childminders, what is your house like? is it totally kiddified

[CarrieDaBabi]

stupid question in know

but ive really loved my tuime as a sahm and am thinnking what will i do when my dds goes to school.
shes only 2.5 and not sure if we will have more children yet

anyway.
as ive enjoyed being at home with dd sooo much, the thought of childmining has come up.

although, dh doesn't seem too keen on me to do that, as most cm work till 6pm.
and i suppose hes thinking when he gets in from work there will be a houseful of children and mess

our house is imo very children friendly
in the living room we've got 3 BIG toy boxes.
and the play kitchen, i often have the rocking horse down here too.

quite a good size enclosed garden with a wooden playhouse and im planing on putting a big enclosed trampoline in, in the summer and a tp swing, slide and skyride multiplay.

in keep the arts and crafts things onto of the fridge in 6 seagrass baskets, so dd can't get them but they can coime down easily each day.

so i think dh is thinking our home is going to end up looking like nursery school or something.
also having a houseful till 6pm.

My house is fairly child friendly and I love childminding, but I'm afraid your DH is right (IMO).

thankyou forthe reply.
how would it differ from how are house is now?
just more toys everywhere?

would you say its only something you can do, if your dh/dp is on board?

I agree with HSMM that your DH is right. M

thanks for the reply lisa, would you say you need to have your dp/dh on board?

It helps massively if the whole of the rest of your family is on board. It sounds like you have most of the basics, but you need to think about whether you will need a double buggy, more car seats, high chairs, nappy storage, etc.

i never thought about all those things, let alone cots for little ones to sleep in.

don't know where i'd find the space.

also i only have the car 2/3 days per week if that lately.

Mine's not totally kiddified. A lot of it is...but then quite a lot of it is officified too. You will need quite a lot of storage space for paperwork, from EYFS stuff to invoices, contracts and kids' records, stationery, training course bits - even more if you decide to do a childcare qualification of some sort, and I know I wouldn't be able to do without a computer, printer/scanner/copier, laminator, guillotine etc etc. I have completely taken over our study, which narks my DH more than the toys!

There are also certain things you'd need to have on display all the time like your insurance, registration documents, fridge temp records, and it is liked if you have display boards for childrens work and notice boards for parents etc.

If you have got a seperate dining room for example you could easily shove everything work related in there and just shut the door on it come 6.30pm.

Have to say though if your DH isn't with you on it, it'll be hard.

I agree with the others. I am lucky as I have a seperate play room, it is floor to ceiling in one way or another with toys/travel cots/ paperwork cupboard/craft cupboard. My car is a 7 seater and constantly has at least 4 car seats in, a single and a double buggy. dd's playhouse is full of the triple buggy lol

If your dh isnt on board dont do it, just my opinon of course, but dependng on the amount you need to earn, and therefore the amount of children you need to have with you, your dh will need to understand that it is a full time job and when the children go home, that is when you have to do paperwork and tidying up and housework etc.

hth

You def need your DH on board or it will be one long nightmare!

Sometimes, not very often but it does happen, my minded children may not be picked up until late so I will still be working when DH arrives home. Sometimes, he works from home and understands that I am also working.

In the beginning he didn't really "get" that I'm at home working and just thought I could carry on doing all the duties I did for the previous year as a SAHM, I had to really put my foot down and get them all (DH and 9 yr old DD1) to understand that CM is my job and needs the time/attention/respect that any other job does, and infact, more as there's a LOT of paperwork etc.

Good to have read this as i'm going to start CM, the next course starts in march, and i'll be qualified by September hopefully.
I already have a 2yr DD and a lot of toys,got several stairgates up already, we've just got to ''tidy up'' a bit around the house, wires,cupboard locks etc.

Mine is not too bad tbh I have arranged the living room so that a lot of the toys are either in the bay window (so I can shut the curtains on them in the evening, in a box box with a lid or behind the sofa so when we're sitting watching tv you cant see any toys.

There is a pushchair in my hallway and notice board/ artwork/ certificates etc, a cot in dd2's room, a craft cupboard in the kitchen, a little table and chairs and a highcahir and a hgihchair booster seat if needed.

The garden is full of stuff like trampoline, swings etc but it would be even if i only had my dd's.

My car is a 7 seater and can only be used when I'm working as it's much easier to use dh's at the weekends because of the car seats/ double buggy.

I have to say though, my dh was sceptical to start with but now he really supports and helps me so much so that when I talk of cutting back my hours he tells me not to be daft and that I'm lucky and he wishes he could be here with our dd's as much as I am.

LisaD1 - my husband still hasn't got it that I "WORK" from home and regularly asks me to "pop" and do things.

You also have to remember that although you have toys to suit your child now you will need to have lots more to suit all ages, and will need to keep stuff even when your own children have got older.

Last year I bought a shed just to store my large items in, my own children have to put up with bits in their rooms and there is a large wardrobe at the top of the stairs full of games and puzzles and as for the craft stuff and glitter.....................

p.s the files and paperwork also needs a home!!!

Oh yeh I did forget about the fact my attic is full of toys and that I had to buy a big deak with draws and shelves for all the paperwork.

thanks for the replies, i think your right, you need both people on board.

I earn roughly around £350 quid a week cming and work usually from 8 till 5.30 so its a full time job.

I only cm downstairs so upstairs is private for my family, I have turned my dining room into a playroom so we had christmas dinner on trays on our laps..

My car is a 7 seater and has 3 child seats permanently in it..

I put all of the toys and equipment in the play room every night to de kid the house so its fine.

your most important comment is about your dh.. if her isnt on board then forget it.. not worth it imo.. all in your house have to welcome the mindees and thats the only fair way to work..

you really need the support of your family. For my dh this meant: no longer walking round nude, no smoking in his own house, if he wants a beer after work I send him out of view of the mindees, he can't take a nap on the sofa if there's a mindee napping (crazy work hours so he needs to sleep in day but cba to go to bed), there's always washing up in the sink, sharing the 1 wc, missing his tv cos a parent is standing chatting, answering the phone at all hours, not being able to use pc cos I'm doing cm stuff on it ... I'm sure he could come up with a longer list.

You don't need to make your house look like a nursery - while Ofsted seem to love it when childminders do this, many parents prefer the home-from-home approach. Some parents specifically choose a cm over a nursery because of the family, informal home atmosphere. And at the end of the day, its the parents who pay us, not Ofsted.

love that last comment that parents pay us and not Ofsted.. well said and so true