S/o babysitters | Imamother

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children

S/o babysitters

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amother

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:20 am

Spinoff from the mikvah surprise thread. Regarding babysitters- is there a minimum length of time that you feel is fair to ask a babysitter to come for? I always felt that if I'm asking someone to dedicate part of her evening to come over and stay with my kids I need to pay a minimum of two hours. Am I wrong?

chestnut

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:26 am

I think it depends - does she live around the corner, how busy she is, etc. For example, my daughter doesn't mind coming for an hour, but she only started babysitting this past year and does it only for people on our block.

amother

Seagreen

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:36 am

I would assume there would have to be a minimum to be fair, and if it would be less, it would have to be discussed beforehand. As long as girl knows what to expect Smile

Back when I was in high school, my neighbor called me that they needed me to come babysit ASAP . They needed to get out for something time sensitive . So I cancelled my nights plans to study with friends and went fast. The kids were awake and it wasn’t the easiest job.

Their father came home 45 minutes later. Since it wasn’t a full hour they gave me a lollipop.

I felt really taken advantage of...

Aylat

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:37 am

I pay for a minimum of an hour even if I'm gone for less.

amother

Cerulean

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:38 am

I think as long as you pay for an hour, it's ok.

Stars

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:40 am

amother [ Seagreen ] wrote:

Since it wasn’t a full hour they gave me a lollipop.

How old were you?

amother

Seagreen

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:46 am

Stars wrote:

How old were you?

17! I was in 12th grade

Looking back I laugh that they thought it was ok to ‘pay’ me with that

Rutabaga

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:48 am

We pay for an hour minimum even if it ends up being less. We seldom hire babysitters, but occasionally both DH and I have different places we need to be on the same night and we can't coordinate to take turns at home. So we hire a babysitter and give her an approximate idea of how long we need her for and which one of us will get home first. If we're both out of the house separately then we need to hire someone who has her own car and isn't dependant on us for transportation.

As long as the babysitter knows it's only for a short while, then what's the issue? She can always turn down the job if she's not interested.

amother

Cerulean

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 10:53 am

Seagreen, I hope that was the last time you babysat for them.

amother

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 11:07 am

Interesting, so it's ok to ask for only an hour as long as I let them know beforehand? What if it's an adult woman and not a teenager?

chatz

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 11:14 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Interesting, so it's ok to ask for only an hour as long as I let them know beforehand? What if it's an adult woman and not a teenager?

Why not? You're making an offer. They can either accept or reject or negotiate.

Chayalle

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 11:18 am

I once saw a teshuva in a local paper that said, if you ask a babysitter to babysit for a certain amount of time, you owe her the money at the going rate for that amount of time even if you come home earlier.

Seagreen, those people were seriously out of line. I hope you never went back.

Rachel Shira

Fri, Jul 19 2019, 11:19 am

I sometimes have a babysitter for 20-30 minutes - they know in advance, and I pay them for the time they’re here (rounding up to the nearest half hour).

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