What Your Babysitter Wished You Knew But Won’t Tell You
This article is coming from years of experience of being the neighborhood babysitter (though, thankgoodness I wasn’t a babysitter in my college years, I had a retail job – so much better…right). But there are quite a few things that your babysitter does and thinks that, in some way or another, you should be aware of.
Your Babysitter Is Not Your Cleaner
She isn’t. She’s there to take care of your child, or children. Don’t ask her to clean the house or the playroom in her “spare time” – she won’t have any, and even after the children go to sleep, it isn’t her responsibility to clean. Her responsibility is still to look after your children. If the house is dirty when you leave for your night on the town, expect it to still be dirty upon your return, if not a little messier. Children – when the parents are away – tend to run amok. If you want your babysitter to clean, expect to pay her extra – offer to pay her extra to do so.
We Bribe Your Children
Yes. We do. For good behavior they’ll be able to watch their favorite movie, or have ice cream. Especially with a new family, it’s a way not only to have an easy transition, but to also get to know the child – it is quite hard to actually get to know and enjoy the company of a screaming six year old who wants to draw on the walls with Mommy’s permanent pens.
We won’t give into a child’s tantrums (at least those of us that have been babysitting for a good while), but we will concede a few sweets here and there to quiet them.
As We Know Your Rules, You Should Know Ours
A babysitter should be a part-time parent to your children. Just as you brief us on what rules you strictly enforce, it is our responsibility to tell you what rules we’ve began to enforce with your child that are in line with your parenting style. If we tell you that we aren’t allowing your child to bring their blanket anywhere but to bed, don’t let that rule slip. You should be just as comfortable with our “parenting style” as we are with yours. Respect the decisions of your babysitter and don’t undermine her work.
This is especially true if you have a long-term babysitter that has been with your family for years.
We Don’t Like Talking About Money
…but we think you’re not paying us enough. Like any position, seniority (and loyalty) should equal a raise or a bonus over the years. I’ve heard of a lot of babysitters actually leaving a family so they don’t have to put themselves forward and ask for more money from the family. Pay your babysitter reasonably (usually between $10 and $20 an hour) and treat it like a standard office position with perks and bonuses, raises, etc.
Be Considerate With Timing
This encompasses both ends of the spectrum in terms of tardiness – don’t call last minute and cancel the babysitting for that day, and be home on time – or make sure that you call the babysitter at least an hour beforehand and make them aware that you may even potentially be late.
Babysitters are real people, too, as well as professionals. They probably turned down other babysitting jobs to babysit you that night, and they do depend on the income that you are giving them. Canceling on short notice could leave us with much less money that we budgeted for the coming.
Coming home late without notice does two things – a, we worry, and b, we’re impatient. Worried because we are taking care of your kids, and don’t want something to happen to their parents. And we are impatient because we expected to be home an hour ago, or we have plans to go catch a late-showing movie with our friends.
These are just a handful of things that we are sure as parents you are aware of, but they might be things that happen to slip your mind – but perhaps the bigger picture that encompasses all of this is to actually treat your babysitter like you would treat an employee in terms of respect given – because that is what they are, with the additional responsibility of being a surrogate parent.
Alexis Green is a freelance writer who doesn’t always fondly remember her babysitting days. Nanny jobs are not anything she sees in her future, though she has utmost respect for those who choose the childcare profession.
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