Really not liking it much today

[freshstart]

:(

:( what's wrong?

I get so bogged down by the responsibility of keeping them safe that i find it hard to relax and just enjoy them

And today my friends toddler scratched the baby that only started last week.

Feel all tense and stressed and terrible about it.

I just feel like its a hell of a lot of work and stress and not sure if I can deal with it!!!

aww we all have off days :( I know it sometimes feels very stressful out and about but it gets better.

When my two main mindees started, ds was a year and they were nearly 2 - I had a double buggy so they had to take turns walking. I don't have a car so they walked EVERYWHERE! I had straps, reins, slings the works.. it was so stressful. Now I just have the single buggy for ds (he's nearly 2) and they just walk and I can't remember it being awful!

Plus when they started I took them to playgroup and one got bitten badly by another child. Was horrified. The mum asked what the one bitten had done to pee the other child off and it was probably his own fault anyways!

Yesterday she accidentlaly slammed his fingers in the door.. by 1pm she tried to blame me.. you get days like it. Don't let it get you down!

baby is crying today lots too and im just thinking

"aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrggghghghg"

freshstart - must definitly be one of those days. we all have them. I took my 2, 3 yr old mindies to soft play this morning and they just kept annoying other children (they are normally very good) they were so bad i gave them 3 chances then took them home, which i never have to do.
Some days are easier than others, don't worry about the scratching it comes with the territory and was obviously unavoidable, the parent will understad if you explain what happened and how you dealt with it.

Go and put the kettle on and have a nice cuppa, for 5 mins.

Just trying to update their contact books - I just cant get much done with baby crying and then feel guilty on other two as cant do what I normally would with them if I am trying to calm the baby.

I promise it will get easier once baby settles down,

We all have bad days, I usually have bad afterschools! When the toddler needs her dinner, the 11yr olds want help with homework, my own 5 year old being a nuisance and the 8 yr olds argueing!!All at the same time!

freshstart - as said when chatting earlier, the baby thing is all new to you plus you've gone from very part time childminding to pretty full on so it's bound to take some getting used to! as you know, i've had a pretty bad couple of days and am finding these new longer hours really hard but i keep telling myself it's just a matter of getting used to being so busy again with all the demands that come with it - sure it's the same for you chuck

msn me tonight and we'll have a good old moan eh!! :)

p.s. I told you I'd keep nagging you to stop the ironing in the evenings - it's all a bit much!!! be prepared for another nagging session later Right, need to wake mindee up now - other 2 crashed out on sofa

I'm having a week a bit like the day you're having freshstart. I'm going through one of my "why am i doing this, what funs is there in changing nappies, having my walls drawn on, arguments over toysetc" phases. Which unfortunately are happening quite freqently at the minute.
We all hav ethem though, i'm sure you'll get it sorted, especially once the baby gets into a routine.

I agree. Also doesn't help that the weather is rubbish!! :( Can't wait for Summer

Im getting less inspired to do cming as time goes on. The feeling is not helped by the fact that last night I did my first shift as a nurse at local BUPA hospital and it was great. I think Ive now decided to just do two days cming a week and the rest nursing. Plus I met a cmer at mums and tots this am who is packing it in in 6 months as she says its too hard.

Ishyan, I was a registered nurse before I started minding, beleive me when I say that I find this much easier!!

really. I think in part it was due to working at BUPA where staffing levels much higher and also that particular cm is a real panicker. I saw her a few weeks ago and she was in such a flap. So perhaps its not harder really.

Would definatly be due to poor staffing levels, inadequate resources etc, at least now I am my own boss! even if I do feel brain dead some days and my ability to spell has gone down the pan it is still the best thing I ever did!

phew, theres another wednesday over - its my hardest day and makes me feel like this every week

I just had a wee, one i had been holding in since about lunchtime!!! its just never ending!

Oh you poor luv Freshstart - how many mindees do you have and how old is the baby?

I am sure it will get better - I know what you mean about the responsibility of keeping them safe etc - I felt a little like that when I first started childminding but soon got used to it.

I count myself to be very lucky in that my baby mindee came to me at 11 weeks (she is now 4.5 months) & settled beautifully - she is just so happy & contented to sit on my lap while I am doing activities with mindees - the only time she cries is after a feed & that is for only 30 secs!! how lucky am I?

Im already dreading week ahead, this is not right is it?

Have you spent the whole weekend dreading Monday? I guess the answer is that, no, it's not right to feel so bad - but it's just whether this is a bit of a blip (and lots of minders get those from time to time) because you are really busy caring for a new baby.

How old is the new baby? How long have you had the baby for? They really can be such hard work, and I know that I always do a guilt trip when I feel that I'm not giving enough attention to the older ones. If your older mindees are happy, then don't feel guilty.

Are you going out to toddler groups etc? I think getting out is a lifesaver.

Oooh, didn't mean that so sound as though you shouldn't feel bad, just that it's sad that you are.

It doesnt make any sense to me as I am by my own and others admission very good with kids and more than capable.

I have a baby (8 months) on a Tuesday and an almost 3 year old and 18 month old on a Friday that are known to me prior to being a childminder and these days are NO problem. A joy. I enjoy it, the kids enjoy it, I am calm and dont fall down the back of the door at home time!

Wednesday and Thursday are another matter. These days I have a 6 month old and 20 month old and it just wrings me out - it just doesnt "flow" like it does on the other days. Not helped by my own DS being quite a big boisterous boy and slap bang in the middle of terrible twos and not doing that great at sharing! He is however getting better but I feel permanently on edge that he may hurt mindee.

I live in permanent fear of one of them coming to harm normally to a backdrop of baby crying which just serves to reiterate that Im not doing very well.

As I say the difference between the two sets of children is massive but really the Wednesday and Thursday are stressful enough to make me want to seriously pack it in.

I think because 2 months ago I was doing HALF a day a week and now Im doing 4 days it has almost knocked me for six. I have always worked office jobs then had a year being a SAHM and I feel more stressed and over committed now than I did in the office days! Im starting to look back at SAHM days so nostalgically thinking ahhhhhhhh just me and the kids, so free so relaxed!

I also feel guilty on my own kids a bit as Im so desperate for the mindees to be ok that sometimes I feel they get slightly ignored as a result.

Also, DD is soooo excited this week as on Wednesday there is an ice rink coming to her school - we have bought her ticket and she just cant wait. It is on at 4.25pm and needs a parent there. Mindee 1 gets collected at 4.30pm then I have to drive baby home which takes me an hour and a half or so (I do pick ups and drop offs for the baby) so I just cant do it but dont know what to say to her!

The kids are not the problem per se, they are lovely kids.

Right can another mum take your DD?

Can you get the mindee collected early and take baby with you

Do you have a DH to go with DD (Or your mum)?

I know you probably don't want to, but would you consider giving notice to one of your Wednesday/Thursday parents? It just sounds too much for you. The age mix (20mths & 6mths) is not great. How old are your own children?

I do know how you feel though, I'm now working 4 days a week (only one mindee) and it is such hard work!

Mum cant, she is a teacher and wouldnt be able to get the time off.

DH works shifts and is on late shift that day - they are very unflexible shifts (sole charge of lab in hospital)

My kids are 6 and 2.5

So the difficult days are 6 months, 18 months and 2.5 then 6 yr old after school

my kids are the same age as yours and I only have one mindee (14mths) and find that hard enough 4 days a week - I think you have taken too much on. Would it be impossible for you to let one of them go?

This sounds incredibly greedy but when I took baby on I could have shuffled days around so that I just had 1 mindee at any one time but then I thought then that means Im working 5 days for 3.50 an hour instead of 3.5 for 7. Im not for a moment saying I just do this for the money but I really did not intend for this to be a full time job!

I would feel DREADFUL letting any of them go, the parents are so reliant on me (As they all are I suppose) and the babies mum is ever so grateful that I also pick up and drop off for her (in the town centre so hit rush hour)