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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

childminders do you cook?

42 replies

ivet83 · 15/02/2006 18:45

i love preparing meals for my DD and generally i love home cooked food.i always cook at home very rearly would have a take away.i think if i am a childminder i would enjoy serving the kids healthy home cooked meals.do you think mums would appreciate that?do all of you cook i mean real cooking?

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HappyMumof2 · 15/02/2006 18:55

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Isyhan · 15/02/2006 19:05

I thought about the cooked meal thing at lunchtime as i like cooking but Im realistic and I think 2 hours out every morning at playgroup then to start cooking for 3 children of different ages and getting them to eat would be a nightmare so Im going to do jacket potatoes, pitta breads with different fillings etc, fruit salads. I think that will work and I'll be less stressed. Certainly when I first start.

FeelingOld · 15/02/2006 19:14

I do cooked meals at teatime but not at lunch, just sandwiches, pittas, scrambled egg etc followed by fruit, yogurt etc.
I don't cook at lunch cos like the others have said if you are out at different activities you just don't have time.
The meals I provide for some mindees at teatime are always home cooked and on a Friday my children and my mindees help to pick the next weeks menu to keep everyone happy.

Original poster

ivet83 · 15/02/2006 19:44

or maybe if you cook in the evening for the next day but i suppose you are too tired after the whole day with the mindees?ok what you say makes sense..thanks guys

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oldandfat · 15/02/2006 19:55

i cook lunch times and i wish i had never started it. i am going to keep it this way until easter and then let them all know its cold lunch or quick ones such as jacket spuds etc and then small healthy snack after eve school run. all mindees here after 5pm will get a cooked tea. just hope this won't annoy parents but it just means i can spend more time with the children than in the kitchen

Original poster

ivet83 · 15/02/2006 20:06

so looks like cooking is not a good idea? well if you can sort something else out why not.i just thought that mums will like this but apparently it's difficult.see i don't know cause i am not a childminder but that's why i am asking,i want to know about all aspects of the job.thank you all you are really helping me

OP posts:

jellyjelly · 15/02/2006 20:10

You might also find that some parents dont want their children to have a cooked lunch or not be willing to pay what is expected to support the healthy meals and only expect cheap food. (one of mine wanted a healthy cooked meal for 50p - i refused to cook value sausage and chips etc I didnt look after that child for long)

Original poster

ivet83 · 15/02/2006 21:14

that's crazy though why wouldn't they want their kids to eat healthy? i guess they just wouldn't pay that extra bit of money.but 50p is rediculous!

OP posts:

oldandfat · 15/02/2006 21:17

i use mainly organic food and always try to use healthy home cooked food (no ready meals etc). the food etc is all included in my daily fees so whether they like it or not they have to pay the going rate.

Original poster

ivet83 · 15/02/2006 22:05

yeah i agree with you.say they have certain food requirements do you serve what they want you to or you decide the menu?i mean parents

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ThePrisoner · 15/02/2006 22:17

I know other childminders have posted previously on other threads, and this one too, about providing meals for mindees, and given various tips on how to do it (cook lots and freeze at weekend, for instance). I think that providing healthy, home-cooked, fresh, organic food would be a superb selling feature for any childminder - but I don't do it .

I already spend a lot of time outside my normal working hours (7.30am - 6pm ish, Monday - Friday) doing paperwork, courses, etc. I don't want to give up yet more of my weekend preparing meals as well. And I certainly don't have any time during my working day to do it. I do feel guilty about it - much more so since joining Mumsnet, as so many other minders do offer meals!

HellyBelly · 15/02/2006 22:35

I do cold lunch and cooked meals if the parents require it. So far baby food is provided.

ThePrisoner · 15/02/2006 22:40

Oh Helly - as I was typing my post and thinking about what others had just said, I'd been thinking, "they don't need a cooked meal at lunchtime, it could be cold stuff" ... and the first words I then see after mine are from you ... "cold lunch". I don't want to start preparing food for mindees, I don't want to start preparing food for mindees, I don't want to start preparing food for mindees ...

HellyBelly · 15/02/2006 22:46

Oh TP - I only decided to do these as I do for my own ds anyway and I actually think it's easier for me they all eat the same - if however I wasn't making for ds, i don't know if I still would. Does that make sense, god I feel pi**ed!

oldandfat · 15/02/2006 22:50

i wish i could get away with not doing food at all, it takes a huge chunk of my free time away but if i was a parent i don't think i would be a happy paying £4.00 per hour and my child not getting meals included. i also tend to make my own children 10 and 14 wait for their dinner until all mindees have left (unless they have a club or something) so that our family can all eat together. this means i am still in the kitchen most nights at 10pm.....dh does help alot even cooks most nights so its not too bad. dont feel bad about not cooking if parents are hppy then go with it....like i say, i wish i could. one day i will have a little lady who comes and cooks, cleans and irons on a daily basis (not)

ThePrisoner · 15/02/2006 23:01

OK Helly and oldandfat (change your name!!!) - keep on with the encouragement for me to not to do food!! I just know that getting some of my mindees to eat raw peppers and sunflower seeds is going to be difficult.

Oldandfat - is your hourly rate similar to others near you? I charge £3.50/hour - other minders in my area charge about the same, not many charge more, and some provide food and some don't. I would hate to think that a parent would pick a minder purely because they did or didn't provide food.

HenniPenni · 15/02/2006 23:12

I'm a little crafty, I provide lunch but if Parents want mindees to have dinner then they provide it themselves. Also I don't provide baby food either.

The only exception is a mindee who comes infrequently and is picked up well after 6oclock, eats whatever we have for our evening meal.

Jensmum · 15/02/2006 23:31

I only provide breakfast!!

My mindees leave at noon (I'm such a part-timer) so they have breakfast with me and that's it, even if their mum's shift changes and I have them in the afternoon they have lunch at home and go before tea time.

I don't know what I'd do if I had any full time mindee's.

I don't think I like the idea of doing a hot lunch though as I only ever have something quick and cold anyway, (since my microwave blew up!) I don't even make a hot lunch at weekend for DP and DD it's sandwiches or nothing in my house.

bigisbeatifulwasoldandfat · 16/02/2006 08:29

i have changed my name...........OK!
my rate is the going rate in my area, some charge up to £4.50. i did speak to another minder recently who charges the same but expects mindees to bring packed lunches....she does'nt even provide a breakfast. if i thought i could get away with it i would as i said, but even most nurseries provide some food and it is very competitive around here.

ayla99 · 16/02/2006 08:33

Meals do mean extra work in terms of planning & shopping as well as preparation & cooking. However, as there is a really cheap after school club that doesn't provide dinners, its something I have to do if I want the after-school kids.

I make heavy use of the slow cooker by preparing either before mindies arrive or while they are eating breakfast. Or I make use of nap-time to get things prepared.

bigdonna · 16/02/2006 09:01

i provide meals and yes i cook proper food.lunch is normally cold and tea is hot .cooking tea for 7 today.i provide food for babies too.

Original poster

ivet83 · 16/02/2006 16:03

if you don't mind me asking do you all live in london or in the countryside cause the money you take are not that good.where i live(central london) people charge around 5-6 pounds an hour.and another thing if you work from 7 or 8 in the morning shouldn't you all provide breakfast at least if you don't do lunch i mean cook lunch?what are these parents paying for?

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Original poster

ivet83 · 16/02/2006 16:05

to ayla99-you got me thinking.i've seen these slow cookers are they any good?what do you cook in them?is it nice?maybe that's an idea of a simpler way to cook for the mindees

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HellyBelly · 16/02/2006 16:07

I'm in Reading and charge £3.50 which is normal in my village however another end of town people may charge £3 an hour - depends. I don't charge for breakfast and lunch but do charge £1.50 per evening meal.

Think people who don't provide breakfast either start later or maybe ask the parents to bring in bread/cereal??

Tinker · 16/02/2006 16:12

My childminders have never provided meals and I'm glad. I'm such a control freak about what they eat (in front of other people, of course ) that I prefer to send it.

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