Remind me: hy DO I childmind?

[Katymac]

It's certainly not for the money

I have just done my self assessment and 06/07 I earnt £4700.39

Why do I do it? Not sure I can remember today

Great Typo in the title

"Why DO I childmind" even?

Cos you love it {grin] thast why we all do it, def not for the money love.

and thought i would join you in another typo

It's bizarre I work a 50 hour week, 50 weeks of the year.......WHY??

That's £1.88 an hour

Umm that's not fair

I am so down today

Think of it this way katy it must have been more than that before all the things that you could claim for were claimed for? I earnt £90 last year. Definitely don't do it for the money!!!

Well , my gripe isn't about money tonight but "why Do i childmind when my children, namely my 6 yr old ds, who cannot control or behave himself ever at drop off and pick up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He tried to hold a pretend gun against mindee older sis neck!! Left marks, WTF!
Won't go into whole plastic gun debate, because i Do hate them but dh thinks it's ok.

And to top it off, mindee(11mths) had only just gone and banged his cheek on my dd1's metal bedframe and then mum walks into me explaining what has happened to her poor ds just as my ds assaults her dd!!!!

Thank goodness it's friday i'm going to get the vino opened

mrspitt; lost count of the days ive had like that! sometimes i do wonder why i c/m. i love kids and its better than alot of jobs, but im beginning to wonder if all the responsibility is worth the money. also my ds is 7 and is quite a handful. not sure c/m is doing him good { was fine when he was little, why i did it) but now i think he resents the time i spend with mindees.

My profits last year were just as dismal katymac, I feel your pain. Lololola makes a good point about the amount of responsibility we have being so much for so little pay. Plus our responsibilties seem to be constantly expanding with planning, permission slips, observations, paperwork etc. I have decided when I finish my NVQ3 I'mfinding childcare work out of my home, even if ds is not at nursery yet. When I started childminding I thouht it would be a long term thing, not a stop gap, but I am rapidly losing my enthusiasm for it and thats no good for any of us.

Oh and yes, you do it to be your own boss, because you love working with children, and managing your own setting. Hard to rememebr these things when you are earning peanuts though and are constantly hidden behind a stack of paperwork!

kaysamuels; agree, think being at home alot is also taking its toll!

but think of the tax you will be paying
i earned bout the same as you Katy this year and i work 55 hours per week (7.15 - 6.15)
but i do have 23 days holiday a year off and every weekend when i'm not on a course or doing paperwork
how was your course today Katy?

Was a bit cross on thursday just had one of those days

1. put little one to sleep and they threw a toy which made my vase fall over and smash (it was a big vase with sticks in it from next cost bout 35 pounds
2. on monday i drove 30 miles to a build a bear shop and i got some eye glasses for a doll, by thursday the glasses were snapped
3. after school 1 of the older children kicked my french door frame (which were fitted in feb and have not been paid for yet) and the beading came off (which i have hid from dh cause he will go mad)

so good question why am i a childminder??????

Am I the only one who wouldnt swap my job for anything

yes alot dont earn alot (I know Im in a different situation to most and never have empty spaces) but I feel the pluses def out weigh the negs.

oh i do love my job
just have bad days when everything goes wrong and your swimming in paperwork.

been to hobbycraft this afternoon after my course they have some fab things in

DMO dont take this personally jst wanted to share my train of thought.
read thread got to your bit broken vase,
1st thought ' should not have breakable glass object in reach, aim, knockable distance from child, therefore no hazard!'
2nd thought ' OMG you sad individual( me not you) Is your house really so flippin taken over by childmindinding?
3rd thought. No it just has to be safe and risk assessed.
4th thought' Yeah thats why my lovely tall vase given by parent as leaving present, is resigned to DH bedside table( never used or seen)
5th thought 'Mental note, STOP BEING SO ANAL!

Hope no offence ccaused to anyone!

Re thread, Its certainly not for the money, and not a job for anyone who likes an ornate showhome. My CM friend just given up after 6 years, her house always looked like a madmans nursery however house proud she was, Guess what she just rearranged after new jod, house IS now ornate showhome type with loads of intricate objects at calf and kbneee level. IM SOOOOOO jealous!

kiddi I would so love to have a house that dosnt look like a nursery, must admit, especially as I have no kids living at home.

You must love the kiddies and the independence of being your own boss.

I like my job! I do. I love the littlies, I particularly love 2 year olds and I love the freedom of being able to change plans daily depending on the weather and being able to play snuggly warm games when everyone else is out getting the train in the pouring rain and cold. HOWEVER! I used to have an office job and I miss it! I want to wear nice clothes again! I'm sick of wearing my 'uniform' that gets covered with paint or sick or food. I'm fed up of having boxes of toys around and prams, all 4 of them! I'm fed up of having to write about my babies, when I've spoken to the parents, at length sometimes, during the day anyway. I hate the fact that I have to have posters on my walls and safety catches in my kitchen.
I will miss it terribly, I know, but its near time.

maureenmlove; agree with that. i love my job, but i also like a nice tidy house & the 2 just dont mix well. i spend all weekend tidying up! also my youngest is almost 8, so really dont need a frount room full of lego any more. i think this a great job when your own child is very young because your doing all the m&t groups etc, anyway. i love working with childern, but maybe not in a home setting, as by the nature of the job is very invasive. im also finding all the paper work quite hard. having said all that, i know c/m that have been doing this job for 20 years and still love it. i think im good for about another 2 years, cant see me taking this through to my sons senior school years, would of had enough of living in a nursery by then!

Loo I'm coming up to 28 years of doing this, although I did take 4 years out 10 yeras ago to run a Pub, that was harder work! and more hours for crap pay as well

shoshable, funny you say that, i know 2 c/m friends who did give job up. one went to work for m&s and the other for barclays bank. both hated it and were back c/m within a year!

It's odd you say that lololola as the other week (bad week) I was considering shop or bank work. Then the sun came out, we went to park and I knew I could never do that kind of job again!!

I am clearing out ds' toys this weekend, and my house seems full to the brim with toys and buggies! I like a bit of order and dislike clutter so I don't think I could stand it once ds is older and I don't need toys everyhwere!