My sister has a 'poll' going on at her blog with the question: "how much do you pay a babysitter these days?" Feel free to leave a comment on my site or hers....
But... I want to take this question one step further and ask, "what all does your babysitter do?" - do they pick up toys afterwards and generally leave the house in the same condition as when you left, do they wipe the table/highchair clean after meals etc? (We usually order pizza or something so that supper isn't even a hardship)
We currently pay $8/hr for three kids. I was talking to a mom of a teenage girl who babysits and she thought that was a decent amount. But then sometimes I wonder if it's enough??? Thoughts?
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13 comments:
I have no idea how much you pay a sitter these days. We haven't left Jeremy with anyone, and have tons of family who would probably kill us if we did,as they would love the chance to get their hands on my little monkey... but I know that when my girls babysit, they usually clean up a little too, because they know that they will get more jobs if they do.
Hmmm, that's a good addition to the question. My sitters haven't done the dishes, but the table was cleared last time. When I had a brother/sister combo once to babysit, my boys told me that the brother just wanted to watch movies the whole time, and it was the sister that did everything from playing with them, reading to them, getting pj's on, brushing teeth, etc. I don't know what he would be like without his sister to do all that (he is the older one), but I don't think I will have him back, either... maybe his sister when she is old enough to come by herself (she's only 11 now).
$8??!!! My son gets up to $5 per hour... sometimes $6. When we had a babysitter he or she would tidy up the toys the kids played with, load the dishwasher with the dishes/wipe the table after a meal.
Here the babysitting wage is $6/hr for 1 child and $1/hr for each additional child. You can take the Red Cross babysitting couse in BC at the age of 11. I think that is too young of an age, but then again some kids are more mature than others. As far as the house goes, if it was clean when the parents left, then it should be the same way when the parents return. If the babysitter is doing her job right, there shouldn't be a mess. When you take out one toy, you put the other one back. I always did the dishes when I babysat (20+ years ago) and was usually rewarded for that with a tip.
Hmmm, we don't really have an hourly wage, we just usually pay $20-25. Most times we are out for about 2-5 hrs. If the babysitter has to feed them supper, maybe more. Our babysitter doesn't clean anything...I think once she folded a few blankets a child had made a fort with earlier in the day. Not like when i was a babysitter though...times have changed!
I find it VERY hard to pay that much esp if pizza is being ordered on top of that and whatever we spend on being out, i definitely tip big for cleaner upers! and call back. I only have two kids and can't bare to pay more than $5 an hour even though i totally can't afford what their care is worth, i would never leave the house!
We don't have any kids - but we did find the question VERY interesting. So we 'googled' and thought you may find these links of interest:
http://www.plea.org/yas/pubs/bby/bby.htm
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Babysitter/Hourly_Rate
We also found some related chat rooms where kids were discussing going baby sitting rates, etc. Lou, looks like you are paying on the higher end & should expect more from your sitters! Good Luck!
I know that Morgan (she now babysits regularly for us and other family members)has been taught and is expected to clean up after herself and the kids. She will pick up toys, sweep, do dishes, and even fold any laundry left out.....perhaps we get away with more as she is family, but she has babysat other non-family kids she does the same....perhaps that is whey she is getting more calls. Generally she gets no more that $5-$6 perhour and she is quite happy about that (I don't regularly pay her...family responsibilty etc.)...I am sure Morgan would love to babysit for $8.00 an hour :0)
When my mommy and daddy go out for an evening, they leave me by myself.
So glad to see that Bigfoot is frequenting the blogs again! missed your wit.....
Thanks for all the comments & tips everyone - muchly appreciated. Looks like I'll probably keep my rate about the same then, when baby #4 arrives...
Hi Louise, Thanks so much for the nice comments you left on my blog. I really appreciate it.
I am so clueless sometimes. When I checked out your blog I called my husband over and said, "Doesn't this girl look like Sarah? Wow, that's amazing!" we thought. It wasn't until I saw a picture of Elise that I clued in.. you are Sarah's sister! Duh! No wonder you look like her. Like I said, I'm a little dozey at times! LOL
Anyway, it was very nice to "meet" you. Now I have another blog to check out!
As for your babysitter question I am probably no help at all. My girls are 23, 20 and 17. When we got a babysitter we paid about $3 an hour for all three. I think we paid pretty well for back then.
Talk to you soon.
Lou - you definitely pay well. I pay $5 an hour but then always round it up to the next $5. I know, makes no sense at all. So I think I probably end up paying $6 per hour on average.
I'll babysit your kids!
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