while the kids play outside?

Today we went outside and the kids were SO occupied. That I just began raking. They were right there and we were talking the entire time - but I got a LOT of raking done and I was very proud of myself.

But then I started to worry that my dc parents are going to arrive and see my nice lawn and be unhappy with the fact that I was doing yard work while watching their kids.

I'd love your thoughts on it.

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I do. I've pulled fruit off the trees on the other side of the playground fence before.

I don't usually watch the kids very closely when they are outside. Within reason, they are free to go in and out the doors without me. If it's too hot, I keep the doors closed and locked, and we all go out for a few minutes together... but, otherwise the doors are open.

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Yep...I don't play with the kids while we're outside. I did that for awhile and it quickly turned into kids who had NO CLUE how to play outside without adult intervention. I took myself out of the equation and lo and behold...they figured it out on their own!

So, while they're playing, I knit or read or use the computer (on cloudy, dry days). I weed the garden, rake up leaves, pick up sticks to get ready for mowing later, sit and bask in the sun...and since we have a human-powered lawnmower, I have been known to mow in the evening with DD and dck out with me on the days I have a dck very late (past 6 usually). No one has ever said anything about it.

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When we moved in this house (a rental), the back and front yard were FULL of pine needles. Just found out from a neighbor, they had not been raked in the 13 years she had lived there! I have raked on them MANY times while the kiddos played outside. When we get the flower beds built in the back, I will plant in it too while they play.

I treat these kids like they are my own, when they are here. I want this to be their 2nd home. I didn't just stop and watch or play constantly with my own kids growing up. I gave them free rein to play. These parents only have weekends and nights with their kids. Do you think they "only" play and watch the kid non stop? Nope, they go on about life. Just like I do when I have the kids.


I wash laundry and fold it while the kids are here. Fridays, I dust while they play and deep clean the kitchen, after lunch. During nap time on Fridays, I clean my bathrooms. After nap time, I put their sheets and blankets in the wash. Then when they leave, all I have left is the floors and cleaning the toys. I have the rest of the weekend for what I "want" to do.

I also have a small house, one level. When I'm in a bedroom putting something up, and they are in the den, I'm not 15' away.

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I do the same as Silversabre does....

On a rare occassion if I have an interested dck, I let them help me rake or pick up sticks. When it is Fall and we have to rake leaves, EVERYONE helps rake, gather and fill bags. The yard is for dck use therefore they can help care for it as well.

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Oooo fall is the BEST because after they rake the leaves into a pile (or I do it, whichever) I usually let them jump in the leaf piles. They have a blast.

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Thank you - this makes me feel a lot better.
We had an incredibly horrible winter. So bad in fact that we were housebound almost the entire winter. It has been horrible. Then we had some nice days but my deck collapsed with the weight of the snow so my backyard was unsafe. We spent the last two weekends going to town on the backyard to get it to the point where it was safe for them to play even if it was still a mess. And today is the first day so we were outside from 9-10:45 and will go outside again right after naps. I just can't wait.
They are happy - I am happy and I was really starting to think I hated my job when in reality I just hate my job when I'm stuck in doors LOL

My yard is filthy - by that I just mean a lot of toys need to be hosed down, leaves everywhere, chairs strewn about rakes shovels, etc... all over. and old leaves and dead grass everywhere. Along with even some litter thanks to my 14 year old who doesn't know how to pick up after herself.

So this morning I raked and organized and stacked chairs and raked some more and picked up litter and fixed some fencing, fixed my broken hose nozzle and much more.

I'm so happy I could burst.


Did I mention it is going to rain starting tonight for about 24 straight hours <banging head against wall>

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I just want to mention, it is NOT a good idea to mow the lawn with children around. Not trying to be a b****face, but it's not safe.

We always make sure kids are in house, or on the opposite side of house (dh cuts back yard we are in front yard, vice versa). Sometimes kids toss rocks in the grass or toys etc, and the lawn mower whips these out. I was about 50 feet from dh when he was cutting grass and a little pebble hit me nearly in the eye.


But other than the lawn mowing, yes, everytime I'm outside with kids I accomplish something in yardwork or gardening.

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I weed, rake, sweep, whatever can be done with 6-8 interested little humans trailing me

I wouldn't mow with a powered mower of any kind, but I don't think that the push, rotary 'human powered' mowers are a big deal. In fact, I would love to find one ~ it reminds me of my childhood, when pushing that thing was my job! Now I think it would just be relaxing, lol.

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I too do yard work when we are outside. I consider it as enhancing the environment for the kids, not neglecting them. They play quite well, and I always have an eye and ear on them, just do what needs to be done while I'm out there!

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thing that worries me about these, is most of them don't have a big enclosed guard on the top (i dont' know if any do, but i'm sure there is some somewhere). If a kid trips and falls while you are pushing this, I'd be worried about fingers or hands getting in the blades, kwim?

I did not realize at first that it was a push mower, lol, I was just thinking she meant one you pushed around as opposed to maybe a riding lawnmower, my bad

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nope, by human powered I meant the rotary type but couldn't remember the word for it. I insist that they stay on the other side of the yard from me, and haven't had to do it since last summer when I watched a girl until 8 PM 5 nights a week...if I didn't mow with her and DD, the yard would NEVER have gotten mowed. I would never do it with any other type of mower.

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I'm super weak I guess, but have no desire to prove to myself or anyone that I can start a gas powered mower lol. So it has been and still remains dh's job to mow. I also have no desire to stop and start mowing the lawn 50 times to empty the bag (we definitely need a riding mower). DH usually does this once a week and usually either a friday night or a saturday.

But there are plenty of jobs that if I don't do them, they will never get done (ugh dog poo).

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we have alot of trees which equals alot of fallen branches, the dck's love to pick them up and put them in the fire pit, esp. the really big one. I too do yard work outside, I need to buy more rakes because all the kids love to help. I don't mow the yard because we own a rider, my own children are not allowed on the ground when the rider is in use and they are 6-13.

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I find that when we are outside it's better if I just step back a bit and let the kids be kids. So sometimes I pull weeds, sometimes I rake, sometimes they like to help with these chores too so I let them. Sometimes I just like to watch them play or I read a book. But I'm always listening to them even when they think I'm not.

I LOVE going outside with the kids. No matter what kind of morning we've had going outside takes everything down a notch.

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I love the reaction you get when you hear them plotting something they can't/shouldn't do and you let out a, "NO" or "I don't THINK so" or "No, A, give it back to B, he had it first!"

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I bought all the kids little garden gloves from the dollar store and let them help.

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It depends on whaty the kids are doing. If they are on the swings I usually stand and push them because they are all toddlers and don't get the 'pump' yet. Sandbox I try not to turn away as it only takes a second to get into a sand fight.

If they are playing with water squirters, chalk, or riding around on the ride ons or picking flowers (dandelions and the lil purple flowers that drow up everywhere) etc then I might pull the weeds from the flower bed and things like that.

I do the same though, worry the parents will show up and say something like "i'm not paying u to weed your garden" lol I can really see a past client saying something like that!

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I had someone (not a client, but a friend) say to me once.. "you cleaned your kitchen?" I said "yes - it was dirty"
She said "but they are paying you to watch their kids and play with them and take care of them, not to do your chores"
Ever since then I wonder if parents are thinking the same thing.

I will admit this is why I do not do any laundry at all and I don't do any major cleaning at all during the daycare day - just picking up etc..

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I will do yard work if the kids are occupied and are having a good time outside (which is every time we are out!), AND I will pick up and clean the floors and etc etc....I think it is important to play with the kids too, which I do and we have a scheduled day, but at the same time, if a floor is dirty, and you have a child crawling around, you need to clean it....I would hope a parent would appreciate that as well. But, who knows what they are thinking. In addition, if we are inside, I will put my little ones up off the floor and clean while they are doing an activity with play dough, or a musical toy. This gives them some structured play while you can get this done....

My house is not tidy, but I hope it is clean when a parent comes home. There are dishes in the sink at times, but I try to make sure the dishwasher is unloaded by the morning so I have somewhere to put those immediately after use (cooking pots and so forth), I am by no means perfect, but I just tried to be prepared to have my day go more smoothly...now that we are outside more, I am hoping the dirty floor thing won't be as big of an issue!

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I wash sheets every week (pulled off beds prior to daycare start in am). When kids are napping I put them back on the beds. I wipe dirty windows/sliding door while kids are playing about 1-2x a week (takes 5 min max) and I always put away/fill dishwasher while kids are eating lunch or playing. I vac with a hand held vac after every meal (the kids are used to waiting for their friends to finish). This takes about 1 min total and I swiffer every other day after lunch- kids are reading a quiet book and settling onto their mats. I clean my bathroom 1x a week while kids are sleeping and may deep clean some toys or one area of the house while they are napping. I do not feel bad. I would however if my house was as messy as it would be if none of that got done during the day.

Only occassionally do I do outdoor chores like the ones the others listed- MOstly because I have babies/toddlers and have to watch every second what they are mouthing.

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Good for u cleaning your kitchen! I like a neat tidy kitchen with counters all wiped down etc. I would think parents would appreciate that as well. I always make sure the dishes are all done and counters cleaned and the floor clean at least! If I can't sneak it in after circle time I get it done while they are napping. What are we supposed to do watch them drool as they sleep or count the nummber of times the roll over? Goodness!

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Thecrazyisout LOL great name!!!

I am super jealous of those of u with a dishwasher! I could never afford 1 and now that I can I don't have room for it. Figures lol

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I work on the yard too, but I stick to hand tools and brooms when out there without my husband. Here's why: I was moving dirt from one part of the yard to another and the kids were playing nicely about 20 feet away from the path I was taking to get between the two spots. Then one decided to get a better look and was next to me asking me questions. So I'm talking and digging and then I lifted the shovel to carry the dirt and he ran around behind me so fast that I couldn't get the shovel down fast enough. He ran head first into the shovel and got a deep gash between his eyes. He had to get stitches and all was fine but I learned that I can't trust the kids to stay put even when I tell them too. My exception is when I'm moving snow in the winter. Then I am very very careful to move slow and repeatedly warn the kids to stay back.

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I did it today. I pulled weeds, raked, and even overseeded the moat walked area of my yard while the kids played. I also turned over the soil in the veggie garden to help get it ready for planting.

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are you from mn too?!

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I also do yard work. Sometimes the kids will even help. I will rake leaves, pull weeds and when it's time for the garden, pull the fruit/vegs. The kids ususally play well outside so I don't have to stand over top of them and watch them.

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same here!

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Me too! I want one so bad and have forever! With four of my own children and then with daycare we generate alot of dishes to wash. I do alot of paper plates during the day for the daycare.

My house is neat and tidy in the mornings but by pick up time it looks as if children were taken care of instead of the house. I have apologized to the parents about it and they would rather have a messy house in the afternoon and know that I was busy with their children. When they nap I don't do my kitchen because it is right next to the schoolroom and I'm afraid the banging and clanging will wake them up.

I have also had daycare parents ask me if I clean the house while the children are here. That was a first for me and I took it as I would rather see your house messy than clean when I arrive. I was right on the money with that one. If they see painted pictures drying on the counters, paint brushes and pots in the sink they can see we were busy with painting. The list couldn go on but they would rather see what they child did all day than a sparkling clean house.

I do very light yard work outside with them. Maybe weeding the flower beds or something like that. Usually someone wants pushed on the swing, help going up to the slide and down, or something like that. I love when they open play and watch their little faces as they explore something new. Bubble blowing is the best, to watch them chase them and when they actually catch them and the squells that follow.

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I would NOT be able to survive without my dishwasher. I hate washing dishes by hand.

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I wish my dcparents preferred to see things a bit messy at the end of the day. Most of them seem fine with it but a couple have always seemed perturbed by the mess (especially in the playroom) at the end of the day. Most of those aren't with me anymore...but it did always bother me the critical look they would give the playroom and kitchen when they would come in.

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My daycare is separate from my house so when the last child gets picked up I'm done working for the day. I get everything done that needs to get done while im still "on the clock". A lot of daycare centers require their employees to not only care for the children but clean too. I vaccuum at the end of the day and parents often arrive when im doing so, no one has ever said a word.

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me too but when our dishwasher hit the scrap pile, I bought one of those wands you fill with soap, so you dont' have to stick hands in the sink, just run the water.

I WILL NOT stick my hands into dish water. Its gross, and when something touches my hand in there, I will scream and run, but I will never stick my hand in to grab the plus either. EW i'm cringing thinking about it.

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It depends on the yard work. I will rake. We mow 6+ acres and use a riding lawnmower. This does get done when daycare kids are here, but my DD (15) does it and we are either inside or in another part of the yard from where she is mowing. She almost always starts with the regular play area. If she is weed-whipping we are inside.

We grow a HUGE garden. Last year it was 75' x 150'. The daycare kids like to help plant. They do NOT like to help weed though. Their favorite part though is harvesting! I swear they eat raw as much as they pick. Which, of course, is more than fine with me. Green beans and snap peas seem to be their favorites. If I need to work in the garden (because the weeds are out of control) we drag our dirt toys out and they will play for hours. We don't have a sandbox, we have a garden. Some times when I'm feeling especially generous I'll take one of our toy bins and fill it with water. They will even make me 'garden stew' which usually consists of mud, rocks and discarded weeds. My parents know that in the summer we spend as much time as we can outside and that their kids will get dirty. None of them mind. Of course they enjoy the bonus of getting some garden fresh produce that their little one helped plant and pick.

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House work is another story. I can usually fold laundry and wash the dishes... by hand. I really want a dishwasher, but right now with the kitchen layout there isn't a good place for one, not even a mobile one.

I cannot do major deep cleaning often when the dckids are here. It depends on what combination of children are here. Most deep cleaning is done late nights (after 8p). My parents all understand if there are toys scattered, or the entry/mud room needs to be vacuumed. They all live in houses and have children and by no means keep immaculate houses.

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This spring our project has been to completely redo our yard. It was AWFUL when we moved into our house last fall so I'm very excited to be able to do this. My hubby does the majority of the work (installing the patio, tilling the soil preparing it for the sod, etc). But during daycare if we're outside I help out by picking up and tearing out roots, moving rocks, that kind of thing. I even have the kids help out too. It's like a nature scavenger hunt!

I've got all kids over the age of 3 and they're very independent. My yard is fenced in and I keep an eye and ear on them at all times. I would get bored so quickly if I had to just sit there and watch them when they're occupied. I need something to do!

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would you guys ever ask your dcp's how they feel about it?

I am worried now. More often than not, my house is pretty clean when parents come to pick up, and kids stuff is near the door. I mean, is that wrong? Obviously their children get lots of playtime during day, but by 430 I need my house clean, supper ready for 5pm, and I'm out the door usually at 545. So I don't want to come home at 10 pm and clean, kwim?

Plus DH is MOOOOOOOODDDYYYY if the house is untidy when he gets home around 4pm.

When weather is nice, we clean up our mess, and go outside. I clean (mop/vacuum) while babies are sleeping, and then when they wake up, outside we go. Usually mess is contained to one bin in one area of house.

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That's what I do too. The kids clean up their mess in the house then we go outside. So when daycare is over, I can "come home" to a clean house.

It's your daycare, as long as you are properly supervising them and keeping them safe from sharp tools, it's fine! Don't worry about what the parents think of how clean or dirty your place is.

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Yes. Communication is key. If you're worried about it, talk to them about it openly. That gives them a chance, if they have any sort of problem to address it as well.

I started from the very beginning, at the interview, to explain to each of my parents that I plan to treat their children as my own while they are here. That means they are welcome to help me do chores, if willing and capable. They like it when I let them vacuum. They will help me wash windows too sometimes. I also explain at the initial interview that while our yard is nice, large and well maintained it does need upkeep, as well as the garden. I explained from day one that I will do things in and out while their kids are here. If they don't like it they don't come here. More often than not they tell me they like that I let the kids work and learn things like that.

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I think it all just depends on what you're doing. Raking, pulling some weeds, picking fruit - all ok. But anything that would leave you unavailable to a kid that needs something, I think would bother a parent. It also depends on the age of the kids on the playground. If I tried to rake with a bunch of toddlers around, I think they would all want a turn - which would be fun, but I think the leaves might need even more raking by the time we're done.

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Yep...just did some raking yesterday while the kids were playing. I had that thought too...that I wondered if the parents would see the piles and be displeased that I was cleaning up the yard while working, but I really think it's okay if the kids are playing to get something done. Also, I'm not the kind to stand around for an hour doing nothing...I have to get something accomplished! So if they're playing nicely, I'll pick up the yard, drag the trash out, etc. I've even cleaned some windows while they're playing!

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Today I sat in one of our nice lawn chair and basked in the sun while knitting. It was so nice. The kids just needed verbal corrections, and knitting is a great activity to do while watching the kiddos because you can look up from it.

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last summer I pressured washed my living room carpet (gigantic area rug). helps bring out the fluffiness again lol.

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i was outside with the kids, cleaned the trash out of my van, took my computer outside, I will start to bring my crochet stuff outside and sit in the warm sun. I cleaned up some stuff in the yard, today I was hauling away some bails of hay and they wanted to help, which is great.
I agree with the above posters who treat the kids as their own, I do too and let them help with the housework alot (ok, they fight over the dishwasher) but I think its important that they see how to maintain areas and what keeps a household going. I'm so amazed how many children don't know how to clean up after themselves, it sounds so basic but yet kids don't know how to do it. I do need to go this weekend and buy some plastic rakes. My own children fight over who gets to wipe the windows.

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I was inspired by this thread today, and while DCG played outside, I picked up all the sticks in the yard and swept all of the horribly pollen off of the porch.

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