Am I missing something here - what are the children whom you are meant to be minding doing while you are on the Internet??

[fivecandles]

Because I would be livid if I was paying you to mind my child and you were Mumsnetting.

I would like to add my tuppennys worth please. From a childminders point of view whose mindee has a teacher for a mum. This mum, when asked to read and sign all policies and procedures, just said 'im sure its all fine', just signed and gave them back . Every day when I hand her the daily diary to read and sign, she just signs and hands back . What is the point.

So, OP, you see not all teachers are perfect. Oh and by the day I have finished childminding for the day .

And just for the record, I do not actually MN when I am at work, like 99% of all good childminders. So the fact that you think you have the god given right to slag off, and not recommend childminders makes you a supercilious, egotistical, superfluous maniac and In MY opinion, not fit to teach the human race. TALK ABOUT SOMEONE BEING PREJUDICE FFS.

Oh and please excuse any typing errors (my teacher was crap also..

no time to mumsnet as toooo busy doing eyfs lol

Har I spent blardy ages writing up me obs/printing photos/linking all together last night. Urghhh.

Oh an another thing fivecandles, why oh why are you skulking lurking around on here. This is for Childminders/Au-Pairs and Nannies. You have tooooooo much time on your hands.

I've just updated my accounts, to think I've finshed go to my 'drawer' and find more receipts!!! Looks like I'll be doing that again tonight

I can hear trip, trap....it's fivecandles!
So if you have a mindee who is having a nap then you are NOT allowed to look on the internet or do anything in your OWN home.
Next you'll be telling us that we can't do some washing or sort some clothes because we are at work.
Lots of people surf the net when they work in offices, if it does not affect their actual work and they are not looking at dodgy sites, then who are they harming?

I suppose CM's are self employed so how they manage their time is up to them. I think while children are asleep is fine as long as the children aren't oversleeping. CMs I have used in the past have done that, then they don't sleep at night!

Surely any decent CM wouldn't use the internet at all when mindees are awake, unless for purposes of minding, e.g. to look up medical info, to find out playgroup/soft play times, etc.

I have a theory, fivecandles is a sacked teacher who wants to take out her frustrations on CMs. She is secretly jealous of us.
Come over to the dark side fivecandles, enjoy the thrill of having 10 mins to yourself!

The saga continues on chat here

I said my peice and tried to put her right about something I said on the thread here, so....

If she EVER comes back, I've got one for her..........am I allowed to sleep when my mindee stays overnight? Or should I sit next to her cot for the night, staring at her???!!!

good point luny tune

when i proxyparented for 2 weeks was i allowed to sleep during the night then? (I did btw)

i am doing it again in a few weekends time too and i will be going to sleep at night then too.... but im not bothered, my bosses dont mind... hey have even provided me with a bed to sleep in (as they do computer for internet access, and ensuite for a bath etc)

and before i settle down to sleep i am going to go on the internet and have a bath myself and watch some TV and play on the Wii... all while being paid to care for the children

Good point, looneytune! I shouldn't really go to bed tonight, should I? Seeing as my 7 year old charge wiull be asleep in his room and my room is on a different floor, with a couple of doors in between us. And I definitely shouldn't be on here, despite the fact he's been off for an hour!

I wonder how well I'd function every week without 2 nights of sleep. I think he'd be fed up of spending 50+ hours with me chained to his side to be honest. And as for household chores, forget it!

Also means my boss can't e-mail me instructions either, which given that we frequently have time zone issues is a bit of a problem...

i have a camera monitor

seriously - where i am MN mum is a bit nervous and got worried when first child used to wake and cry,but FLIP if she went intoroom so she got a camera to see what child is doing in cot

so now using it on no 2

and

baby is fast asleep and should be till 7am - apart from dream feed at 11

candles did re appear and give her view here

but she still hasnt answered the question of what we are meant to do when childrenwe care and look after are asleep

is it any wonder that i as a cm feel like giving it all up after 14+ years in childcare when this is the attitude we are met with ??

i assume that i must be a very poor cm because i do not stand over my mindies and never have. i allow them the space to explore and become independent both in my home and when we are out at play centres etc. yes i even sit at a table in the local soft play centre and allow the children to explore, play and make friends unlike 99% of parents who follow their children the whole time they are there watching their every move not allowing them even to trip.

all of this i do having undertaken risk assessments and using my professional judgement as to the childrens abilities. all my parents comment regularly on how their children are thriving in my care and how they are.

so if i spend 10 mins on the internet while my mindies are playing in the same room as me, someone best report me to ofsted because i'm not standing over them i am only watching from across the room.

ok, I think everyone definition of mnetting is different. I can see how it can be addictive and how you could waste hours on here but it is also the most fantastic resource for tips and advice. So I don't see it as just mindless surfing the net. I don't think anyone is saying that sat there for hours at the computer is ok. No one would agree that this is ok, but that would go for many other activities too, like housework or paper work or other chores. While mindees asleep safe and sound - surely perfectly fine, baby monitor on etc etc. While kids are happily playing - personaly probably would only pop on the net to check something specific and necessary so would be very brief.

For those wondering the same thing about overnight stays I've started a new thread

I would not be happy with a cm who was regularly mnetting. Sorry but I wouldn't. I know it can be a total time sink and I know at times it distracts me from my own children - and you know what, two wrongs don't make a right. My kids, my risk, my stupidity or whatever you want to call it, when I get sucked into reading something while thinking 'should really be getting on with X,Y,Z while the kids are asleep/playing happily alone'. If it was someone else's kids (whether or not I was being paid) - not a risk I'd take. If they were asleep, yes, fine, no problem with it from a safety point of view - although even then - it's such a time sink I'd still suspect it was taking time away that could be spent e.g. clearing up. As a bit of a net addict, I personally have a job sitting down for 20 minutes and not letting it slip into 2 hours - not a problem for anyone else's kids as I'm not a cm - but it wouldn't be good for anyone else's kids if I WAS a cm. As a parent I wouldn't be happy at an entire two-hour nap time being spent by a cm mnetting when some of that time (the time that's more than needed for their own relaxation/lunch hour) could have been spent by them doing clearing up, getting activities ready, etc. etc. (I don't care about observations though!).

I don't expect 100% of the cm's time to be spent watching my child, of course I don't - but I don't expect mumsnet to be one of the things they're regularly splitting their attention over during the day - it should be a lunch 'hour' (not whole of nap) or evening activity only IMO.

The bottom line is that whether or not anyone agrees, I would be happier with a cm who didn't know about mnet than one who did and might get caught up in an addictive thread and waste time that way. So a cm who mnetted would put me right off them - even if all it did was waste time (so then later when mindees were awake they were trying to multitask doing clearing up they could have done with they were asleep, for instance). I don't mean daytime mnetting HAS to be bad for mindees - but I can too easily see that it COULD be bad for me not to be put off someone who did it often.

Actually I'd be equally put off anyone I was paying to do something (e.g. normal employee) if I knew they were regulars on any board during the day, even if it was theoretically only for short visits - I know from bitter personal experience the potential for timewasting and distraction and it would put me right off. It's not about not wanting people to have a reasonable amount of relaxation time - even a generous amount would be fine by me - it's about the ability of mnet and similar to suck up far MORE than a reasonable amount of time that's the problem. I shouldn't do it as much as I myself do it as a parent - and I wouldn't expect anyone to do it a lot if they were my cm, either.

Maybe it's only me, but I NEVER spend more than about 20 minutes on MN at any one time. I have a quick squiz at the threads I'm interested in and maybe reply, but mostly not really.

There seems to be some people are get very addicted to MN and therefore think everyone is like that, but I for one, am not!

I don't think everyone is like that (in fact I know everyone isn't) - the point is that the people who don't do mnet or boards at all aren't like that - but the ones who do may be like that - or may not - but I can't tell. So if I did have to choose between a regular parenting or other board reader and someone who didn't do that sort of internet thing at all - I'd choose the one who didn't do it.

But how do you know that a CM that 'doesn't do the internet' is not sitting at home all morning watching Phill and Fern?

This argument is silly. Most CM's will take a small break during the day to relax a little, eat lunch, whatever. It could MN or reading a paper!

i think it's appalling that she brought up the sleeping child topic yet refuses to answer it.

what if she asked a child a question and they refused to answer it, bet she would be ticked off

thik someone had a bad day and is pissed off with the world and unfortunaley we are getting it

You don't know that they're doing other things - but those things aren't what this topic is discussing. And like I said, it's not small breaks that are the problem - it's the potential (not actual for all people, but some) for mumsnetting to suck up far more time than a 'small break'. So 'regular mumsnetting' would put me off a cm (note: not make me want to have them lynched, or make me think that's the only way someone could be distracted or waste time) - just that, put me off them.

watch out for the new interview questions, childminders...
''so, are you, or have you ever been a mumsnetter? ''

or perhaps it will be more subtle. Like mentioning norks and frootshoots and seeing if your eyes light up.

is this thread still going .... any cm worth their salt would like after the children well but enjoy a break when possible. No need to justify that. And if there is a rotten egg among cm than that's the same as in other professions and this thread won't mend it.