Post by goldengirlz on Aug 2, 2021 12:52:33 GMT -5
We just invited our babysitters back in May after they were vaccinated.
The truth is, H and I are going out less because there’s less going on. We’ve brought back our monthly date night, but there’s less other stuff that comes up (parties, shows, sporting events, etc.) But there are definitely people who want to make extra money these days; you could try posting on Care.com or NextDoor.
We don't have much trouble finding a sitter because we have four kids and are constantly cultivating our babysitter roster And I think part of it is that I pay very well. I would be more price sensitive if we were using a full-time nanny, but an extra 20 bucks every time we go out for a couple hours is worth it to me to have babysitters hopefully take our job over other things they could be doing. We hire babysitters regularly so that DH and I can take our older kids places while our younger kids stay home/the baby naps, so often its just for a couple of kids and not all four.
I went to drop my toddler at his in home daycare on Friday, and daycare provider reminded me she was on vacation this week. I was shocked. She says she told me in May, but I'm not so sure, and it would have been nice if she reminded me anytime in the past couple months - we have a great relationship and I see her twice a day! Luckily after like 10 texts, I found someone who could help us out this week.
Post by pinkdutchtulips on Aug 2, 2021 14:11:33 GMT -5
Back when I needed sitters (dd is now 12 so I don’t need them anymore 😊) and not having reliable family handy - I used friends’ daughters who babysat, older Girl Scouts (I was a troop leader so I knew leaders on levels above me), my local mom’s group on FB, noon supervisors from my daughter’s school (and their teenage daughters too), NextDoor … I wasn’t shy but carefully vetted everyone too.
We've always had an issue finding sitters. In the past we have used family but they are not local, teachers from the daycare, teenage babysitters but they tend to be busy with activities or age out. We've also put an ad in sittercity. I found with sittercity lots of people did not respond because they wanted full time nanny work. But if we paid more and we offered every weekend/ more regular hours they were more likely to be interested. Now the kids are 11 and 8, so we are comfortable leaving them for a short period of time, but not long enough for a full date night. So that helps also. During the pandemic the dates were like get take out and sit on a bench, so not that exciting, so we backed off date night for a while, but we have started adding it back in a little bit.
Finding a date night sitter has never been a problem for me, but I have found finding regular, reliable at-home childcare to be VERY challenging lately.
Sitters are still very common where I am (Boston area). We use a sitter several times a month (outside of our daily sitter/nanny), and most of my friends do the same - many quite a bit more frequently. Lots and lots of teenagers and college kids are available.