CM CLUB:Do any of you get anything 'done' through the day?

[StrawberrySnowflakes]

lots of other cm's at the groups we go to say theyve just been to b&q, got the hoovering done, etc etc etc.i dont get any of this done and despite telling one mindees mum i would take her shopping(food) if i had the car, which she was fine with, it only happend once, her dd cried all the way round, so never botherd and go battle my way through after a ten hour shift on a firday!
Am i the odd one out?..i do put washing out/on radiators, but thats about it?!

Whilst I am like the rest of you in that I tidy lunch stuff away, sweep under the kitchen table, scrape food off the floor etc during the day as necessary, I really can't see the problem with the odd trip to b&q or anywhere else, as long as the child(ren) are actively involved, 'helping' and not ignored in a trolley. I think parents have chosen a childminder to be as close as possible to a normal family environment. If the children cannot get involved in 'normal' or 'routine' real-life activities, as well as planned and structured play activities AND LOTS OF FREE PLAY, they might aswell be in a nursery all day. That's just my opinion, but I (and all my parents and children) are happy with it.

mindee 2 gone for day well until 8th jan now!, mindee 1 flat out asleep, are me and dd ok to be wiping the woodwork down and dusting???or should i be shot?

I wonder if that CM s mindees parents know she pops out here and there or whether she tells them something else. I agree that on the odd occasion you may have to go to a shop but regular personal shopping trips seems a bit unfair And not being funny I would nt fancy Tesco with 2 or 3 extra kids in tow my own 2 are bad enough!!! I did however pick up my husband from the train station yesterday to save him walking in the cold am I a bad CM?

I'm reporting you now!!

Not sure if SA88 AHG means me or not but if so, of course the parents know, and are very happy, as are their children. (I am sure the children would tell them what we'd been doing anyway, so no point me telling them something else!). I certainly wouldn't attempt a big supermarket shop with my 4 under 5 - I'm not that mad! But I do stick by my opinion that they should have access to 'normal real-life experiences' and not be hot-housed.

I occassionally hoover when mindees are around last time was went one mindee tipped full pot of smelly fish food all over carpet, another was to ensure no Hama beads were left on floor!

I do take them to the shops but then again my mindees love that as we have tiny trolleys and I let them push them(I have bruises to prove it too) we dont do big shops usually go to buy whatever we are having for lunch or fruit (things they can help with etc)

Dont even iron when my DC are about so defo wouldnt with mindees.

CM is another great excuse for NOT doing housework

I like to encourage mindees to join in helping me. Thats why this is different from a nursery setting. I go shopping with them, do laundry, clean. As parents do. My OFSTED inspector actively encourages it.

well Thursday afternoon me, dp and dd all went food shopping(i didnt want to as ive got used to going at 8pm on my own when dd in bed), but dp wanted to have some input so we went...bumped into friend whom i met on CM course, who told me she has 11 mindees and actually had three of them with her to do her own food shopping, 2 in trolly & one walking(say 1yr old, 18months and 4yr old?)...brave?..i think so!..and seemed like what she does all the time..so maybe parents do expect 'normal' everyda things to go on like shopping etc?

Shopping is educational as far as I'm concerned. It helps to teach the children about money, social interaction, locating things using their eyes and also using maps, plus helping them recognise letters and numbers.

However, if I go shopping with the children, we only get a few items. It tends to be things we desparately need, especially for our homebaking.

The children also like posting things in the post box, and when driving around they have taken to saying 'POSTBOX' whenever we drive past one.

We also walk around town so they get to know the layout and where to cross roads. They love to push the button for the crossing.

There is a world of difference between the activities that nannynick is talking about (all acceptable as part of a working day) and the childcarers who think they can carry on running their home as if they have no children around at all.

We walk to the local shop for bread and milk (having discussed and made a shopping list so the mindees can do the shopping), and will post letters, and put empty jars in the bottlebank.

It is unacceptable to do your entire washload for the family, all your weekly shopping and ironing - but I do know minders who think that this is OK. I think my minding parents would be rather unimpressed with me if I carried on like that.

Message withdrawn