justcheckingin73- Let DD run her own small business. I learned so much about business as a 12-17 year old babysitter. Let her set her rates, book her own jobs, decide if she wants to charge surge pricing, how she advertises her services, etc. It’s an amazing opportunity for her!
I’ll also say I got seriously pissed off when people asked my mom if I was available. Like if they did it three times, they were off my roster for good. My mom double-booked me more than once trying to curry favor with folks. Then she would expect me to go back on my word so she could keep hers. So if people ask if she will babysit, always say “I have no idea. I’m happy to check with her.”
Post by erinshelley21 on Jan 29, 2018 10:50:55 GMT -5
justcheckingin73, Don't feel bad! My dad told one of his friends they paid me too much when I babysat for them since their kids were 10 and 6 or something like that and I was only 14. His friend told him to shut up and that feeling like their kids were safe was worth every dollar they paid me.
Plus, if her experience is like mine, she'll eventually babysit for a tight ass that makes her drive 30 minutes ONE WAY to watch his 4 kids ranging from age 2 to age 9 for 5 hours and only pay her $30, so it will even out That guy was also my dad's friend, so I knew he made good money and could afford to pay me better than that. My dad almost called and complained for the opposite reason that time haha.
covergirl82 - are you saying if a sitter is there for 5 hours you will now only pay $30? That’s a big difference - $10/hour versus $6/hour....
Yes. Most of the time, the sitter comes around 6 pm, and my kids are in bed around 8:30. Typically the sitter is not actively playing with the kids. I don't feel like I need to pay a ton of money when they will either watch TV, play on their phone, or fall asleep after the kids are in bed. I don't like to stay out super late, so we are usually home by 10 pm. (And to give some perspective, or at least insight into my thinking, I pay my DCP $30 for a half day of care for both kids, which usually includes lunch and snacks, and she is very experienced and CPR and first aid certified.)
covergirl82 - Interesting - we only pay “waking hours” when we have an overnight sitter, and we only don’t count the hours the sitter (instead of the kids) are asleep. Many families locally pay for sitter sleeping hours at half rate, so I feel like we are already getting away with something!
Post by sandandsea on Jan 29, 2018 11:48:50 GMT -5
We always overpay the babysitters because we like them, we trust them, we want them to want to come back. And it’s a small cost for us and makes a bigger impact to them. So if I Overpay by $20 a nights it’s not a big deal. Especially when our favorite is young, family friend and charges $10/hour instead of $25 like some others.
Wait, 2chatter, if you guys are out for a date night, and your kids are asleep for say, 2 of the 4 hours you're out, you only pay the babysitter for 2 hours?
Not me - that’s covergirl82. If we go out overnight we don’t pay 10pm-6am - 8 hours for sitter sleep time. But we generally toss in $20-40 extra for overnights (usually a full day plus night). It’s super easy money because the kids are 13, 10 and 5 - and pretty insular, so DD will make eggs and paint with the other two or snuggle up and watch a movie. One sitter slept in until 9 by accident and was horrified at herself and texted to tell me that she was even more shocked that the kids baked muffins, scrambled eggs, cleaned the playroom, made a huge fort and were watching a DVD on the portable player in it with the dog, who they had also fed breakfast.
saraml13, ha ha! That would MH too. I asked him to pack the kids' lunches last Friday because he was helping out at school all day, and given his reaction, you would have thought I asked him to make a gourmet meal without a recipe!
We had a pretty good weekend. DH and DS both have colds, so they stayed home to rest while DD and I ran errands Saturday morning. Later that afternoon DD had a birthday party to go to. Sunday DD and I went to church (DH and DS stayed home again to rest) and then I read and took a nap in the afternoon.
Yes! I ask DH to pack the kids lunch for camp and he says he doesn't know how to do it. It's not hard. It's a lunch.
Y’all DH’s name was “Doesn’t Do Sandwiches” for three years in my phone. Because one morning I asked him to pack lunches, and he said he didn’t know how. I suggested he make sandwiches and he said “I don’t do sandwiches”.
If DH would pack lunch all DD or I would get would be a peanut butter sandwich as that is all he eats! This would be fine other than neither DD or I like straight peanut butter and she has a nut aware school so kids who bring nuts are asked to sit away from the other students to avoid allergy stuff. Last year it wasn't as big of deal as no one in her class had nut allergies, this year she has 6 kids including her new BFF so I avoid sending nuts to school so DD isn't forced to eat alone.