When I was working as a registered child minder I always had a written contract that myself and the parents would sign and each had a copy.

The contract would state the days and times that child minding was required.

Plus what would happen should the child be unwell more here.

And if I was sick here.

I also discussed and wrote down how I charged for a child being away on holiday.

More on that coming soon

When I was fairly new to child minding and a little nervous about getting it right: A parent came to drop her baby off with her mother in tow.

She told me that they wouldn’t be needing me for the next 2 weeks because they were going on holiday; the parent then looked me in the eye and said, “I don’t think it’s fair that I still have to pay though”

The nervous part of me felt like giving in and saying that I would let her off from paying.

But I am proud to say that I stuck to my guns and told her that she agreed to my terms when she signed the contract and that I required payment as this was the way that I made my living.

She looked at her mother and told me “O.K, that’s fine!”

On another occasion a parent rang to let me know that her child was unwell and wouldn’t be attending that afternoon.

When she brought him back the following week ( fit and well) she said that she didn’t think that she should have to pay as she had to take a day off work to look after her son.

Again I told the parent that I explained what would happen if her child was sick regarding payment and that she should refer to the contract that she had agreed to and signed.

Later that evening she phoned me to apologise and said the main reason that she and her husband had chosen me as their child minder was because I was so professional in writing out a contract!

I child minded for my neighbour for a while and one day her husband arrived early to collect his children telling me that work wss quiet so he had the rest of the afternoon off.

When it came to payment at the end of the week my neighbour quiried about paying for that afternoon. As it happened she was fine with paying when I explained, which was just as well as I didn’t want to fall out with my next door neighbour.

Why child minding for friends and neighbours may not work here

It may seem that ‘giving in’ to parents is the easy option, but registered child minders ARE proffesionals and worth every penny.

As always questions and comments are welcome.

Until next time.

Karen

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