On Saturday I successfully left Cade with a paid babysitter for a good portion of the day-lunch, a nap and all. This may not seem like a big achievement, but this has seriously given me stress. Living away from family takes away automatic babysitters and people I trust. There are plenty of people here that I trust but then I just worry. Maybe it is a first time parent thing but I have had a problem leaving him with a paid babysitter. I have left him at neighbors' houses where they have kids and he is very familiar there because I have been there with him several times. But yesterday Cole and I had to be two different places for a good portion of the day. I had one of the Young Women from our ward, who Cade had never met, to come watch him. I was a mess. I was so nervous. I almost cancelled. But I figured just as Cade needs to get used to babysitters, I need to get used to the idea of leaving Cade in the care of a babysitter. And everything went fine! Cade was great. He took his nap great. And everybody was happy and calm when we came home. This was very exciting for me. I feel very liberated. I can successfully leave him with a babysitter and nothing catastrophic will happen.
So here is my question to all my blogging buddies- What do you pay your babysitters? I don't want to be a cheapskate because I want it to be worth their time. I want them to want to come back. But also when you calculate a date and babysitting money things can get pricey. What do you think is reasonable?
Come on-who wouldn't jump at the chance to watch this little guy for free! ;)
6 comments:
You're so funny! I'm looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks!
I would totally watch him for free!!! We usually pay our babysitters about $6/hr...so $3/kid. But, I usually always round it up. So if they babysit for 3 hours then I would pay them $20 (sometimes even more if they went above and beyond). I also feel like it depends on who your babysitter is. I usually don't pay as much for a 12 or 13 year old as I would for a 16 or 17 year old (I usually ask beehives anyways, because they are way more available and into the whole babysitting thing).
It is a hard thing to trust your child to a babysitter. But, once you find one you are comfortable with and who Cade loves then it is wonderful! My girls beg us to get a babysitter...that sounds pretty bad, huh?:)
Okay, it's been a while since I've had to hire a babysitter (Jonathan is 14 now!) but, like you, I wanted to make them feel it was worth their while and for them to want to come back. So . . . even back then, I paid our babysitters $5/hour (for one child).
Of course, I always hired girls that I thought were worth it -- but no one ever turned me down for a babysitting job! I figure I'd rather overpay than underpay when it comes to the care of my child.
And yes, the peace of mind and sense of freedom that comes from finally doing it that FIRST time is wonderful.
Good luck, Jenna!
Bummer...I was totally about to offer to watch them for free, but it's Shanna that lives in Spanish Fork. I ended up making friends with some mommies in my ward with kids about the same ages and we just switch off whenever someone needs it. Good luck!
Yay! I'm so glad you were able to find someone you felt comfortable with and that everything went well. I don't know about the pay thing, but I agree that if you feel comfortable getting beehives you can probably pay less and they are probably better babysitters. When I was that age babysitting was my life and I just loved it and as long as I had a little spending money, I didn't care about hourly wage. I don't know what it's like 12 years later though, lol.
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