13yo DD - mother's helper ad

[kitty]

My 13yo DD worked for a couple weeks as a mother's helper for a neighborhood family we know from scouting while the parents WFH. She enjoyed the experience (and the $10/hr they paid her lol) and wants to try to get more business for the last month of summer. 

She is making a flyer to leave at houses where either we know they have young kids or see evidence of them, like a cozy coupe in the driveway. These will all be in our neighborhood (8 streets that all interconnect) where she can ride her bike to and from but they will be families we don't know or don't know as well as the above family.

We've been waffling about whose number to put on the flyer - mine or hers? I'm leaning toward mine on the flyer and we can give them her number after I vet the initial interaction but would you find that to be odd if you were a potential customer? She's only had a phone for 2 months so I don't know what's typical here.

[waverly]

For babysitters that I used in the past, I initially spoke to the parent and then the parent gave me their child's phone number for future bookings. The parents were friends/ acquaintences of mine, so I had their numbers already, but not their kid's numbers. Hope that helps.  The kids were typically older, I'm thinking 14 for our dog walker and 14-16 for our babysitter.  

[nicolewi]

Hmmm. I think I would put your number, and I might even add a line under the number saying “please contact my mom and she will put you in touch with me,” or something like that.

As a potential customer, I want to know who I was contacting and how it was going to work. And I think I would admire that you were taking steps to be safe.

[redpenmama]

I'd definitely put your number (and indicate it's yours). My daughter is the same age and has done some babysitting, and the people typically go through me.

[macmars45]

I vote your number.

Last summer I had our next door neighbor's 15 yr old daughter babysit my DS. I 100% reached out to the mom first before I got the teen's number.

[sent]

Your number, not weird. Anyone serious about hiring your daughter will understand after she's hired her and she asks them to contact her directly to not go through mom anymore.

[Deleted]

I think it’s fine to put your number! We’ve had a few 13-y-o babysitters and I always start by messaging the parents first, then they give their child my number.

A lot of kids don’t give out their numbers anymore, and they use messaging apps instead because it’s easier to block people. I don’t know if there’s a way to set up a profile on a messaging app (like WhatsApp or Slack) specifically for her business, but that might work too. I think most parents of young kids understand the need to not give out phone numbers.

[bee20]

I usually roll my eyes at moral panics on this board but definitely for a mothers helper type situation you should vet!

When I was 12 or 13 the neighbor 2 doors down asked me to babysit when I was out for a walk. I was up for a job so I said yes, and my mom was ok because she knew the owners (the residents were the nephew or cousin and his family, the owners were back in their home country dealing with some family stuff). Their place was a mess (dishes not done for days, food ground into the carpet), they had adult VHS tapes next to the kids movies on the shelf, and they always came home way later than they said they would. After a time or two of this my mom put an end to it, and it was good to have an adult running that interference.

I babysat for dozens of other families and it wasn't a problem, but I'd suggest you coach your kid to talk to you if anything is odd and you'll handle it.

[jaycee]

I'd put my son's phone number on there. He is 13 too. It is so important to me that he develops good texting skills (responding in a timely, appropriate manner) and the stakes here are so low. I'd for sure read every single text but I think this is something a 13 year old should be able to learn to do.

[purplepenguin7]

We recently hired a 13 year old babysitter in a similar scenario. She also made a flyer and had both her mother’s and her cellphone numbers on it (labeled). I started off texting with her mom because I had already chatted with her but it was good to have both numbers just in case.

[raleighnc]

All of the neighborhood sitters who were listed in the newsletter had their parent's contact until they were at least 16ish. I preferred that because honestly when you are hiring a young teen, you are depending on their parents as backups to make sure they get there or in emergencies. Like once our 14/15yo pet sitter overslept and couldn't be late for school, so it was prearranged that her mom took over that morning. And when one of our dogs needed vet care, her mom obviously had to drive.

[noodleoo]

Since you don't actually know the neighbors she might be contacting, I'd put your number first (and say so). It is a safety issue and she's still so young. She can practice texting professionally after you have vetted who she is texting.

[al dente]

I would put yours. I've used a few mothers helpers and it's always done through the parent. Sometimes they'll add their kid in so it's a group message.

[kitty]

Ok I'm glad to see the consensus is what I was hoping! Thanks all for weighing in.