Taking on a new client

[iMum]

And she happens to be my neighbour.

She has asked me to have her little boy for 2 days a week which is lovely, i'm a new childminder and her ds will be my 3rd child all of whom are on a part time basis. She is coming over tomorrow morning to do contracts and so on, we have discussed fees and she is happy with what I plan to charge however she has mentioned that 1 day per month her mil will have her ds so he wont need to come to me-with regard to charging what would you do? Obviously it would be neigh on impossible to get another child for that slot once a month so should I charge her for it, or just half price or just a small retainer for that day?
Also she mentioned that every now and then her dh will be around to have her ds so again I wont be needed on those days, again do I charge anyway? She is able to give me the days she needs me 2 months in advance, but should I still charge her for the days Im contracted to have her ds even if he doesnt come on odd days because of mil or dh being around to have him?

I'm not a cm, but thinking about it fairly, it depends whether she wants a guaranteed space or not IMO. So if she always wants these days to be available, she should pay full/half/retainer, whatever you feel is fair, as she is booking them, but not using them through her choice.

However, what you could say is that you would only charge a retainer, so long as those spaces are freely available. If anybody else wanted them, but you turned down other work on those days, then it would be fair for you to ask for full payment for all days of the month whether the child is there or not. Otherwise you are out of pocket.

I think it all depends on why you're doing cming, how much you need the money, how you hope your business will pan out, and what sort of precedents you want to set (so if child goes on holiday, they're not there so don't want to pay, MIL is on holiday and can have him every day.....).

I would consider it fair as a parent if you charged for all sessions, as presumably all the additional ad hoc care they will have will be free.

im not a cm, but if i was one, i personally would still charge as you have to keep the space open and VERY unlikely you would be able to fill in that one day that dh or mil has him.

If she wasnt your neighbour would you think any differently?

I am a childminder and if the monthly session was a regular set-up then I probably wouldn't charge for it but would get it written into the contract. For the odd days when her dh is around i would charge full fee.

So my neighbour came over today to sign and seal it all- I ended up going for a retainer fee of £15 for the odd days here and there that her ds would be looked after by someone else.