How Do You Handle Your Own Young (Ren) During An Interview?

[Baby Beluga]

I am a relatively new in home provider. I did part time care for a couple of years and have recently branched out to provide full time care. I've been doing a lot of interviews lately (which I hate!) and feel I am no good at.

My question is, I have a 2 yr old child of my own who is obviously with me during interviews. This week we had an interview and she actually touched the mom's belly and said (boop) think Pillsbury dough boy....I was pretty embarrassed. This is not the first time she has had less then desirable behavior in an interview. Nothing horrible, just embarrassing to me. She tends to be the social, boundary-less, in your face child. Any one have any suggestions on how to get around this?

Btw, husband is a no-go. He refuses to be home during an interview, so I can't rely on him to keep her occupied during the process.

ETA: (opps, sorry for the title typo)

[Blackcat31]

Welcome to the forum!

Have you considered having an interview box of tricks?

Maybe a basket or bin full of SUPER interesting toys/activities that your child ONLY gets during interviews.

Things that will keep her attention focused on that instead of the potential clients?

I also think her behavior is on par with a 2 yr old. They are inquisitive and boundary-less. I am sure most parents completely understand that.

I also think watching you in action can also be a good thing. HOW you react or address your DD"s behavior would be more important to me than just your DD's behavior....as kids are suppose to act up when they are in the company of strangers or somewhere that you would rather they didn't you know...

Another option would be maybe hiring an older neighbor or relative that could be a mother's helper type person that could come over and occupy your child while you conduct interviews.

[hope]

The belly touch doesn't seem bad at all for a 2 year old. Sounds kinda cute actually. Can you get any type of babysitter for her while you have interviews? Any family members or friends that can come over for the hour and play with her? If not I would put on a movie, get out a great puzzle. You can go to the store and pick out a new coloring book just for that moment. You can try to time it for nap time. If none of that is an option. Then just have her help you with the interview. I like to have my kids give a tour of my house. I have them pass out papers and tell them to take notes and make a picture of our house so the new mom remembers where we live. The other person is a mom and should understand that you have a child and unless your child is hitting, spitting or yelling I would expect them to find the child's behavior as normal.

[crazydaycarelady]

There was awhile there where I had my hubby take mine somewhere outside the house during interviews. I could have 6 dckids and do an interview no problem but my own kids took the opportunity to be little beasts!

[Play Care]

There was awhile there where I had my hubby take mine somewhere outside the house during interviews. I could have 6 dckids and do an interview no problem but my own kids took the opportunity to be little beasts!

This. I also felt like having my own kids present during interviews was a no win situation. If they misbehaved, it reflected badly on me. If they were well behaved but doing normal age appropriate behaviors that took any of my attention away from the interview, it would look bad on me. Generally I prefer to interview when DH was home so he could run interference.

[Second Home]

Have you ever told your DH that it would be much safer for him to be home ( maybe in another room or outside so he is not a part of the interview) when you have people coming over for interviews ? After all these people are strangers and sometimes there may be a difficult situation where you NEED another adult present.

[Crazy8]

Have you ever told your DH that it would be much safer for him to be home ( maybe in another room or outside so he is not a part of the interview) when you have people coming over for interviews ? After all these people are strangers and sometimes there may be a difficult situation where you NEED another adult present.

my thoughts exactly. You have strangers coming into your home for the first time, I want my DH to be there. When my kids were younger he would keep them upstairs with him during the interview or they may even go for a walk around the block once I felt the family was ok.

[TheGoodLife]

Have you ever told your DH that it would be much safer for him to be home ( maybe in another room or outside so he is not a part of the interview) when you have people coming over for interviews ? After all these people are strangers and sometimes there may be a difficult situation where you NEED another adult present.

Agreed! I am very leery of doing interviews without my husband home- both to help with the 3 girls as well as for safety concerns. I hate the fact that we open our homes to strangers every interview we have.

Other than than, have something they really like to do (crayons, washable markers- if trustworthy with them - ,ect ) anything that would keep them more likely occupied and interested while you are interviewing.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the welcome and for the suggestions! I usually have a table set up with play dough during an interview. It is one of my DD's favorites and usually her and the child of the family I am interviewing can play together while I go over everything with the parents.

I would prefer that my DH be home during an interview. The biggest obstacle with that is that he works about an hour from our house and is not able to logistically be there when I schedule an interview without leaving work early. I schedule them at 6pm when I close so I don't have other kids here. Work aside.... he doesn't want to be seen by the families. I did suggest he take our daughter somewhere, but he was not game for that either

I do like the idea of having a special box of toys/activities reserved just for interviews and will have to try that the next time.

[Baby Beluga]

^^^ that was me - just forgot to log in