Interviewing a Mothers Help tomorrow - nervous and need help

[dizzydixies]

I have a girl coming tomorrow who has answered an advert we put on gumtree for a Mothers Help

I'm a touch nervous as I've not done this before. The dc have previously been at a nursery or looked after by a CM however our lovely CM gave us notice just before Christmas and we have to sort something else out

because of our working arrangements a normal CM or nursery arrangement doesn't really suit but this girl sounds perfect and I know her current employer through a MNer friend of mine - her current employer has dropped her down to part time and is very flexible so it could work out perfectly all round (fingers crossed)

can someone give me an idea of what I should be looking for/asking etc - its different to a CM telling you what she expects/charges etc etc and the nursery giving you their price list/procedures

I've got the obvious:

About her experience/history with looking after kids
What she expects from the job - hrs/money/level of responsibility (ie: time alone with DC's/feeding/bathing/getting to any clubs/social stuff
What she would do in a couple of specific circs, such as DD's falling, non-sleeping child at bed/nap time, just to guage common sense
What things she would like to do with the DD's to entertain them

have I missed anything glaringly obvious?

You say mother's help but all of your questions center on childcare - most mother's helps do a fair bit of housekeepery bits, such as laundry, cooking, tidying, DC duties (sewing name tapes, etc.) - will you have any of this in your position?

Make sure she is aware of how much will be admin/housekeeping vs. time with children, usually a percent is good...this is the number 1 complaint from mother's helps.

she is already a mothers help but is having her hours cut to part time as the mother is now on matty leave and her other dc has just got funding for nursery. I hope that she knows what it entails, I on the other hand have only ever used CMs and nurseries so think I'll probably learn more about what she's prepared to do tomorrow.

I suppose the childcare is the most important element to me at the minute - in terms of the housework its embarrassingly apparent what needs done most of the time I'm afraid

Are you at home - or needing childcare while you are out at work?

For a mother's help position the mother is normally at home - mh may have periods of sole charge while mum goes out for dentists/hairdressers/lunch etc and would do non child related chores whilst Mum is in charge of the kids.

Sole charge of the kids whilst Mum is out at work is generally classed as a nanny role - she may well be capable of plenty of sole charge as this is not her first mh role, but it may be worth checking what sort of sole charge experience she has.

nbee84, it will be a bit of both, on occassions my DH or I might be sleeping off a nightshift in the house so available if need be iyswim

it is a concern of mine though that I have work to do whilst at home and due to the nature of our work DH can be called out at very short notice and if I'm at work she would have to manage

Just make sure you ask what sole charge experience she has - how often and for how long. Follow up her references and ask them about any sole charge periods. And as someone earlier posted, ask how she would handle various senarios - particularly ones that she would have to handle if neither you nor your dh were at home.

As for the working while you are at home - ask what sort of out of the house activities she has done with other children. And when she is working for you, encourage her to take them to toddler groups, parks, library for storytime etc as you will find it much easier to work without distraction

from what I can gather she is fantastic, she's the mothers help of the best friend of a MNer friend of mine and comes exceptionally highly recommended - I have emailed her current employer for references and have not arranged anything other than to meet her tomorrow to see how we get on

I know she takes the wee girl she has charge of to toddlers/soft play/ various lessons etc but I'll make sure I follow it all up tomorrow

I think it will be a bit strange for me knowing that someone else is in the house with the kids whilst I try to sleep off a nightshift, DH won't be bothered so much as he can sleep through anything and generally normally does! I'll also miss having the kids out of the house on occassion as it gave me time to catch up on sleep a really good clean, read a book for a minute or generally catch my breath!

How did the interview go?

hi nbee84, she was really very lovely she's coming back again on Fri once she's made some enquiries re childcare vouchers and so she can have a visit with the kids

thank you for asking

Just out of interest, how much does the average mothers help charge?

frogeryfrog she's going to make some enquiried into taking the childcare vouchers but i think she's looking at about £70 per day

For you to be able to pay her with childcare vouchers she will need to be Ofsted registered. She will need a qualification that covers the common core skills, to have done a paediatric first aid course in the last 3 years and to have insurance.

The common core skills can be done through an ICP course - at a centre or through distance learning (around £100) Paediatric 1st aid - around £70ish. Annual nanny insurance - about £60. Ofsted registration - £104 (I think) annually.

£70 per day is on the higher side of mh wages (presuming this is a net wage), but depending on where you live and the sole charge part of the job it may well be quite fair. If it is £70 gross then it sounds about right.

Cheers Dizzydixies.

Cheers too nbee. Also (sorry to be a pain) how many hours a day would £70 cover (as you can tell I have never come across a mh although I have heard great things about them).

I was thinking of the £70 covering the average nanny/mh day of about 10 hours.

she'll be here from 8.30am till about 5.30/6ish and will have a 3yr old an 18month old baby and a 6yr old during the holiday as well as household duties

nbee84, she's looking into it tomorrow and getting back to me, if she can't take the vouchers then we'll be paying her a bit less

its worth it to get the flexibility we require for the jobs we have and the girls would have been £35per day each in the nursery and they couldn't provide any flexibility/weekend cover etc