I ought to start out with defining what a really good babysitter is, in my humble opinion. I mean, having been a babysitter, here are some of the things I did. I played with the children, limited the amount of television they were allowed to watch, cleaned up the toys we played with, washed any dishes we used, occasionally I'd clean more if the kids were in bed and I had a lot of extra time. I also would raid the kitchen if necessary for a late night snack - but that, to my knowledge, was never deducted from my pay! I made sure the kids all had brushed their teeth and gone to the bathroom before bed, washed up and sometimes even gave them baths (we've never asked a sitter to do this - but I used to have to do it all the time!). I tucked them in after cleaning up their bedrooms.
These days, most of our babysitters do about that much. All of them have spent time with the girls, we always tell them just to leave the dishes, and many of them clean up if they put the girls to bed. For all that we have always paid $5-$7/hour. We try to pay that plus a little extra, and I guess I always thought that was kind of good for this area. Up in Connecticut, I would make anywhere from $5-$10/hour, so for around here where some were making $3/hour when I first moved here, I thought we were doing well!
Tonight we had our neighbor's foster child babysit, and she was excellent! She has a wonderful personality, was awesome with the girls, who LOVE her. If I could, I would ask this girl to babysit all the time, as it's terribly convenient, and she is a super sitter. The problem? When we got home and asked how much she charges, she said $20/hour!! At first I thought she was kidding. But then I realized she was dead straight, and I was dead floored!! I had in my hand what I thought would pay for her tonight AND tomorrow and it wasn't even enough for tonight. I was just a little shocked!
Now, she's going to be a sophomore in high school, which was another reason I was floored. If she'd been in college, my jaw might have only hit my chest instead of the floor, but a non-driving teenager? $20/hour? Even I don't get paid that much to work with kids, and she only had two!!
So, what I need to know is two-fold. One, am I just grossly underpaying my sitters? and do I owe them large amounts of back pay? Two, how much is a really good babysitter really worth? I'd hate to undervalue a truly wonderful babysitter, which is what we've done often with my cousin's daughter. You just can't put a price on a good family babysitter, who will love your kids like family!! I just don't know that I'm willing (or rich enough) to fork out $20/hour for babysitting!
UPDATE: So, here's what I did. I first emailed my neighbor and told her that we loved having her foster child babysit, but probably couldn't afford her. I just wanted her to know that there wasn't anything that happened - we were just poor! Next, I emailed some friends and neighbors to find out how much they pay. Sounds like $5-$10 is the going rate around here. There is a woman who is widowed who babysits for a living - she charges $10/hour, so that would be the top of the scale I guess. Then, I emailed one of our very favorite sitters to find out how much we owe her in back pay, and, well, she sent me this funny email:
OH MY GOSH!!! $20 an hour! No way. I would only ask that much... well, i would never ask that much. but if i had to think of a time that i would, it would be if you had 10 boys who always kicked and hit me and your house was dirty. haha. that is totally totally nuts and i do not think that anyone deserves $20 an hour to watch kids, especially not your girls! i don't even make $20 an hour at work! and even people my age who nanny all day only make $12- which would be too much for a babysitter anyway. wow- that is just outlandish.I hope I'm in the clear here, in being completely shocked and not owing my babysitters all kinds of money!! I am feeling much better, of course, she's babysitting today and possibly tomorrow as well! Live and learn, I guess!!
4 comments:
$20/hour!!!!!!! No way. That seems way too much for a teen. I mean come-on...what are her expenses that she needs that?
I'd still be babysitting if that was the rate!
To Deana - yeah, I was thinking, "Why bother going to get my master's when I could just babysit for $20/hour!" Just not realistic for a non-driving, 14 year old methinks!
MPM - That's good to know! My girls are older, take care of themselve, low-maintenance. I think $10 is reasonable around here, but it's good to know that others DO pay more!! Good reality check.
Sticker shock - LOL!! I thought paying $110 to have our new garbage disposal was a lot, but when we came home after paying that to this?? Well, that was WAY more shock. Two times in one night? Point me to the nearest cardiologist!!
Not being someone who pays for babysitting I don't know what the going rate is around here. As a 15 year old who would !love! to make $20 an hour sitting in an Air Conditioned house, I must say that is Way overpriced! What's minimom wage anyway? I think it's around $5.50 an hour, no way someone babysitting is doing more work then people at McDonald's!
the first time i sat for the Ramsings (which was the first time i ever met them) was in 9th grade, and when they asked me how much i charged i said about $5 an hour and they said that was about how much they were used to paying. as i've sat for them over 4 years they've gradually increased my pay (without us ever discussing it). this past year i think i received about $6-7 an hour, with a generous tip, which was fine with me and i always felt totally appropriate for any sitting job, let alone given the nature of this job- the work (not heavy) and the relationship i had with the family (very close). i know matt said $10-15 is normal, but i have never heard of a high school babysitter getting paid that much, although i havent sat for anyone besides friends in years and i could just be totally out of the loop. TWENTY DOLLARS AN HOUR IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE. i cannot even imagine a babysitter getting paid that much, unless maybe they were a trained adult (and that still seems maybe not unreasonable given the nature of child care, but definitely unusual). has the girl charged that successfully before, or did she just think that was the going rate?
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