread! Think it's cheered us all up and reminded us why we do the job.Got quite emotional!!
I love my job, and wouldn't swap it for anything(well, maybe a large lottery win...:) )and I think we do a damn good job and should remind ourselves of that every now and again.Congratulations to you all-you deserve it !!!