What's the best way to find a regular afterschool sitter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - yeah, I definitely am NOT looking for some 28 year old with a MA who can drive my giant SUV (which I don't have). I only want a few days because I have a pretty flexible work schedule, working from home many days of the week, but I do need to go in at least once per week and sometimes more. My kid is old enough to just come home and do homework and chill before we go off to several activities later in the evening. I feel like this could definitely work for a HS student. I don't really need them to be able to drive, but that is sort of a "nice to have". I just don't get it, having a routine HS job is like another "activity" said high schooler can put on their college application while making some cash.

Your last sentence makes no sense.

Re-phrasing / explaining my point: Having a routine high school babysitting job is like (and just as good as) any other activity. The high schooler can put it on their college application just like they can put a sport, participation in music/drama, or other commercial job.

OP, I also think this should be a good job for a HS student, but I wouldn't go in with this as a selling point. Colleges absolutely do not view a regular babysitting job the same way that they view participation in a sport or activity, and HS kids know this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - yeah, I definitely am NOT looking for some 28 year old with a MA who can drive my giant SUV (which I don't have). I only want a few days because I have a pretty flexible work schedule, working from home many days of the week, but I do need to go in at least once per week and sometimes more. My kid is old enough to just come home and do homework and chill before we go off to several activities later in the evening. I feel like this could definitely work for a HS student. I don't really need them to be able to drive, but that is sort of a "nice to have". I just don't get it, having a routine HS job is like another "activity" said high schooler can put on their college application while making some cash.

Lol, no I meant the parents expect the part time sitter to have the huge new SUV/minivan...like the sitter can afford an $80k car on the $250/week they want to pay her.

I see this all the time. Or they want the sitter to live within 10-15 minutes of them in Kalorama, McLean, or Bethesda....on 3 hours of work per day where a studio is $2200.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - yeah, I definitely am NOT looking for some 28 year old with a MA who can drive my giant SUV (which I don't have). I only want a few days because I have a pretty flexible work schedule, working from home many days of the week, but I do need to go in at least once per week and sometimes more. My kid is old enough to just come home and do homework and chill before we go off to several activities later in the evening. I feel like this could definitely work for a HS student. I don't really need them to be able to drive, but that is sort of a "nice to have". I just don't get it, having a routine HS job is like another "activity" said high schooler can put on their college application while making some cash.

Your last sentence makes no sense.

Re-phrasing / explaining my point: Having a routine high school babysitting job is like (and just as good as) any other activity. The high schooler can put it on their college application just like they can put a sport, participation in music/drama, or other commercial job.

OP, I also think this should be a good job for a HS student, but I wouldn't go in with this as a selling point. Colleges absolutely do not view a regular babysitting job the same way that they view participation in a sport or activity, and HS kids know this.

+1.
The only way "jobs" make a difference in the college app is when the student can work it in that they had to work, or babysit their younger siblings so their parents could work to provide a roof over the family's head and food on the table.
Working to buy concert tickets or other fun things isn't that interesting to colleges.

[Anonymous]

Having friends in a few college admission offices - you'd be surprised that they do care about things like this. Colleges do care that a person is a) responsible with commitments, b) fills their time with productive activities, and c) can learn something out of various situations. I wrote my college essay on my lifeguarding experience - sure it wasn't a Capitol Hill internship, but it got me into a top 20 school. Sure that was a lot of years ago, but admissions officers still look for kids that do all sorts of things. And don't hold your breath for that sports scholarship! That's really like winning the lottery!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - yeah, I definitely am NOT looking for some 28 year old with a MA who can drive my giant SUV (which I don't have). I only want a few days because I have a pretty flexible work schedule, working from home many days of the week, but I do need to go in at least once per week and sometimes more. My kid is old enough to just come home and do homework and chill before we go off to several activities later in the evening. I feel like this could definitely work for a HS student. I don't really need them to be able to drive, but that is sort of a "nice to have". I just don't get it, having a routine HS job is like another "activity" said high schooler can put on their college application while making some cash.

Lol, no I meant the parents expect the part time sitter to have the huge new SUV/minivan...like the sitter can afford an $80k car on the $250/week they want to pay her.

I see this all the time. Or they want the sitter to live within 10-15 minutes of them in Kalorama, McLean, or Bethesda....on 3 hours of work per day where a studio is $2200.

That's crazy pants. I am not delusional!

[Anonymous]

I have been doing this for years due to a SN kid. Here is the thing — current high schoolers are INCREDIBLY over scheduled. They pretty much never have time for a regular after school gig. Too much homework, sports, competitive dance, etc.

My demographic is college aged women. This crew has maybe 18 hours of class a week. And they have totally dialed back the activity nonsense. They are the ones with time. And I find them on care. You can sign up for care for just a few months until you find the person that works. You have to email about 15 people to interview three to then find one that sticks with you. For me, it is well worth the investment. My current sitter has been with us 6 years — all through undergrad and now a masters program. We will be very sad when she finishes up this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been doing this for years due to a SN kid. Here is the thing — current high schoolers are INCREDIBLY over scheduled. They pretty much never have time for a regular after school gig. Too much homework, sports, competitive dance, etc.

My demographic is college aged women. This crew has maybe 18 hours of class a week. And they have totally dialed back the activity nonsense. They are the ones with time. And I find them on care. You can sign up for care for just a few months until you find the person that works. You have to email about 15 people to interview three to then find one that sticks with you. For me, it is well worth the investment. My current sitter has been with us 6 years — all through undergrad and now a masters program. We will be very sad when she finishes up this year.

Let me add — you do have to give these folks “real” hours. Mine does 2-8:30 three days a week. No one is going to commute even 10 minutes for 2 hours of work.

[Anonymous]

We have a HS sitter, she was a lifeguard at our pool last year, she gave swim lessons to friends kids last summer and they talked about babysitting, my friend is a sahm though.
She babysat 2 days a week for us all last school year and if she wasn’t available she had a friend help out.
We do need a driver and she drives. We only need 8 days a month though because my work days rotate

[Anonymous]

Since most people just bashed you instead of gave actual advice, I’ll do the latter.

I have an after school sitter who picks up my kids at the bus (k,3,grades) every day. She works 2:30-6:30 (through really she’s off by 5:15 most days) and drives the oldest to soccer, where I meet them once a week.

We pay $37/ hr for her full time even when we pick up early (duh). We found her by asking on our neighborhood facebook page. She is a morning nanny and then comes to our house. She’s great but it’s not cheap. We pay so much bc we couldn’t find anyone else. I wanted to lock her in not have her looking for a higher paying job all year and then leave us in a lurch.

[Anonymous]

pp, you mean you pay her for 40 hrs a week? Full time means 40 hrs a week

[Anonymous]

I would just pay for care.com or sittercity for a few months. What you pay for those services is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of child care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since most people just bashed you instead of gave actual advice, I’ll do the latter.

I have an after school sitter who picks up my kids at the bus (k,3,grades) every day. She works 2:30-6:30 (through really she’s off by 5:15 most days) and drives the oldest to soccer, where I meet them once a week.

We pay $37/ hr for her full time even when we pick up early (duh). We found her by asking on our neighborhood facebook page. She is a morning nanny and then comes to our house. She’s great but it’s not cheap. We pay so much bc we couldn’t find anyone else. I wanted to lock her in not have her looking for a higher paying job all year and then leave us in a lurch.

THIS!!! Thank you 💜

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:pp, you mean you pay her for 40 hrs a week? Full time means 40 hrs a week

That’s how I first read it , but I think he/she means they pay the nanny for the full scheduled 4 hrs even if they pick up their kids an hour early

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish I knew why it was so hard to find. I did this exact job in HS. I did 2x per week for a family, I walked to their house and let myself in, met the girls at the bus stop and hung out with them for 2 hours or so until mom came home. It was great! I made good money for a HS student... Blah blah activities sure, but not all kids are overloaded with activities.

NP in Loudoun. High schoolers in my neighborhood aren’t even home from school until nearly 5PM. That’s nearly 2 hours after the elementary schoolers get home. A high school-aged babysitter won’t work for us.

[Anonymous]

I found it impossible, and ended up doing a mom / carpool share that had gone really well. It was so expensive for a person who was unreliable and not particularly skilled.