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One person · references you can ring without asking me · usually a fortnight's notice
I'm one person, so the calendar is short — and it's the most honest thing on this page.
Everyone in this line of work says they're warm, patient and good with children, and none of us can prove it from a web page. What I can put here is when I'm usually free, what I charge, which checks I hold and the month each one was issued, and three families you can ring without telling me first.
9 yrsDoing this, in this town
3References, with numbers, below
2Children at a time, maximum
24 hrsCancellation notice, both ways
Put your own four numbers here and keep them small and true. A sitter's page is not improved by a big number — "two children at a time" is worth more to the person reading this than "200 families served".
My usual week
This is what an ordinary week looks like. It is not a live calendar and it will be wrong the week somebody books a run of Thursdays, so read it as "ask me about these" rather than "these are free".
The week, and where I am
Where I am
Eastfield, near the station
- Monday
- 15:00 – 22:00
- Tuesday
- 15:00 – 22:00
- Wednesday
- 08:00 – 18:00
- Thursday
- 15:00 – 22:00
- Friday
- 15:00 – 23:30
- Saturday
- 09:00 – 23:30
- Sunday
- Closed
Wednesdays are the school run — Which is why that day starts early and stops at six. It's the one fixed thing in the week
Fridays run late — Because that's when people want to go out, and it's the slot that books first by a distance
Sundays I don't work — Not a rule about anything, just the day I'd rather keep. A sitter who is available every hour is a sitter who will burn out on your Tuesday
School holidays are different — Whole days rather than evenings, and they fill in the spring. Ask early, and ask even if the grid says no
Fridays run late — Because that's when people want to go out, and it's the slot that books first by a distance
Sundays I don't work — Not a rule about anything, just the day I'd rather keep. A sitter who is available every hour is a sitter who will burn out on your Tuesday
School holidays are different — Whole days rather than evenings, and they fill in the spring. Ask early, and ask even if the grid says no
The street and the door number go in the confirmation, not on a public page. That's a small thing and it matters when there are children in the house.
The checks, and what they don't tell you
Every one of these is checkable by you rather than by me. Put your own numbers and dates in — a page that names the check but not the date is telling you the date is old.
A background check, with its number and the month it was issued — You're welcome to see the certificate before the first booking rather than after. It tells you what was known on the day it was issued — it does not tell you what has happened since, and it is not a character reference
Registration, if childminders are registered where you live — Mine sits on the national register and the number is in the paperwork I send. They publish the register, not me, so look me up there rather than believing this page
Paediatric first aid, with the month — Renewed on the date I give you and re-sat rather than refreshed online. If somebody won't tell you the month, it's old
Public liability insurance, in my own name — The certificate comes with the confirmation, before any money changes hands
Three references, with their numbers — Ring them without telling me. A reference you have to ask my permission to contact is not a reference, and I'd rather you rang all three
What none of it proves — That your child will like me, or that I'll be the right person for them. Paperwork is the floor. Meeting me is how you decide, and that part is free
Registration, if childminders are registered where you live — Mine sits on the national register and the number is in the paperwork I send. They publish the register, not me, so look me up there rather than believing this page
Paediatric first aid, with the month — Renewed on the date I give you and re-sat rather than refreshed online. If somebody won't tell you the month, it's old
Public liability insurance, in my own name — The certificate comes with the confirmation, before any money changes hands
Three references, with their numbers — Ring them without telling me. A reference you have to ask my permission to contact is not a reference, and I'd rather you rang all three
What none of it proves — That your child will like me, or that I'll be the right person for them. Paperwork is the floor. Meeting me is how you decide, and that part is free
In your home
Your rules, your bedtime, your kitchen. This is most evening sits and it's the easier of the two for the child.
Nothing changes for them — Same bed, same stairs, same smell of the house. That's the whole advantage and it's a large one
I arrive early enough to be introduced — Fifteen minutes before you go, with you still there. Never at the door as you're leaving
I tidy what we used — Not your house. The kitchen goes back how it was and the toys go away
I don't have anyone over — Ever, and it shouldn't need saying, but people ask and they're right to
I arrive early enough to be introduced — Fifteen minutes before you go, with you still there. Never at the door as you're leaving
I tidy what we used — Not your house. The kitchen goes back how it was and the toys go away
I don't have anyone over — Ever, and it shouldn't need saying, but people ask and they're right to
At mine
Daytimes and school holidays, usually. A different job: my house, my routine, and other children in it.
Come and see it first, in the daytime — On an ordinary working day rather than a tidied-up appointment. If somebody only shows you the house by appointment, ask why
Who else is here — Named before you book — the other children, their ages and their days, and anyone else who lives here
The animals — Listed honestly, including the one that doesn't like being grabbed. This is the question people are too polite to ask
The garden and the stairs — What's gated, what isn't, and where the road is. Say it plainly on your own version
Who else is here — Named before you book — the other children, their ages and their days, and anyone else who lives here
The animals — Listed honestly, including the one that doesn't like being grabbed. This is the question people are too polite to ask
The garden and the stairs — What's gated, what isn't, and where the road is. Say it plainly on your own version
What I charge
What I charge
Evening sit
£12an hour
- One or two children, in your home
- From 6pm, minimum three hours
- After midnight is £15 an hour
- No charge for the first fifteen minutes
Daytime & school runs
£11an hour
- At mine, or yours if you'd rather
- Pick-ups within two miles included
- Booked as a regular day where I can
- Term time and holidays both
Overnight
£90a night
- 8pm to 8am, one household
- Breakfast and the morning included
- Only for children I already sit for
- Booked at least a fortnight ahead
Nothing is marked "most popular" — Because that is a selling trick and there are only three of them. Pick the one that matches the evening you're having
I round down, not up — Home at 10:50 is ten o'clock. It saves an awkward conversation on a doorstep and it costs me about an hour a month
Cancelling — Free up to a day before, either of us. Inside that, half — and if it's a sick child, nothing, obviously
How you pay — Bank transfer within the week. No app, no card machine, no cash in an envelope unless you'd rather
What isn't extra — Bath, bedtime, the washing up we made, and staying late by twenty minutes because the taxi didn't come
I round down, not up — Home at 10:50 is ten o'clock. It saves an awkward conversation on a doorstep and it costs me about an hour a month
Cancelling — Free up to a day before, either of us. Inside that, half — and if it's a sick child, nothing, obviously
How you pay — Bank transfer within the week. No app, no card machine, no cash in an envelope unless you'd rather
What isn't extra — Bath, bedtime, the washing up we made, and staying late by twenty minutes because the taxi didn't come
What I won't do
A list of nos is more useful than a list of yeses, because the nos are the bit you'd otherwise find out on the night.
I won't take a child I haven't met — There's a free half-hour first, with you in the room. A stranger arriving at bedtime is hard on a child and it makes me worse at the job
I won't cancel on you the same day — Unless I'm genuinely ill or it's my own family emergency — and then it's a phone call as early as I can manage, not a message at five o'clock
I won't put photographs of your children anywhere — Not on a page like this, not on my own accounts, not in a group chat with other parents. Photos of the evening go to you and stop there
I won't take more than two at once — Three is a different job and I'm not good at it. I'd rather say that than find out at your expense
I won't drive them anywhere unless we've written it down — With the insurance and the seats to match. "Just this once" is how that goes wrong
I won't do anything at bedtime you haven't heard first — Ask me what I do when a child won't stay in bed and I'll tell you exactly. If you don't like it, we do it your way — it's your child and your house
I won't cancel on you the same day — Unless I'm genuinely ill or it's my own family emergency — and then it's a phone call as early as I can manage, not a message at five o'clock
I won't put photographs of your children anywhere — Not on a page like this, not on my own accounts, not in a group chat with other parents. Photos of the evening go to you and stop there
I won't take more than two at once — Three is a different job and I'm not good at it. I'd rather say that than find out at your expense
I won't drive them anywhere unless we've written it down — With the insurance and the seats to match. "Just this once" is how that goes wrong
I won't do anything at bedtime you haven't heard first — Ask me what I do when a child won't stay in bed and I'll tell you exactly. If you don't like it, we do it your way — it's your child and your house
The hour something goes wrong
This is the only part of the page that really matters, and it's the part nobody asks about at the interview. So it's written down instead.
I'd rather ring you about something small — Than not ring you about something big. Expect a call about a temperature and a bad dream, and don't apologise for it — I won't
If I can't reach you — I ring the second number, then the third. Give me three, and tell the third person they're on the list, which is the step everybody forgets
When I call an ambulance before I call you — Breathing that isn't right, a fit, a head injury with sickness after it, or anything I can't make sense of. I do that first and ring you second, and I don't wait to be given permission
Every bump and every dose, written down — With the time, told to you at the door, and sent by message the same night. Including the small ones, especially the small ones
If I've got something wrong — You'll hear it from me before you hear it from your child. That's the whole of it
What I need before I start — Allergies and what they do, medicines and doses, the doctor's number, who else is allowed to collect them, and anything a child is frightened of. Ten minutes now, and it is never the wasted kind
If I can't reach you — I ring the second number, then the third. Give me three, and tell the third person they're on the list, which is the step everybody forgets
When I call an ambulance before I call you — Breathing that isn't right, a fit, a head injury with sickness after it, or anything I can't make sense of. I do that first and ring you second, and I don't wait to be given permission
Every bump and every dose, written down — With the time, told to you at the door, and sent by message the same night. Including the small ones, especially the small ones
If I've got something wrong — You'll hear it from me before you hear it from your child. That's the whole of it
What I need before I start — Allergies and what they do, medicines and doses, the doctor's number, who else is allowed to collect them, and anything a child is frightened of. Ten minutes now, and it is never the wasted kind
Ask me about a date
It comes to me and nowhere else, and I answer the same evening unless I'm out sitting. Nothing here is a booking until I've replied and we've met.
Ask me about a date
"Something's going on at home" is on that list because it is the single most useful thing anybody tells me, and it changes nothing except how I am with your child that evening.
Live preview — every color, word and block is editable after you pick it.