Mattv83

About Me

Hi, I’m Matt (a guy), 40 years old…41 this year :(. I live in Cotham, Bristol though I grew up in Birmingham and moved here six years ago with my girlfriend to take advantage of better work opportunities (we don’t have kids of our own). I’ve been working in TV as crew for the last 12-13 years but the work seems to have slowed down and I’m looking for something I can do whilst attempting a pivot into writing & development.
I have absolutely zero paid experience looking after kids but my sister has little ones, both girls (3yo & 3mo) and I like looking after them. I’ve done it plenty and feel very confident in knowing what’s required. Her kids like me, it seems I’m generally quite good fun from a child’s point of view, i like engaging with them, coming up with games to play and taking part in their imaginary universes. Many years ago I used to be a Pool Life Guard & Swimming Instructor and the kids enjoyed my classes, I knew how to make them fun by mixing the teaching points in with games and play.
I’m reliable, and sensible. I don’t drink or smoke or take illegal drugs. I can drive well (safely) and have my own car which can go into the centre of town without incurring a charge, remarkably. Despite being a man, I understand abstract concepts such as planning, scheduling and routines; tidying up after yourself; loading the dishwasher; using a washing machine. I like cooking - i mean following a recipe - things like Mindful Chef or Gusto are my bread and butter but I’ll do other basic recipes too. I am capable of making a list, going to the supermarket and retrieving ingredients. I don’t eat meat much anymore but I’m not a veggie or a vegan.
I don’t know whether this is relevant but I’m a white, non-religious, heterosexual male in a long term relationship, if that’s an overshare then I apologise. I’m an educated, rational human being without any prejudices and would be happy working with any like minded family. Obviously I’m fine about background checks and presently in the process of sorting out my requirements for Early Years / Childcare Registration; Enhanced DBS etc… if you want to run other tests on me (IQ, toxicology, multi stage fitness test…) i’m open to suggestions. As I say, I have no paid experience so references are a little thin on the ground but my sister would be happy to talk to you about my capabilities.
Ultimately i’ll probably be open to doing nannying if the circumstances are right but I figured I’d start off by doing the odd bit of babysitting / childminding first. I’ll happily do mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekdays & weekends (as long as it’s not every weekend). Happy to do school pick ups / drop offs and take kids on excursions, to classes or ‘play dates’. I’ve supervised loads of visits to ‘soft play’ and I’m actually happy to go in and offer a bit of sensible adult moderating too - I am totally sympathetic to the fact that boys sometimes have a tendency to run around like lunatics treating these environments like it’s ‘human bumper cars’, and that girls, especially little ones, can get a bit frightened when faced with such boisterousness. I don’t mind advocating a bit of discipline if it means everyone can enjoy the fun equally. I do understand the necessity of regular updates with pics and clips via WhatsApp etc.
Very happy and ready to meet for an initial chat if you’d like to, I think you’ll see that, whilst I’m probably atypical in terms of what you might find with many childcare providers, I’m perfectly capable and will make a positive impact on your family. Oh and did I mention… kids do seem to find me quite a lot of fun.