Honestly, I would NOT recommend this childminder to anyone, and I wish I’d stopped using her a lot sooner.

The level of unreliability was unbelievable. She would regularly turn up 20,30 or even 45 minutes late, and there were MULTIPLE occasions when she completely forgot she was supposed to come at all. One time I had to ring her to ask where she was meant to be collecting my son, only for her to tell me she’d forgotten and was in another town. On several occasions, by the time she eventually turned up, I’d already missed appointments or lost money because I could no longer do what I’d arranged. My time and commitments clearly meant very little.

She was also regularly late bringing my son home, which was a separate issue from her lateness in the mornings.

On one occasion, when she was supposed to be collecting my son in the morning, I had to chase her to find out where she was. She claimed she couldn’t find my house and said she was in my area, only for me to discover she was actually at a school pickup on the complete other side of town, around a 10 minute drive away. I was left having to meet her there, 30 mins AFTER the agreed time she was supposed to collect my son from my house.

She would agree to a time and then suddenly tell me at the last minute that I needed to come home because she had to take her own son shopping. Other times, she would forget to tell me she wasn’t available and cancel literally 10 minutes before I was due to leave. Imagine trying to organise appointments around someone who treats agreed arrangements as if they’re optional.

I was once overcharged by more than an hour. When I questioned it, she told me she “doesn’t have a fee” and charges what she thinks she’s worth, despite having a set fee. Apparently, the rules only mattered when it benefited her.

When my son was TWO, she actually laughed and suggested he could be autistic because he liked vehicles. I found that incredibly inappropriate and insensitive. That is not something you laugh about when discussing somebody’s toddler.

Even on the rare occasions I managed to have a night out as a mum, she would message me about minor inconveniences that could easily have waited until pickup, creating unnecessary stress when I was supposed to be enjoying a few hours to myself. I had so little confidence in her reliability that she became my backup for my backup. The only real positive was her supposed flexibility, but even that came with last minute cancellations and changes of plan.

Despite me always paying on the day, she then suddenly demanded payment upfront and made it clear I wouldn’t get my money back if my son was unwell.

The final straw was how she treated me when I was dealing with a pregnancy loss. For the first and only time, I communicated beforehand that I was running late because of what I was going through. Rather than showing even a little understanding, she tried to double-charge me, despite previously offering to stay an additional THREE HOURS beyond the agreed time. When I refused the extra charge, she accused me of not respecting her worth as a childcare provider and even outright stated I didn’t care about my own son and had no consideration for him.

I honestly couldn’t believe it. This was someone who had repeatedly wasted MY time, cost ME money, made ME miss appointments, forgotten to turn up and cancelled on me at the last minute, yet somehow I was expected to show her endless understanding while receiving none in return.

Her reaction during a pregnancy loss really summed up my experience. There was no compassion or consideration for what I was dealing with, only an argument about money and what she believed she was owed. It left me feeling that supporting mothers and understanding the realities of motherhood came a very distant second to getting every pound she felt entitled to.

Respect works both ways. You cannot repeatedly disregard another person’s time, commitments and financial losses, then act offended when they expect the same consideration in return. Flexibility means nothing without reliability and basic compassion.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Communication