Cm Club: Do you work weekends?

[PinkChick]

Im so quiet at the moment and is worrying.
Have just had a call to work saturday and sunday every week all day.
i have a dd, mindee(girl) is the same age.
I NEED the work, am sure dd will enjoy having a friend round most of the time, but how do i make it work, being the only time she ever gets me to herself?
dp says no brainer, maybe im hormonal?, unless something came up soon i was goig to have to look for another part time job out of the home, this way means im still with dd but she has to share me (guilty mum syndrome)...please tell me im doing the right thing...and what do you charge?, i havent done weekends for years and only then was a one off every now and then.
am meeting parents and think i will have to discuss the fact that we will still have to do 'some' normal weekend family things, most of which she will find fun as well (park, cinema etc) but then things like occasions when we need to go buy new appliance, go to pet shop for supplies, visit grandma etc..would this work?..help

I charged double for weekend work, but only 1 weekend in 4 or 6, can't quite remember

The children came with us to cinema, museums, art galleries as well as homebase and shoe shopping and visiting family

tbh I think every weekend would be too much - as you say your dd needs to have you to herself sometimes

The crucial thing is that DH is onside - if my DH wasn't on board then it would be a deal breaker because of the extra strain

have you done all the things we say wrt advertising:

in the local surgery/library/childrens centre/schools and toddler groups, local free paper, is your local early years team aware that you are needing to fill places

ive advertised everywhere boys , school even have loads of my large postcards on display..nothing happening..this and one other enquiry from CCP yesterday other one was 5 days a week 11am-3pm for 2 weeks then 3pm-11pm for 2 weeks!..not sure which would be worse?, that would mean i would have a baby over night mon-fri for 2 weeks every 4 weeks, would that be harder?, at least this way dd gets me morning and nights, some parents i know have to share the childcare and dont get to spend any quality time together..its got to a very worrying point now...dp worried about money, i am too, just as much as he is, but i have the added worry of dd, hes gone out to work from day one, i find it hard not to feel guilty over something every single day ..am trying to look at it positivly and think of it more as a friend for dd, its not like i wont be doing things with dd, we'll still do the fun weekend stuff, just have a 'friend' with us???...i AM taking family on, i have no choice and am trying to be positive about the permanence of it, but feel crap that i cant fill my 'normal' spaces!

If you have made up your mind then we can think of ways for you to make it fun, yes?

So yy a friend for DD, more money for your family, think of all the great things that you can do without having to whizz back for the school run, things like that

you are offering a flexible service supporting the family of the child

How old is the child and your dd, I do quite a lot of weekend work for a family, but when my children have had enough I take him to his house and care for him there. I childmind him at mine and nanny him at his.
It does get a bit much and you will get fed up of having someione every weekend and so will your dd. But if you can commit to every weekend and want the money I charge double ie £8 per hour.
But it has made it possible for me to have thursdays and fridays off so thats quite nice.

thanks everyone, yes i guess im trying to find ways to make it still fun for dd and us all.
DD and Mindee are both 7, so no i dont need to do lots of obs etc and can hopefully just enjoy having a 'friend' for dd to have around on weekends, would be nice if they did become good friends, dd is fabulous with ALL my mindees and as young as she is, very supportive and knows why i have to work and that someone else would have to look after her if i had a different job...im going to speak to mum and even put it in contract to state we will still be doing normal weekend things, barring the weekly shop/clothes shopping(unless for dd and she needs to be there) and so on...i do get some days free at minute (between school runs) but its more for dd, not me working all week that was my concern, id work all day every day to bring a good wage in, but have to think of her first and foremost...thanks everyone.x

i have sent details to mum prior to our meeting and have added £1.75 on top of normal fee per hour, maybe im soft, but shes on her own, i know shell get help, but also didnt want to price myself out of the market, its not very highly paid round here, but the amount ill earn will help loads!

I'm just about to start minding at weekends, I'm in the same place as pinkchick as regards getting work. I am only charging 75p more per hour than my usual rate but again it's not that well paid around here either.

As my current work is Mon/Fri, full days each day, I do not work at weekends (or at least have mindees) - however, weekends are often taken up with paperwork and administration - the paperwork certainly seems to be growing and unless you have only got one mindee, you cannot reasonably do it in your working day unfortunately. If I was minding at weekend, it would fall into my unsociable hours category which would be double time.