'mothers help' - what do they do?

[Flojobunny]

I seem to be finding things difficult at the moment. More with my relationship with my children. Homestart has a huge waiting list so wondered whether I could pay someone to help. Trouble is, I want wkends as I work. I don't want a babysitter, I want someone to work with me to help with structured play and creating a happy home.

Some childminders may be willing, I certainly would if I didn't have a little one and someone enquired

A mothers help comes to your home and helps around the house, things like laundry, clearing up, playing with children, whilst mum is around at home.

Structured play - what do you mean by that? Can you give an example?

I expect it will really depend on the person. They may have no experience of children, or they may have a lot of experience with younger siblings or have done work with children before.

Why do you not want a babysitter? What do you see as being the difference between a babysitter and a mothers help?

You would be their employer, telling them what to do, when to do it. So keep costs in mind, running payroll & PAYE, drawing up a contract, Salary (at least NMW), holiday entitlement. Chances are that they will have other work during the week, so you will be needing to do PAYE regardless of how much salary you pay.

I think what you want is someone trained, like a nanny or possibly a family support worker or community nursery nurse, with training or an interest in play and family relationships who will help you to build a positive relationship and work out ways play can be enjoyable for all of you. That could be well suited to someone doing it on a self-employed consultancy basis.

There are people who would be interested. I would love to do it if it weren't logistically impossible. Perhaps out an ad on nannyjob and spell out your requirements really clearly.