CMs. Do you like the other CMs who work near you.

[beingabanana1]

The worst part of being a CM for me is having to regularly see the other local CMs. There is the sort of 'top' CM who feels like she can tell everyone else how much to charge, how to run their business, etc. Another CM always brags about how many kids she has etc. I know i sound awful but just felt like a vent as one has recently tried to poach one of my babies.

Am not a CM, but I know a few from toddler groups and the school run. There is one just like that near us, and it is quite tedious to hear even though it has nowt to do with me! Sympathy from me, that must be very annoying. Avoid her as best you can!

I am a childminder (have name changed just in case for this post not to be reconised )

There are a few around here that I get on really well with but there are also some who I avoid as much as I can, I will smile, nod and even have a polite simple conversation with them but that is all.

I have been childminding for quite a while now and have been asked to help some (especially new childminders) by our inspector and FIS . I dont mind helping anyone if they ask for advice, after all when I first started I used to ask other childminders for advice.

I have helped some in the past who have thrown it back in my face by being down right rude to me and some have poached children off me later. I would never poach another child, even though I have been asked by parents attending other childminders whilst I have done holiday cover for their childminder -its just not the done thing in my eyes.Yet some just see it as if just swapping where you shop.

If any parent approaches me from another childcare provider I always ask why they are looking at leaving before I even considering them coming for a visit. Even if they are in a nursery, I always ask the reason why. I had a family approach me just the other day, they are attending a childminding friend and made enquiries regarding their child from next September - cant go into all the info but I told them I would not poach . I am quiet here at the moment and could do with the extra work but I also have my conscience to live with, though it wont pay the bills lol

You will always get the ones who brag about how many kids they have, how much money they are bringing in, how they are just doing it for the money whilst rubbing their hands together etc but you are your own person, you enjoy what you do and just try to ignore them. xxx

I like one of the other cm near me, she has a similar out look on the job and life to me. Another one I try to distance myself from, she smells and has told me her house and kitchen are dirty, so I don't want to be accociated tith someone like that. Another is a bit too laid back with her own children and a bit too strict with her mindees so I try not to have anything to do with her. She is a bit of a boaster too and although she always seems to have children, they don't seem to last overly long, maybe a few months before they leave and their spaces filled with someone else.

I guess it's the me as any job, just because you do the same job doesn't mean you will like each other.

I will take children who want to leave other cms, I don't see it as poaching - unless you have approached them and told them bad things about the other minder or some such. If another cm is not right for a person then why is them wanting to change seen as the new cm poaching? If someone wanted to leave me and go elsewhere I would not see that as being poached either, unless it was the new cm actually asking them to leave me.

I don't really know that many. There's another childminder at my kids' school and she seems lovely. I've seen her in action with one of her mindees and think she's very good at her job. I sort of vaguely know a few from playgroups and most seem nice enough but there's definitely no 'top' childminder dynamic going on.

I have to be honest I don't really have a big issue with 'poaching' unless it's really overt and unpleasant i.e. undercutting a friend or telling lies about another childminder or something like that. In this job a lot of it is about relationships and children and parents are going to get on better with some childminders than others. If one of the kids I look after left me for another childminder I'd obviously be upset but if it was initiated by the parent then I don't see how you can hold it against the other childminder really. I certainly wouldn't be demanding to know the reasons why parents were moving their kids if they rang me up to enquire about a space!

x-post there with squinker!

Glad you said that squinker my dd is with an amazing cm but I hate the idea that if I wasn't happy for any reason I wouldn't be able to move her because it would be poaching, surely it's about the parents' choice and as you said as long as there's no soliciting it's fine.

There are so many cm round here. Have a great r'ship with 1- we meet up several times a wk & go to groups or do crafts/activities at each other's. The kids know each other so well & we know each other's kids so well that it's like a big happy family. We work really well together & have same values & work ethic. Which means we share 1 child- she does half wk with both of us as neither of us have ft vacancy. There are a lot of cm round here that make me cringe! So just pleasant chit chat with them

Most of the CMs near me are really friendly and we help each other out. I know a couple of CMs in neighbouring towns who see themselves as top dogs, but they offer advice rather than bossing people around. As long as you're confident with what you offer, don't worry about them. I also have a few nanny friends, foster carers and grandparents who care for their grandchildren.

I'm not a cm but the ones I see out and about here really do give other cm a bad name.

They let kids run riot at toddler groups, pay no attention to them while they terrorise the small babies and just sit drinking tea and bitching about mindees parents.

There's another cm who regularly 'forgets' to collect kids from the preschool. She also runs another business and spends all day updating her websites and dragging kids along to business meetings.

Another i witnessed left a child in urine soaked clothes at the park for over 45mins.

One left kids with her teenage son while she did the grocery shop. This was discovered when a parent went to pick up earlier than usual.

One of the older childminders (she minded me as a child!) is very loving and caring but gives the kids a packet of crisps and a biscuit as they leave school everyday. Biscuits and crisps are ok occasionally but not everyday imo.

its sad for the cm who do a genuine good job because these others jusy erode the trust of parents.

Waggamana that's really bad. I always hope people judge me for what I offer and not what some other CMs offer. It also bugs me when people introduce themselves as CMs and they're not even registered.

Yes it's really not fair for those who are genuinely good cms. Same as any other business you don't want others shoddy work giving you a bad name. But cm isn't quite like any other business because your trusted with our most precious things .