CM club - balancing family/work etc - any advice?

[leeloo1]

I've just deleted a huge post I'd written, as I'm tying myself in knots with this issue, but would appreciate any input.

My aim with CMing was to have 1 fulltime child, but after months of working at a loss, I've finally got 4.5 sessions filled (between 2 children), but I'm having more enquiries and interviews (3 parents round so far this week) which is good, but stressful.

So, my problem is that I'm now earning enough to get by, but I don't know whether to take a 3rd child on some days... I'm trying to weigh up the benefits of financial security (children could leave and it'd be nice to save towards me having another child in the future - which'd also limit the number of children I could mind) against the impact on my son. He's 18 mths and is going through the phase of not always wanting to share me with mindees. I do think its good for him to learn to share, but I don't want to traumatise him, and at the end of the day I'm only CMing to enable me to be with him.

I feel very ungrateful that some people can't fill spaces and I'm debating whether I want the work and I really hope I don't offend or upset anyone because of that... I just don't know if I should stop interviewing and save myself the hassle and stress or take on more children to become more secure. Also my DH's job isn't that secure (now Tories are in power its even less so ) and it'd be nice to take the pressure off him.

So I guess... what would you do or what do you think I should do?

Just realised this post is probably longer than the last 1, so well done if you read it all... oh and if it makes any difference I do all the household stuff - cleaning, laundry etc (don't think I should be, but thats a whole other post!).

Having one full time child is not as good an idea as it sounds - when the shild leaves then thats all your income gone in one go. Plus what if you dont get on with the family?

Like any job there are pros and cons and also like any job you learn usually through experience what bits you like and what bits yto wish to avoid. For example It took me 2 years to get back the Fridays off I had when I first started. I didnt realise how much easierit made my week if I held onto that as an "admin/get stuff of my own done" day.

I also now think alot harder about the needs of differant age children when advertising vacancies as I have realised from experience that more than 2 under 2s is very very hard work!!!

Think of the needs of your son first when looking at the enquiries you have had. Would taking on after school age children perhaps suit better?

It's tricky to balance

have you sat down and calculated the bottom line

ie take on child x and profits will be y

dont take on child x and profits will be z

I deliberately keep myself running under numbers because

A DH has a good job so money not so important in my case

B my children, though older, need some attention

C EYFS means that if I get behind I need masses of time to catch up, sending my boys and DH out all weekend and more children = more paperwork

All these things need consideration, but at the end of the day money = food on the table

hmm not much help really

have a hug instead x x x

Thanks both of you (and hug very much appreciated BALD). I do nothing but look at the figures - I have a spreadsheet and that taxman website open and work out how comfortably off we could be if I minded more children... then I feel bad for not wanting to do it.

Maybe older children would be easier?!

Older children bring their own challenges

I think that you could take on another child and see how it goes

As Dobby2001 says, do not put all your eggs in one basket and depend on one full time child for your income. You would at least be more secure in having a couple of part-timers so it would not be a total loss if a child were to leave. In an ideal world, it would be great if you could get all your chilminding in on 4 days of the week leaving you with a clear day to have some 1-2-1 with your son.

I have managed to spread out my really busy days so that I do not have 2 consecutive full-on days (3 all-day children) but I have been lucky in getting that with some flexibility from the parents. I have tended to take on children from an early age so tend to have mostly under-3s - one as young as 16 weeks!

I have often found that with Mums returning to work on a part-time basis, their employers can often be flexible with which two or three days they work so which can be a huge benefit to me too!

Some good advice on here. I also prefer to have several part timers rather than full time mindees, it has its benefits such as not a huge loss should they leave, I also find the week runs better with different mixes of children and I don't get to complacent.

One of the other things I also find is that the prospect of extra income is nice, in reality increase in income just leads to more expenditure, bigger tax bill etc and the extra money becomes negligable.

Can you keep one day per week which is just for your child?

Thanks all, its been really helpful reading your replies - the suggestion of having heavier/lighter days is a really good one and I think I'm going to give up on the idea of a full-timer and only consider having a third child on 1/2 days pw.

Hurray! Thanks again, I feel much better for making the decision.

glad to hear it leeloo, too many CMs leaving the profession at the moment!

Lol, thanks I can't leave the profession yet, I only just joined... (well last August)