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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

Original poster

I've listened to Xenia. How do I outsource cooking? Could I find someone to do this:

87 replies

PeachesMcLean · 21/11/2007 22:52

I work full time and hate the fact that DS is collected by a childminder, from whom I collect him at 5.30, then by the time we've got home and I've cooked tea, it's 7pm and he's too tired to do much and goes to bed at 8pm.

So, taking Xenia's advice to outsource everything you don't like doing, could I find someone to cook supper for us each night?

And perhaps even to collect him from school? Cos then he could do various after school activities as well. To be fair, CM is good because DS gets to play with other children there. And she is quite nice as well....

Am I mad? And how much would you expect to pay for someone to cook a simple but healthy family meal each evening???

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pukkapatch · 21/11/2007 22:59

get a live in aupair? she would do the cooking/cleaning and the school pickup. would cost less than a hundred a week

or buy ready meals?

or do what my mom did. big cookup on the weekend. stick food in microwave to reheat soon as she came home. so we we were bored of it by the end of the week, but it kept the family together, and well fed.

Quattrocento · 21/11/2007 23:00

Find an Au-pair who can cook. This is not going to be easy, but you could try. Their sole role would be to collect from CM, bath and cook dinner. Two hours a day five days a week. Shouldn't be impossible. Just very hard.

nannynick · 21/11/2007 23:00

Do you mean have your own Chef?
Google produced the following:
Personal Chef UK - worth a look perhaps.

moondog · 21/11/2007 23:02

Do you think he needs to do after school activities?
He's probably happy to be with you.
With some organisation it's perfectly possible to cook (if you like it). I make a rough plan each week, cook large amounts (freeze some) and am quite happy to serve the same thing two (or even three) nights on the trot. I'm also working f/t with dh away for weeks on end. It manageable with organisation.

Often we just have oatcakes or sandwiches too as eveyone has had a hot meal in the day.

Original poster
PeachesMcLean · 21/11/2007 23:10

"live in au pair"??
"less than a hundred pounds a week"??
"personal chef"??

He would be happy to be with me but at the moment, he's not with me. He's with the CM or I'm in the kitchen.

Hmm, maybe I've got a bit carried away in making this suggestion.

Cor, would be nice though. Would have to be three hours a day ideally. What's an hourly rate for an au pair?

OP posts:
Original poster
PeachesMcLean · 21/11/2007 23:13

Ready meals. Hmm. Am going increasingly down that route. Worried about salt / fat contents.

How much to buy in proper home made food???

OP posts:
moondog · 21/11/2007 23:13

Why can't he be with you in the kitchen?
My kids hanfg about there when I cook, drawing or reading or interfering helping.

Tonight when I got in, I poached some salmon. made an Indian beef and runner bean curry and a Thai prawn and sweetcorn curry. That lot will last us for the next 6 days and took an hour to make, max.

lennygirl · 21/11/2007 23:16

Message withdrawn

Original poster
PeachesMcLean · 21/11/2007 23:18

Cos he comes in and watches TV. If I cause a fuss he will turn it off and play in his bedroom. On his own. Kitchen isn't really a family space you see. And the idea of sorting three meals at once is frankly rather daunting if I'm also trying to get one on the table to eat.

OP posts:
nannynick · 21/11/2007 23:18

Can you bulk cook things at the weekend, freeze and then reheat. Not ideal, but can work for many dishes.

Also simple meals can be produced quickly, especially pasta with something variety.

You could have some ready meals on standby, such as those from Cook which don't contain artificial ingredients.

moondog · 21/11/2007 23:19

Something so joyless about eating commercially prepared food however good it is. Better a sandwich prepared with love than summat which comes vacuum packed by miserable Eastern European serfs.

nannynick · 21/11/2007 23:19

x-post with Lennygirl ... we both thought of COOK as being a possibility. Great minds think alike

moondog · 21/11/2007 23:20

Maybe he wants to be on his own?
I'm not trying to be rude Peaches, just trying to make you think. In my work I see loads of kids where the parents have real thing about stimulating them after school and 9/10 of them just want to be left in peace to wind down.

Really.

nannynick · 21/11/2007 23:21

True moondog... though on a winters evening, I don't fancy a sandwich.

How about having a slow cooker with timer. Then can prepare a veg.hotpot, lanc.hotpot etc and have it slowly start cooking a few hours before your arrival home.

lennygirl · 21/11/2007 23:22

Message withdrawn

moondog · 21/11/2007 23:24

I don;t eat out much.
I know that they gob in dinner plates, see.

Original poster
PeachesMcLean · 21/11/2007 23:25

Because you stil have to prepare an sodding slow cooker. And if we could get our arses together in the morning, that would be a damn sight easier too.
Sorry, in tears now. Obviously prodding my own raw nerves here.

Good night all.

OP posts:
moondog · 21/11/2007 23:26

Oh come on Peaches. Don't be sad.
We are brainstorming here.
What about your dh?
Why can't he cook?

nannynick · 21/11/2007 23:27

Agree with moondog... children don't want to be doing 'work' after school, they want to chill out. Some will want TV, others will want board games/puzzles/Lego, others will want to surf the web, listen to music, read a book. Some may be inclined to do some craft type things, or help with baking a cake.

Could you leave DS with childminder longer, so he gets tea there? Then you can have an hour of chill together, put him to bed, and then do whatever you like for you and DH/DP, or just for you, if you are single.

lennygirl · 21/11/2007 23:28

Message withdrawn

moondog · 21/11/2007 23:29

I'm going to go into businescshowing people how to take control of their kitchens and not let kitchens control them.

Seriously,it is easy.

I've even entertained twice this week.
Lunch for five and dinner for six.

nannynick · 21/11/2007 23:32

Peaches, you need to find a soluition, we are all just trying to help. So don't sit there in tears, instead think about what you can do to make things easier. Can your CM provide food for your DS for example?

If you hate having you son in childcare, can you consider reducing your hours at work, so that you get more time to spend with him? Are there other jobs which you could do which would earn you the same income, but for less hours?

lennygirl · 21/11/2007 23:32

Message withdrawn

Original poster
PeachesMcLean · 21/11/2007 23:34

God, visions of moondog looking like Nigella "and it only took 20 minutes. Express!"

Sorry, just identified my raw bits. Didn't know it was there. Can't realistically afford to outsource. And you haven't tried DH's cooking. Deal is I cook, he clears up. I've just got lazier and lazier the more hours I do at work. Clearly not very happy about that. And I've just taken on more as well.. that's a whole different thread.

OP posts:
moondog · 21/11/2007 23:36

You need a shortlist of quick and easy recipes. Then rotate them on a list. Choose a day for a takeaway maybe and a day for sarnies or cheese on toast.You only need 5 meals then.

Pesto & Pasta? (Piece of piss)
Curry '' ''
Chilli con Carne '' ''
Tortilla '' ''
Shepherds Pie

Sorted!!!