New childminder, tell me what you love/don't like about your job!

[Purplehonesty]

I'm currently waiting for the final checks and food hygiene people to come out and hope to start in the next couple of months.
I'm really looking forward to it, but it's so different to what I've done previously and I'd love to hear from you all as to what you love about your jobs and what you don't love quite so much!

Love: Being my own boss, being home with my own DD (30, in the day, knowing that I am available for DS (6) to take and pick up from school, if he is sick in the holidays etc. (used to WOH when DS was little)
My DD always has friends round to play - she gets on great with my mindees who are all of a similar age and is always asking who is coming to play today. My mindees are all fantastic and I have been very lucky I think with both them and their parents - never had any problems and get on really well with all them. I know this isn't always the case.

Don't love: The constant tidying / cleaning. When we are in the house I sometimes feel that's all I am doing! The uncertainty. I will be losing 2 mindees in September when they start school / nursery and as yet I don't have any more lined up so money will be an issue although I'm not panicking yet! The responsibility. It can be quite scary if you really think about it. You are soley responsible for the safety of another persons most precious thing. It would be terrifying if something went wrong.

Paperwork - some hate it, some don't mind it. It doesn't bother me so much but was hard work at the beginning getting all my policies etc in place.

Ofsted - a lot of uncertainty at the minute. I'm just keeping my head down and getting on with the job. I don't think I will still be doing this in 5 years time but for now it is ideal for me and my family

Good luck

Oh and DD is 3 not 30!

Thank you for your reply. That's all really helpful. I'm really excited about starting. I have a ds aged 4 and a dd 1 so I can only really take on another 1 preschooler and maybe one after school so it won't be lots of children.
I used to send ds to a childminder and have had experience of one excellent and one awful. It makes me determined to be the first type. She made such a difference to our lives an I hope I can do that for my mindees.
I intend to offer full food/snack service plus keep spares of everything here so it is easy for mum or dad to just drop them regardless of the weather and not have to think about packing wellies/suncream/lunch/dinner when they are trying to get out of the house on time for work.
My childminder treated my son like her own and he adored her. I'd very often go to pick him up to find him sat round the dinner table eating with them, she'd say oh he wanted to eat with us. And a year on he still asks to go to her house!

I love the kids most of the time
I love being my own boss.
I love setting my own hours.
I love the friendships my DS's have forged.
I love the money
I love being there for my own kids after school.
I love the good relationship with parents.
I love the activities we do.

I don't love the early starts.
I don't love the paperwork.
I don't love the bitchy nature of some of the other CM in my area.
I don't love the EYFS.
I don't love doing my accounts.
I don't love the mess and cleaning.

I love the children, being there for my children, being my own boss, choosing the plans for my day, the money (and not having to pay for childcare), the ongoing relationships with families I've worked with.

I don't love (and am leaving because of) the isolation, long hours, never getting away from work, the strain on my house, the fact my own children get the rag end of me, the stress, the red tape, the shifting goalposts. And having a hard work parent (thankfully only one of mine is hard work and she's my sister so double the stress) can tarnish teh whole thing for you.

I'v ebeen doing this for five years though and I've genuinely loved it until about eight weeks ago when I decided enough was enough.

Thanks again, all great helpful comments.

You all mention a lot of paperwork, what sort of things do you have to do because I have done all the reading that the care commission sent me and I must be missing something....but then I am coming from a highly regulated banking background and paperwork was my day! I didn't receive a single piece of paperwork from either of my cms in two years, apart from a contract with the second one.

I'm really looking forward to planning what we are going to be doing and have been reading the cm boards on here for inspiration and websites etc. it does sound a lot of fun.

Hi you mentioned care commission so your in Scotland then I am to. Going from reading on this board we don't have to do half as much as English childminders . So don't worry to much about.

I love...

Being here for dd
Looking at how children are progressing
The friends dd now has
Money
The activities we do
The way it makes me plan and dd gets to do loads
The mums (mostly)
The new cm friends I have made

I don't like

Fussy eaters
Being exhausted
Accounts
Paperwork
Worrying I am not doing it right
Having to smile and be wonderful when I don't feel it
People treating your house like an adventure playground
Having to keep so tidy all the time

You know I did wonder if it might be an English thing. Excellent.