CM club: are there any ex-childminders here? come and talk please

[sweetestB]

Hi, I'm giving up my CM business. Reasons are: small property, business taking up the whole space/my H works shifts so when he is off during my working hours he has to shut himself in our bedroom as our property is so small/ and I don't rea"my want to get new clients as I panic about what sort of people they will be and I don't want to go through the whole process of settling in getting to know new family, paperwork.../I have only one dd in primary school, so I now want to do something else outside the house as being a CM just makes me feel like a SAHM (no offence) with more responsibility and stress than a SAHM only, iyswim. So I just want to hear if there are ex CMs, here, why did you quit, what did you do next and if you regret, would ever come back to CMinding. ?

I quit never regretted it and became a nanny, term time only, all the fun none of the paperwork and my house is my own.

I don't really want to get new clients that is what I meant.

Thanks Meg. How do you feel being employed now and having a boss telling you what to do as opposed to be your own boss? I think you are lucky you got a term time only job, do you use after school childcare for your own child/ren?

My Children are grown up :)

To be honest I have a brilliant boss, She knew me as a CM, I looked after her neices, so she basically lets me just get on with it.

Awesome

Anyone else? I'm feeling so guilty. I hate being a quiter, but I need to do what is best for me/my family at the moment.

You are not a quitter! Sometimes jobs just don't work out. If your house is feeling tight on space and your DH is on shifts then that's hard in itself to work around. Sounds like you need to do something else and a perfect time if your DD is now at school. What would you like to do? Stay in childcare? I'm a CM and my home is small, fortunatly we built an extension and it gives me a large room to work from, it's helped me stay in the profession, it would have been very limiting otherwise. Good luck!

oh god op, don't feel guilty!! you are not a quitter - it's a job, people change their jobs all the time. you don't sign over your whole life when you became a cm, people do what they have to do at certain times of their lives!

that's definately how i feel. Have two ds (one at f/t school) and don't plan on doing this once both ds are full time. I wouldn't want both my dc at school full time and to be looking after other people's children - no way, that's not for me at all!!

Good Luck, what do you plan on doing? x

I love the children and hate the paperwork! My own youngest is now in year three and I always thought I would stop once he was at school, but there is never a good time to stop - it's always a case of when one goes to nursery or another goes to school, or once another's mum starts maternity leave, but by the time the milestone comes round there are more little ones to see through to their next big life event. I don't think I could bring myself to just say that's it I'm going - it would have to be a long term plan to stop at a point quite a way ahead so everyone could work around that.

Sorry I just read that back and it might sound a bit critical. It wasn't meant to - if you need to change course then that's what you should do. It's absolutely not quitting when it's the sensible thing for your family.

No problemo.
It's definitely the right time for me to stop tough.
As I said, small rented property, my nearly 6 year old can't have privacy in her bedroom or even have the bedroom the way she wants or leaving special toys lying around.
My H when off work have to lock himself in our bedroom and put up with the noise
And I chose to have an only child but now I feel trapped and would love to find work out there and not mix it with my family life.
So a question for those who closed their business:
You just simply tell OFSTED and HMRC and than it's sorted?

I'm thinking of quitting childminding at the moment. Mostly because my children hate it and my house is just a mess all the time. I mean, its tidy because it has to be, but its just full of stuff that none of my children are interested in. When I have friends round at the weekend, we may as well be in a toyshop drinking wine!

I'm starting to resent it and all that comes with it (paperwork etc) and I think its best to stop before I do iyswim.

I'm not sure what else Id do but I can't help thinking that its ruining my family life - I'm not doing anything particularly well, I'm just coasting along juggling mindees, my kids, my house and my husband and feeling miserable 90% of the time.

Gosh that all sounds miserable doesnt it. Sorry, having a bad day.

Sorry, that doesnt answer your questions at all, but it feels better to have a little rant!

Would be interesting to know who you'd have to tell.. I assume you just wouldn't renew your next ofsted fee (whenever that would be) and then you're not registered anymore by default...

Hi Ilovesparkthings
I know exactly how you feel
I was on a very low when finally made the final decisionI my head to quit.
Now I'm looking forward to the next step which is finding a job still something to do with childcare for sure and just be out there.
I will stop on a high though. My energy and excitement is slowly coming back and I'm planning lots of little nice projects for the kids to do before they leave.
Also looking forward to redecorating my playroom dd's bedroom and make my home a lot less children proof.
Plus the prospect of do training and actually working the way up in a career is making me happier.
As a CM it seems you never move anywhere and is always doing the same things

And I will inform OFSTED because I don't want any inspectors knocking on my door ever again

I am planning on quitting too - not quite yet but for all the reasons everyone else has stated. I would love to be a school secretary but those jobs are few and far between. I am planning on doing a refresher course though. I have said I will wait till the current children leave me

I gave up as my own children always came second best to the minded children and paperwork which wasn't fair on them

I have gone back to being a doula and maternity (night) nanny which is something I loved doing.

My own children are much happier with this as it means that they don't have to share their mummy, toys and home with lots of babies/ children everyday. It also means tidier house and no paperwork for me. Win win!

Oh thanks so much for the answers, makes ne a lot more positive. I feel sorry for my dd and always wonder if I made a huge mistake being a CM whilst she was so little. When I started she was only 3 and I always took much younger mindees which meant they needed more attention and had to come first an awful lot of time. In the other hand she is very very good at sharing. Anyway, hope it didn't cause her too much damage and I'm sure she will be a lot happier once I'm no longer a CM.