Ok, new to cm and have first parent visiting tomorrow!

[Nancy10]

My first prospective parent is coming to see me tomorrow! I'm so nervous about the whole thing! This is partly due to the fact that the mum doesn't have a clue what she wants for her 2 year old dd. She's admitted she's neurotic and I'm having doubts, but whether we can come to some arrangement or not, I still want to give a good impression and do the best I can. I have written lots of policies that will be appropriate to her to help reassure her. How do other cm's present their policies? Would you give her a copy to take away and keep, even though she might never come back. Give them to her when she tells me she wants me to look after her child. Or tell her that I have policies she can look at any time. There are a couple of things I'd like her to sign, but I am planning to add them into the contract. Basically I want her to look at these policies before I do the contract as some of them may be added in with the contract.

personally, i would have my policies ready for her to look through at this point...sit on the floor with her LO, chat generally, ask about her LO what they like/done like etc etc more small talk then ask what kind out hours days shes looking for?, explain what you would do when her LO is there, groups, activities, sleep times, eating etc...reassure her about what you plan to do so she will know he lo's routine with you...tell ehr you text/send pic texts regulaly when lo's first start so parents can see what their LO's are up to and let her know when it would be best for her to ring and speak to you/her LO through the day if she needs too...shes admitted shes neorotic, so shes crying out for you to show her you know what you're doing ...explain what you will do re contract, that you'll need signed consent forms for x, y & z and that you fill in a daily diary of their childs day/progress...i would offer a decent settling in period of 4-6 weeks so in that time either of you can walk away without giving notice so she is reassured she would be stuck if she really isnt happy....have plenty out for her lo to play with, but not too much, just so she can see you are well equipt...
Only when they sign contract do i give them a condensed form of my policys along with consent forms and a child record form to include contact/docs/allergies etc etc...good luck, hope it all go's well

I quite often email people my policies before they come, so they know when questions to ask. If they don't have email I give them a hard copy. I like them to sign a contract asap, but I also understand if they want to read the policies before signing. They have the first month where they don't have to give any notice, so if they don't like anything they are free to cancel the contract within that time. Just make sure you are ready to give her any paperwork she wants (occasionally they sign on the day) and just ramble on about what you are going to do all day, asking her for her questions in between. While you are doing all this, try and play with the child if they will talk to you.

Just stay cool! And try and keep it quite informal but still be professional with your answers, I find it much easier to sit on the floor and play with the kid and just go with the flow rather than try and be all business like as I think it sets a different atmosphere and I tend to get too nervous!

I personally don't like the idea of signing a contract straight away as I'd like to see what the child is like and then see if they'll fit in - if you're just starting out then don't make the mistake of just taking on anyone because you're desperate to get started - if you can see that a child (or parent) has some difficult qualities then take an evening to think about it, don't feel rushed into getting any old person onto the books.

HTH

What lollipop said about making sure they fit in before signing contracts. Quite right. I don't produce the paperwork to sign if I see problems. I politely say goodbye at the end of the visit and tell them to contact me with their thoughts (or maybe come back for another visit). Gives me a bit of thinking time. If I do like them though, I normally grab the contract and a pen pretty quick .

I hope I'm not too late but as a parent who recently interviewed several cms, I really liked the ones who sent policies...etc paperwork home with me so I could look at it at home when I was less frazzled about how ds was behaving while we visited and so when I reflected on our visit I could have a read through with dh at home. I sort of felt like those who didn't give me the paperwork were not wanting to chance me going through it with a fine toothed comb iyswim (not that I would, just had that feeling about it).

I'm sure it will go well and from a parent's perspective, I was just as nervous about how ds behaved, what he did...etc. I was actually worried that the cm I really liked might not want ds if he cried or was clingy!

I felt overwhelemed when presented with all the paperworkd on vists to prospective childminders! That said now I am a childminder I equally would prefer not to give parents tonnes of stuff when they are maybe looking at several differant people and my efforts will have been a waste of time and paper.
So I have a middle ground which is a 2 page,double sided "terms and conditions" document that I have written myself. It contains all my contact info (so they remember which cm i am ) fees, what is included/excluded for that fee, info on holidays,sickness, notice, settling in, deposits retainers and others bits and bobs which make up what most folks might want to asdk about but might (like I did ) forget or feel awkward about.

Parents have this e.mailed over prior to visit or receive a copy at visit and if they would like to follow up policies and procedures follow prior to contracts.

Feedback from parents who have/have not taken up places was that they liked this as it was not too much/too little

I like that idea, dobby. I think I just liked exactly that - having the reminder and info of all of that stuff and being able to reflect on our visits with something in writing for us to look at and ponder.

Well, she's been and gone, phew! I was so nervous but realised I had to take control so she would leave confident! When she came in her little son ran straight into our play/dining room and started playing with all the toys. I made her a cup of tea and asked her what she was looking for, any concerns etc. She asked about pets, so I took that as a chance to go through my policies with her. Bearing in mind she was very worried and unsure. Although I haven't given her a copy I did say I would quite happily email, put onto a disk or just photocopy all the policies if she wanted them. I also suggested a 4 week settling in/trial period before any contracts. I also didn't want to presume she wanted her child to come to me so told her to go away and think about everything and get back to me when she's decided. I said this because if she's looking around she wouldn't want to commit and theres nothing worse then having to make excuses. I really felt having the policies to hand made me look professional and prevented any awkward silences.
The main thing is I feel I did my best, looking back there are a few little things I might do differently next time but I'm sure it'll come with experience! Thanks for all your replies!

Sounds like you handled it just right Nancy. It's always a bit strange when someone new comes into your house.

Sounds like you did fine Nancy

Have you made a portfolio out of interest? I had one from the outset but have just completly pulled it apart to redo. I did find it handy for parents to flick through whilst i made them that coffee

It had an introduction about me, family, what facilities we had at home and things we did outside. It had my CRB and registration certs in (as these are 2 things everyone tells parents to check so saved them asking) and a list of plicies for parents to see, along with parents referances and my certificates for things that I thought parents might want to see such as first aid and food hygiene.

Keeps all stuff in one place and not too big for parents to wade through

That's a really good idea, I will get started!

I tend to forget that new parents could be nervous too!! Though when I went back to my old job before childminding, I remember sitting in one childminder's lounge, trying (unsuccessfully) not to cry because I was thinking, "Do I have to leave my child with YOU?" The childminder did not even acknowledge the tears running down my face!!!

Needless to say when I looked around more, I found the right one! Her house was a little untidy, a little lived in, her son acted up a little and she handled him so well - cuddled him and gave him a lollipop!! We adored her and she adored my then 6 month old DS!

Good luck, Nancy10. You will certainly find the right family and you will be the right CM for them whether it is this family or not!

Well, good news. She phoned first thing this morning!! Her child is starting after half term for a trial period! So fingers crossed!

Congrats

Fantastic you obviously did it all the reight way

as opposed to me and my spelling