Have I got the best childminder in the whole world?

[TheCrunchyside]

my lovely childminder asked dh if she could look after dd for free on tuesday (a day he normally looks after her). She wants to take the other child she looks after to a children's museum and thinks they'll all have more fun if my dd (2yrs) joins them.

she is such a great childminder and is great with both my children.

Dh is delighted as he has loads of work to catch up on.

anyone else want to share fab childminder stories?

Yours sounds lovely but mine is also fabulous! No specific stories, just amazingly positive, flexible and generally brilliant.

belinda - we're so lucky. i've been with ours since my oldest was 11 months and i returned to work.

sooz28 - i'm sorry she moved. your's sounded fab but i raise you the fact that my CM has also coped brilliantly with the oldest child's SN.

Are you going to pay her/get her a lovely thank you gift?

My DS has only been with CM since Sept but more & more I am thinking how good she is. She had a birthday tea for him last wk as she didnt see him the week of his actual b.day - and asked to keep him an extra 1hr15min for this (for free), and she just generally seems to enjoy having him. She has closed a lot due to sickness in recent months which is a real pain, but apart from this I cant fault her.

I had the best CM ever, she is now the guardian of my children!

Will give her some money for spending on the day but I always think if someone makes a nice gesture it's best just say thanks and be appreciative rather than be perceived as trying to "even the score" immediately iyswim

sooz my CM asked to 'borrow' DD for an OFSTED

SHe has come to b'day parties and is all round genuinely lovely. As is my SIL who is a CM

My CM was totally fabulous. Her first reaction to checking what days I was working was 'great, we can go to xyz toddler group now!' and I knew all would be fine.

She regularly took kids out on inset days, and my DS has visited places I have never heard of, usually at minimal/no cost. she'd sometimes end up like the Pied Piper with around 8 kids going to places like the Science Museum on public transport. She was so good at parenting though that their behaviour was immaculate, no matter how naughty some of them were at home.

She had DS for 9 years until he started secondary. We both cried on his last day, admitting we'd been dreading it for months

She is still referred to as his other mum

Sorry, you can't possibly have the best CM in the world, unless you use the same one as me !!

She took care of DD for nearly 4 years until DD started school last September, but still asks DD to go over after school every couple of weeks or so, "as they all miss her so much" (her and all the other kids that is). CM won't take any payment even tho' sometimes DD is with her for up to 3 hours! (I have resorted to hiding money under the post by her front door! )

CM has bought DD some lovely presents over the years - not just birthdays and Xmas, but sometimes just little things she has seen that she knows DD would like - a doll from the pound shop or whatever.

She ran the creche at our wedding 3 years ago, and wouldn't take any payment - she said it was her wedding present to us. When we moved house a couple of years ago we wanted to stay within walking distance of her, and ended up getting a house just 3 doors down the road!

To be honest she is more like family to DD than some of her real relatives. We have already booked a place for DS for when I return to work in 6 months at the end of my maternity leave.

a from a CM. What beautiful posts!

As someone who is just going through the process of becoming a CM, this is such a great thread to read.

I'm taking it all on board!