Things No One Warned Me About: Babysitters
So I think we have a *very* solid lead on a good babysitter for Briony. So far, we've been calling in favours from family members (or more accurately, we've been taking Briony along with us everywhere), but I think we're getting to a point where we're much more comfortable with the idea of leaving her for a few hours at a time - and I'm craving normal things like date nights with my husband or saying yes to the occasional girls night out when he's working a bunch of night shifts.But it's incredibly hard to imagine leaving your baby with someone you don't know very well. And it's *so* hard to know what qualities to look for (other than to clone myself). But the hardest thing of all so far is knowing how to pay a babysitter. Seriously. Does anyone know what the going hourly rate is for babysitters?
Labels: Mommy Stuff, Things No One Warned Me About
posted by Lindsay @ 3:21 PM
7 Comments:
I pay $6.50 an hour for my 3 girls, (9,6,4). My husband thinks it's too much, and I think it's worth every penny if my girls are happy, feel safe, and have fun. One trend I've noticed with all of our teenaged babysitters is that NO ONE cleans up anymore. I don't expect my house to be spotless when I get home, but when my girls go to bed at 8 and I'm paying you till 11, please at least clean up the toys that were played with and tidy up the dishes that were used for snack. I'm sounding old here, but that's how I was "trained" to babysit! My advice would be, set clear expectations the first time. I'm usually far too nice and more concerned about leaving a yummy snack. :)
anywhere from $5-7 depending on the number of kids, time of day, and what you need them to do. I totally agree with Karla that babysitters (the younger teens anyway) don't clean up. Ours doesn't even put away leftover snack or meals that the kids have eaten. We've learned that we need to be clear with expectations and pay appropriately. (a yummy snack and a decent selection of movies helps too!) But really, Briony is so adorable I'm sure anyone would look after her for FREE! if I wasn't moving, I'd do it in a heartbeat!
We pay $7 an hour for both kids and when we do go out we try and make it around the time that the kids go to bed (7:30) so we can help with the getting down part and the sitter (usually one of my younger sisters)doesn't have to do too much. My one sister always has my house much cleaner than when I left it. Thank goodness!
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I would probably pay $5 (we haven't really has a "real" sitter yet). I think it would also depend how many "awake" hours Scarlett had, if they were required to do meals, etc. And - like they all say - if they left the house nice and tidy that would factor in as well.
Then again, I'm a country bumpkin, so maybe the rates are less out here? Dunno. I should ask some of my younger cousins if there's a going "rate" in their opinion.
Yikes, these answers so far are all over the map.
And now I'm thinking... Is cleaning up after themselves (or your kids) something that is expected for what you're playing them? Or is that a reason to tip if it's done?
I can't believe babysitters don't clean up anymore. I *always* cleaned up. I figured that, at the very least, the parts of the house we were in should be the same as when the parents left, and hopefully a little bit cleaner.
Unless it's a totally unique circumstance, the idea of paying minimum wage seems weird to me. They're not paying taxes on it, so the max should really be minimum wage minus tax. You would think :)
Crap. I accidentally hit 'post.'
What I wanted to add is that I don't want to overpay to a point where we can't justify the expense and end up staying home instead of having a date night or whatever. But it's also MY DAUGHTER. And I don't feel okay about cheaping out on whoever is entrusted with taking care of her.
This is a weird one.
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