Tabitha has reached out for help on this topic: When I was a registered child minder I had a few house rules that the children were aware of: One of the rules was that food was eaten at the kitchen table.

One morning when a parent was dropping off her two children they decided that they were hungry ( although it was only 8am) and took a chocolate biscuit each from their packed lunch boxes. more on providing food here They looked at me unwrapped the biscuits and began eating them.

At first I felt uncomfortable about mentioning this in front of their mother, but then I decided that this was my house and my decision so I told them both you know that you should be sitting at the kitchen table to eat, they looked at their mum who said nothing and then went into the kitchen.

A few children will act up when being dropped off simply to make a parent feel guilty about leaving them.

A particular child was O.K if his mum brought him, but would ‘kick off’ big time for his father, He would scream, pick up and throw toys anything that he thought would prevent his dad from leaving.

I had spoken to his dad about this out of earshot of the boy and told him to just give his son a kiss say goodbye and go without prolonging the issue.

When he did this the boy quickly calmed down and it was over and done with until the next time dad dropped him off!

My own child would often ‘try it on’ at pre-school when it was my turn to be a rota mum ( parents took turns to stay to keep running costs down),

I was told that he was a model child when I wasn’t there, but if I was when he was asked to do something he would look at me and do nothing.

I think that he thought that because if his mum was there nobody else could tell him what to do so he could do as he pleased. I soon made him aware that wasn’t the case and that he had to do as he was asked.

One afternoon I was talking to a parent by the back door while we were watching his child and 2 others playing in the garden, Suddenly his child kicked another for no reason at all, The parent had seen this happen but turned a blind eye.

I wasn’t having this so I told his son to say sorry to the child he had hurt and made him go inside to wait until his dad was ready to take him home.

I hope this has helped Tabitha, Stick to your guns and don’t be afraid to repremand a child who is misbehaving even if it’s in front of a parent.

As always questions and comments are welcome.

Until next time.

Karen

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