Aarrrgh what a day

[StrawberrySnowflakes]

having a winge now!

one of my mindees was supposed to be coming at 11 today as her mum wants her here till 9pm (another story)..told her i leave to collect dd at 11 so she must be here then..ok.

almost 10 past 11 today, I actually text her to say hope everything ok, i should be leaving for dd now...she then rings to breezily say her and her dd had been shopping and only just got back so shed drop her off later at mine!
told her that as normal we wont be coming back today as we go to park for picnic then straight onto softplay..well she could have blown a dingy up all the huffing and puffing
i said look ill have to go, you could meet us in the park.."no, i suppose ill have to bring her to your dd's school then!"..ok!.."me: ill be there about half past now"..mum: cant you get there any sooner im geting a taxi!!!!!!!!!!!!!..no i fecking cant cos i have a toddler and the walk takes 15 minutes just for me, and you have already made me late by ten minutes!
so cos i strangely find it difficult carting around a double buggy and mindee's large buggy all together(hence my reason for arranging to pick up here)..i bundled picnic into big carrier bag, slung over back and practically ran with other mindee to dd's school.
get there.........mum didnt bother bringing her dd's buggy cos she i should use mine on day trips!!!!!!!!!!!
so three of age three and under, one long busy road, massive heavy picnic/drinks/clothes etc on back and 20 minute walk to park, then back up busy road hopefully minus picnic to softplay, after which her dd is always falling asleep, but have to walk all three home..........moaning and tired and hungry( not childrens fault, were normally back in 20 mins ready for snack)

argh am so (probably more than need be, peeved off) cos the mum was so expectant of me being at her beck and call, not bothering to let me know until i had to ring, then being huffy cos i wasnt superman and couldnt travel faster than spped of light!.

one thing ive come to learn in this job is you are just the hired help love!!

you get minimum wage for maximum care and attention,you have to plan daily and juggle 3+ mindees needs/wants etc..you ARE expected to be at everyones beck and call and change plans at the last minute,and god forbid you should ever be ill or worse have your own life outside of mopping up baby sick and changing nappies! in summary....you work very very long hours for shit pay and little gratitude.

of course some parents are lovely and must excuse my rant,ive had a very very bad week so far!

ok, we can winge together
just been moaning to dp about it in kitchen(away from mindees ears!)

sympathy strawberry- you are too nice would have left at 11am and let them catch me up It drives me bananas when parents turn up before dinner when I have cooked dinner for their child - I know they have paid for it but I hate waste!

poor you

your very good takin then to the park for a picnic this time of year bet they love it

today my dinning room walls have been painted red while we were making crowns for christmas

I had an incident like that this week aswell. They said they'd arrive at 9.15 so I arranged to drop the car in to the garage when I took my daughter up to school. Then they turn up at 8.00 am! I say in jest 'I have a life too you know!!'hey ho.

Hello all you lovely CMs! I often find myself reading your threads even though I am not a child minder or so I use one.

I am also very often amazed at the way you are treated by some of the parents

I think you all deserve a medal

ah, but smee, we don't get minimum wage!. not even close most of the time!
I have never really had too much trouble with being messed around, thank goodness. most of my problems seem to stem from payment issues.
I bet you're ready to fall into bed at 9.15 - if the mother is on time. Poor wee mindee though being up till gone 9

Strawb - I would have left at 11am without texting her and carried on with my day as normal, all my parents know I always have my mobile in my pocket so they would have to contact me if not in.
I always spell out where I have to be and by what time they must arrive, if they are late and do not contact me to let me know I go without them (I have waited in the past but don't anymore).
If it happens again just say 'be here by 11 or I go', believe me they soon learn

I hope your evening went well.
Did the mum turn up on time?
Get a good night sleep it is only Thursday tommorrow.

aw thanks girls, i thought id get a lot of "get a grip girl"!..nice to be understood here
well, told dd she could stay up a little bit later and actually let her stay up hour later, but she didnt know that..so took her up at 8pm, dp sat with mindee, settled dd and came back down, put madagascar dvd on, got mindee a bit of fruit and we snuggled on sofa..was clock watching constantly tho..mum turned up right on time (no earlier tho)...and get this...she had actually finished at 7pm, but decided to have a 2hr driving lesson afterwards!
she could have had that thru day, but took it when her tiny dd should have been tucked up in bed!..hey-ho!
told her her dd was shatterd and that i was too..and hopefully the same shift next week has been cancelled(although now i know it was only on till 7pm anyway!)
dp kept asking if he could do anything to help..which is most unlike him but much appreciated(let him open box of christmas choccy biscuits tonight)..ran a bath, got washed, had luverly cuppa..far too many biscuits and back on here to email photos from last two days too the parents!..may see dp for 2 minutes before we go to bed!
aaaaaaaaaanyway..tomorrow's another day..have learned LOTS today
thanks again girls, much appreciatedxxx

IT;S FARKING HAPPEND AGAIN!!![abgry]
should have picke her dd up at 6pm, told her i would have her dd all ready as we were supposed to be somewhere at 6pm so would be rushing straight out.................................................at 6.15 no sign of her..so i fecking text her AGAIN..this time no text or call back.turns up at 6.20 and mumbled something about her bus breaking down from work so she had to get off and change..................funny thing was, she was laden down with wrapping paper and carrier bags..am so fcking annoyed.twice in the same week and on both occasions she KNEW we HAD* to be somewhere..dp telling me to calm down and its the nature of the business...but i tell you thank feck its the weekend..rather thank feck its this weekend, cos i have her dd both days next weekends whilst hosting my own party and going to dd's friends party!)
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh..get the martini out!

Oh Strawberry, you poor little pet. That is disgraceful behaviour from that lady. We have a childminder for dd and not in a million years would I ever treat her like that, she taking care of the most precious thing in the world to us and deserves to be treated with the upmost respect from us. If I need to change her working times (and this is never to extend her working late - if we are both working late we would arrange for my mam to do us a favour and collect Shannon and have her home because I feel it would be very unfair to take advantage of CMs good nature, its only when we want to collect dd early or drop her in later) we ring her AT LEAST 24 hours in advance and I would always ask her if this was ok with her (collecting dd early) (she still gets payed the same amount regardless) because no. 1 she brings dd grocery shopping on Thursdays etc and no. 2 she is taken care of dd full time and has her in a fabulous routine (naps, dinners etc) I would not like to disrupt this routine for dd first and foremost cos she loves and is used to the consistency and secondly for CM because she will bear the blunt of dds bad moods, tantrums etc if overtired and routine all messed up etc. You have EVERY right to be annoyed, I cannot understand for the life of me how these people can treat the people THAT ARE CARING FOR THEIR CHILDREN with such disrespect and unconsideration. Ye have a very difficult job girls, and although ye mightened always be treated correctly, ye are very much appreciated by many of us.

thankyou..you sound like the parfect parent of mindee's..one of my mindees mum is like you, but then i have known her all my life and she is always re-iterating how important it is that she wants to be treat(reg feees etc) same as any other parent, but shes so considerate...am just so annoyed at lack of consideration and flippant attitude from this parent, esp as on both occasions i stressed i HAD to be somewhere

strawberry cant believe she did it again and your doing her such a hugh favour having her child so late
dont know what to say to you
if our job just involved the children we would fly along its when parents get involved ie late drop offs/pick ups, early drop offs, late payments etc etc
think we need to toughen up
last wk mindee was meant to be here 8.30am at 8.45 am no sign and i had to do the school run so i just left (4got my mobile) mindee turned up at 9.40am saying that he had decided to let her have a lie in
i leave to go to toddler group at 9.50 if only he had been 10 more minutes late ........

I agree about charging for every 10 mins. Explain that at I min past the stated collection ime you will ring the people oon her emergency contact list to come to collect mindee!!
Shame on her!

I'll have some tonic with the next gin before I type!! Sorry

just text the mum to ask if she has my unbrella(cant fin it and she borrowed it thursday)..she text back yes, i forgot to give it back because i was so rushed on friday!!..think i will..from this monday start charging late fees, i have it in palce, but never botherd, now she is being daft!

just got an email from parent of mindee basically saying her childs behaviour is down to me giving mixed signals on what she can and cant do
so i must let children beat ten bells out of my dd through day, but not when parents are there then eh??.
just replied.
very flustered and annoyed

Oh God,what did you reply?

what the ...

..emailed a message back saying that my house rules are set out for all through the first few weks, the children know we dont 'run wild' through the house as this is why we make many visits to park and soft play , to let off steam.
it is only this parents child whom behaves so disruptive at home time, the other child does not and as the parent is there and i have 'finished' work, it is their responsability to make sure their child doesnt upset or hurt anyone else.
i will have to speak to her again tonight as after she had left today, i checked my messages again and there was and equally un needed email stating that because her daughter doesnt know who's 'in charge' at home time, she pushes the boundries..well IMO if you try to trash my house - i say something and parent says something, if a child hits my child - i expect us both to say something, just common sense, while she is in my house, my house rules still stand..they can do what they like at home.
and the parent states that i have upset her.
i farcking give up..why would i be here trying to ask advice and speaking/emailing her if i was so slap dash in my practice

As a parent who uses a CM I think this mother is behaving disgracefully.

If she has any issues with how you look after her DD then she should be discussing them with you in person, email is no place to have a delicate talk.Plus if she is so unhappy then how come she leaves her DD with you for all hours of the day & night.

Can you afford to terminate this arrangement, the mother sounds like a nightmare ?

sigh...i cant, but am thinking of letting cis know of a possible full time space available