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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

Am not happy!!! Rant!!!!

47 replies

crazydazy · 08/08/2006 16:18

DD and DS are going to a childminder for the two days I work during the school holidays. Its their second week.

Have just phoned grandparents (they pick them up from childminder) to check how they are going on and DD said she feels sick. Asked what she had eaten today and she said "jam sandwiches again" which is what they were given yesterday! Now I feel quite fed up by this given that they had jam sandwiches yesterday too. DS apparently had "cold pizza" so am quite alarmed at that too!!
Now I pay her £30 per week, per child for 2 days so I would have thought that a more nutritious meal should be offered for what I am paying.

I didn't want to have to say anything to her as she is a really nice woman and has come highly recommended by a friend of mine whose daughter has been with her since birth, surely this is wrong though?

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Original poster

crazydazy · 08/08/2006 16:24

bump

OP posts:

roisin · 08/08/2006 16:25

£30 for two days sounds very cheap to me actually. How many hours are they there?

Why not send them with a packed lunch instead if you'd feel happier?

beckybrastraps · 08/08/2006 16:27

Does she say she will give them a main meal? I mean, my children eat cold pizza for lunch, and sandwiches, but not as their main meal.

Original poster

crazydazy · 08/08/2006 16:28

They are there from 9.00 until 3.00 just school hours really. I just thought she would have told me if she wasn't prepared to feed them properly when she gave me the contract. She has 5 other kids as well as my two so she is hardly on the breadline regardless of whether she is cheap or not. I just wouldn't give them jam sarnies as a meal, perhaps as a snack but not for lunch and would offer them a piece of fruit or a yoghurt for after.

Maybe I will have to send them with a packed lunch then.

OP posts:

bluejelly · 08/08/2006 16:28

Don't have a problem with cold pizza, but Jam sandwiches dont' sound v nutritious

MerlinsBeard · 08/08/2006 16:29

my children often have the same lunch a few days in a row and often its jam sandwiches. send a packed lunch if its that big a deal (not meaning to be rude or sarcastic)

Original poster

crazydazy · 08/08/2006 16:30

I am new to all this so is this considered the norm then?

I just thought at lunchtime she would be giving them something like soup, or beans on toast even but jam sarnies to me is something I would give them to snack on between meals.

I guess I just assumed because of the hours in which they attend that they would be given lunch and not a snack.

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Original poster

crazydazy · 08/08/2006 16:32

mumofmonsters like I say I am new to this childminding. I just thought that they would be offered similar to what they are offered at school but clearly not. Oh well its only for the school holidays.

OP posts:

HappyMumof2 · 08/08/2006 16:37

Message withdrawn

beckybrastraps · 08/08/2006 16:41

Sandwiches ARE a lunch. YOU may view them as a snack, but they are a staple of most packed lunches I would have thought. Of course, I would give other things as well. Are they not being offered anything after the sandwiches? If not, that's a bit poor.

sleepycat · 08/08/2006 16:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

crazydazy · 08/08/2006 16:47

Happymumof2 yes what you offer is what I consider to be a nutritious lunch, I don't think that jam is particularly good for them and no I don't think they are being offered anything else but will check with DD again tonight. I just wondered if it could be why she was feeling sick because this was all she was offered all day.

Yes maybe in summer she wouldn't offer hot meals, I could have got that wrong I suppose but surely a bit of cheese or tuna in two slices of bread cannot cost much.

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Original poster

crazydazy · 08/08/2006 16:51

Oooooh am feeling a little bit embarrassed now . I cannot believe this is really the norm. We also thought it was expensive £15 a day per child .

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Original poster

crazydazy · 08/08/2006 16:52

Oooooh am feeling a little bit embarrassed now . I cannot believe this is really the norm. We also thought it was expensive £15 a day per child .

OP posts:

thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat · 08/08/2006 16:53

I wouldn't mind cold pizza and I wouldn't mind sandwiches nor cold lunches in general, but I would mind jam sandwiches. jam sarnies are bread and sugar and aren't nutritious. Also if it was sandwiches for lunch I'd hope they came with a little bit of something else - eg carrot sticks, fuit or yoghurt. Just tell her they're a bit sugar intolerant and you;d prefer them to have savoury sandwiches.

sleepycat · 08/08/2006 16:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat · 08/08/2006 16:57

blimey - that is cheap. I'd read it as £30 per day per child which works out as £2.50 per child per hour - which would be cheap for round here! yes - it is cheap, but even so I'm not marmite sarnies are any more expensive than jam ones - (and a few carrot sticks would be less than 10p) but maybe that does mean your conversation needs to be more along the lines of "if i'd like them to have a few extras at lunch time shall i bring them or could you provide..."

HappyMumof2 · 08/08/2006 17:00

Message withdrawn

thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat · 08/08/2006 17:00

my maths is out isn;t it? £30 per day per child would be £5 per hour per child (which would be expensive). as it is £2.50 per child per hour is what you're paying, which is still cheap but not worthy of the blimey! - I'd got it down to £1.25 - which did meirt a blimey. blame it on the sun.

lazycow · 08/08/2006 17:00

Sorry to say but I pay £42 a day (admitedly 8am-6pm) and also send in all ds's food. My childminder provides drinks and snacks but if he is having a particularly hungry week I send in extra snacks as well.

We are in London though and childcare costs here are really high (She is still way cheaper than a nursery is though)

I think the point is though that she should have made it clear what sort of food she was offering.

lazycow · 08/08/2006 17:02

Oh £5.00 per hour per child is normal here.

My CM charges £4.00 but she was definitely one of the cheaper ones. Some of the ones I saw were charging £6.00 ph per child with a small discount for siblings.

thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat · 08/08/2006 17:03

guess I'm out of date. I used a cm in 2001 (sw london) and i think it was something in the region of £3 pcph

HappyMumof2 · 08/08/2006 17:04

Message withdrawn

sleepycat · 08/08/2006 17:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat · 08/08/2006 17:09

it's not a wage though. unless they only look after one kid

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