mindee told me Im his 5th Childminder!!!!ooowwww

[Cwmbranchildminder]

This is my 3rd day with my first mindee (8yr old afterschool)
He mentioned his previous CM so I just casually asked why he left (as mum said old cm was changing jobs to work with special needs) he then said she is arguing with this women over £70 that the cm owes her. He then says can i tell you something - U are my 5th CM and your the only one I have been good for (SO FAR)
How does that make me feel?
Im worried now that he is a problem child? He's showing signs of this? But then was thinking he must be a normal 8yr old and i havent much experience with older children so not sure?
Anyone with any thoughts?

It sounds like he really likes you - enough to confide in you.
Maybe you're just what he needs?
What signs is he showing of being a problem child?
Keep him busy and chat to him - my 8yo can't bear to just sit and watch telly and needs a few suggestions of what to do now and again.
My DS likes to help with making the tea, so maybe you could give him a few jobs to do to make him feel important - especially if he is your oldest mindee?

thanks for that advice.
Well at the moment he is being cheeky
winding my 3yr old up
helping him self to my cuboards
pulling faces behind my back
teaching my 3yr old things I dont want him too
and things like that really.
This is probably all normal behaviour as I know my 3yr old gets cheeky

Yep, he's an 8 year old boy!! He will also test the water with you, so make sure that he knows all your house rules (he can choose to ignore them, but at least he will know them!)

I've only had dds, so my experience with boys was an eye-opener. I am now well-used to 8 year old boys, and can scare them really well!

I have a 0 year old mindee that was labelled as ADHD etc, and I am also about number 5 in cm's he has had.

I have however found him fine. His last cm asked them to leave, and his mum was upfront about that. I was thinking if I shold take him on or not, and tobe honest we had a chat about things when he had been here for about a week. I told him that I liked having him come to the house, but he had to respect that he was not the only child here, and that any silliness would mean that he would stop coming.

I think that he is one of the easiest children I have now! He is a lovely lad, and although can be silly at times, he will calm down when you tell him to.

Take every child on their merits as often they are labelled before you get them.. Set ground rules, and say what is and what is not acceptable in your home, and then make sure that you stick to them. All children like to know the boundaries!

Good luck!

oops, meant to say 9 year old lol

I look after a brother and sister and I am their 13th CM!

They have now been with me 18mths and still like coming. I felt so sad for them when I found out. The boy was also eight at the time and seriously tested my limits at the beginning - he has serious behaviour problems.

I would say stick rigidly to your house rules with all mindees and your own kids (?) - i found this helped as he was generally labelled as bad and often felt he was treated less fairly to other children.

I agree with humphrey, he must like you to confide in you. Also a good one I have found is to listen and when you find an interest seek it out, for example my mindee likes sharks, volcanoes, etc so I cut out things in magazines to show him, buy secondhand books on these subjects and he is touched I have remebered he likes sonthing.

It can be daunting but I think its a good challenge and there is nothing more rewarding than a difficult child opening up to you and trusting you to be there for them.

HTH

Yeah that helps and great advice all.
Im going to stick with it and work hard and as he is my only mindee at the mo I can take more time and effort with this!