Would love to hear from cms who work mon to fri (T I P S P L E A S E)

[MUM2BLESS]

At the beginning of this year I started doing mon to fri before and after school and mon to wed with a under school age child. Previously I was doing m to f (before and after school and with a little one during the day . I had to do this because I needed to have time to catch up with things ie paper work and house work.

Due to an emergency with one of my families I have started doing more days to help the family out.

Would love to hear from those who work mon to fri:-

When do you make personal appointments? do you take the kids with you?
Tips on how you make time for paper work, house work, yourself, your spouse and your kids

Parents does your cm work mon to fri? your views on this

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

Personal appointments:

• Flu jab - kids came with me
• Smear test - book early finish/late start
• Hairdresser - weekend (I don't go at all any more)
• Man to fix whatever machine - during work hours

Paperwork:

• Have a quiet half hour each afternoon (while little ones asleep). Older children do colouring, play dough, or whatever, while I do a bit of paperwork/filing. I don't think it does them any harm to see a bit of admin.

Housework:
At the crack of dawn (prefer that to evenings/weekends).

Myself/spouse/DD (age 13)

• As and when I get the chance. The more I can get done before work in the morning, the more I can do with the family during evenings and weekends.

What HSMM said

Plus I get food delivered, I have a cleaner 4 hours a week, I use a childminder friend if I have an appointment I cant take the children with me.

thanks for that, so useful..

HSMM excuse me aksing what time do you get up? I would love to get up earlier but at times tired as went to bed late.

Finish at 6.00 then my kids need me.

Do you tell your parents about appointments? does it depend on what type of appointment it is. ie dentist or doctor appointment (blood pressure check etc).

I had to let a parent know I was going to see a mum who was going to use my services, I was talking her little one with me. I have been invited to come for coffee since then but had to turn it down as I had little one with me. If its connected to contracts etc then I would accept it.

Yes to food delivery. The environmental health food inspector thingy was happy with food being delivered.

I don't tell parents why I need time off generally, unless it is short notice (maybe).

I do all home visits out of working hours.

I work 8-6 and get up at 7 at the latest, often earlier. It's amazing what you can get done in a quick half hour dash round the house.

I used to work 8-7 every day but recently the lo has started nursery on mon, weds and fri which makes things much easier to book personal things as then I can just take my ds. He starts soon but I want to put them in on the same days to give me a bit of free time.

I get food delivered and have my haircut at the weekend but sometimes the mobile hairdresser I use comes to do the kids hair in the hols but sometimes the cm kids have theirs done too as they play their mum up at the hairdressers!

There's 2 of us, so makes it easier. I've had midwife appointments and hairdressing appointments at home and the parents have been very pleased their children have shared these. They got to listen to the baby's heart and were fascinated. Also had the playroom set up themed appropriately - our playhouse became a hairdressers the day she came. Otherwise, I have appointments out of hours or at the weekend.
I have shopping delivered, too. Ocado pick their shopping straight from custom built warehouses and freezer units and it's chilled in the van until it gets here, so much better for food hygiene.

No cleaner, though :(

Thanks for that. More comments more than welcome...

I do the same as Booh. When I originally started minding I planned on just working 4 days and keeping 1 day free for appointments / cleaning and paperwork. I now work Mon-Fri and have a cleaner once a week and get all my shopping delivered.

I too have a quiet half and hour in the afternoons to write up daily diaries and observations and all other paperwork is completed once a month when my fab DH takes my own dc swimming for a couple of hours to give me some peace and quiet. It works for me!

Appointments can be tricky - I even struggle to get to the bank to pay my cheques in some times but I just try to book them in on quieter days.

Hi there, i'm not a CM but my son goes to a CM who works 8-6 mon to fri (although DS is there 3 days pw). From a parent's point of view i would expect her to get on with appointments like dentist, workmen round and shopping/household jobs etc as normal, unless it was going to be hugely disruptive to the kids' day. One of the reasons i opted for a CM rather than nursery was so that my son would be involved in a normal home routine, and that includes the mundane stuff. I think this is true for a lot of parents. We're lucky that she is fab at going out and doing fun things every day (park, soft play, petting zoo etc) but i have no issue with DS spending time at the post office, dentist, supermarket etc either. On occasion she has had hospital appointments. When this has come up she's let us know in advance and either arranged for us to do a late drop off/early pick up (making up the hours on another day) or arranged for a relative (also a reg. CM) to cover for her. She also builds in quiet time/nap time to every day and I think she gets on with admin then.

I've been a CM for 13 years. I work full time-Mon-Thurs 7.30-6,Fri-7.30-4.30. I get up just after 6 and, although my first mindee doesn't arrive until 7.30,I like to have my own children's lunch boxes done,toys put out,pushchairs ready..oh,and a cup of tea...before they turn up.
I try to make doctors/dentists appointments for a Friday-that's why I finish at 4.30 and would never take a minded child with me;it just doesn't 'feel' right if you see what I mean although I'm positive that if I asked the parents then they wouldn't mind.
I have a mobile hairdresser who comes in the evening,and I have my food shopping delivered.I do take the children shopping sometimes if I need to pick up a birthday present for example but that doesn't happen very often.
My paperwork gets done whenever I get a bit of quiet time! I do have little one's that sleep in the afternoon, so, as long as I'm organised,I do get some done then! And if my last mindee happens to go a bit earlier,i do a bit then..otherwise I will do some in the evening.As I see it,anyone who has their own business has to do paperwork in their own time-it goes with the job!!
If I have a parent coming to see me about childminding then arrange it for when I'm working so they can see me in full flow!! I always inform the parents of the mindees I will be caring for on that day though.
Washing gets done fri night/sat morning.I never do it during the week as just have nowhere to put it in the house,and even when the weathers' nice,I forget to hang it out!! Most of the housework gets done as and when-might throw the duster round when LO's are sleeping or let them help-and the floors get swept most days and mopped quickly twice a week.OH is very good though and gives the floors a good hoover and mop at the weekend!Mum does my ironing :)
Family time occurs the rest of the time!! If I was going out to work, my children would see a lot less of me than they do now,so at least I'm here when they come home from school and in the school hols.

Booh
Is paying a cleaner an allowable expense against tax? Just wondering if I ever get to FT hours.

Not a CM, but we use one Monday-Friday for DD, who is 13 months. I know she has a cleaner and an assistant (a teenager who I think is studying for childcare qualifications). I would have no problem at all with her taking DD on appointments with her (and I know she does). Like someone else said, that's why opted for childminder over nursery. Obviously I would start to mind if she didn't do anything at all fun and child orientated with DD, but I know that's not the case.
Saying that, most people who work full time have to fit appointments around work and get them done before/after work and on weekends, so it can't be too difficult?

I've also been minding Mon-Friday for the past 2 years (before that was minding for 10 years for 3/4 days) and have to say it has been hard work, especially as I have my own family and husband doing shift work etc. and my parents and in-laws have had failing health so I am caring for them too at every hour.

My husband is really good and does most of the evening cooking and takes my youngest to the orthodontist etc. but I must say that my dental or doctor appointments have gone out of the window during this time as it's just impossible to fit everything in. I would have loved to have my teeth checked and polished in time for Christmas but know it's not going to happen!

I'm up at 6.15-6.30 every day just to get things moving with my own three teenagers who are at uni, college and school and then have to greet mindees at 7.45-8am.

I do housework when I get up every day, and then when the mindees are asleep. I then I do my ironing late at night (usually midnight).

I do my paperwork at the weekend and also during the week late at night as I suffer from insomnia and can cope on 5/6 hours sleep.

But from January I will be working just 3 days a week as 2 children are leaving and I hope I can slow down a bit!

Do you think a cleaner would need a CRB check? And who would be responsible for organising/ paying for it?

I get food delivered, and do some housework when I'm working (this is supposed to be a domestic environment, after all) or when they're having naps after lunch. I figure if we're all in the garden and I'm hanging washing out while they play in the sandpit I'm still doing a perfectly good job without hanging over them every second. Paperwork gets done at evenings/weekends.

For doctor's appointments DH takes a morning off work to look after our children while I take mindee with me to the surgery. But they're few and far between.

I get up at 5.30.

Thanks everyone. Its lovely hearing parents talk about their cm, so supportive.

I have a dentist appointment on fri. Need to let one of the parents know tomorrow.

lisa1968 you have so much info to encourgae with. Thanks. Excuse me for asking how many kids have you got of your own and their ages?

Scarfmaker 5/6 hours sleep ! are you not tired? I would love sometimes to sleep longer.

ZuleikaD how do you manage to get up at 5.30. Do you go to bed early?

It amazing how cm have different amounts of cm kids, work varying hours and days and have different family lives.

I know for sure it would be much harder for ME if I was working outside the home with four kids of my own. I love the flexiblity I get from working from home. Working from home does present challenges at times. .As my kids get older I may have to look at the hours etc that I am doing, but for now I am taking a step at a time.

Parents what is life like for those of you who use a cm. What time do you get up to get the kids ready for the cm?

MUM2BLESS I'm generally asleep by 9.30, but as both the children are larks and often awake at 5.15 there aren't many other options! (Please nobody mention GroClocks...)