What can an 11-year-old "mother's helper" do?

[Anonymous]

A neighbor of ours has an 11-year old daughter. I have heard from other mothers that the daughter is "lovely" and "very mature" for her age. She evidently is looking to make some money as a mother's helper.

Does anyone use a girl or this age in a capacity like this? What is reasonable to expect from a child this age? What would you pay her?

What about taking care of things while you're out of town? Would you leave your house in her care? Have her water plants? Feed a fish? Walk a dog?

as my only child is 2, I have no idea what an 11 year old is capable of (or not capable of). I suspect maybe I could use her help, but I don't want to put her in over her head.

[Anonymous]

She would be great at playing with your 2 yr old while you are near by. For example, if you needed to make dinner or do some chores around the house or if you were entertaining some guests at your house.

I think she'd probably be able to feed pets, water plants, get mail, etc while you are away.

[Anonymous]

I have an 12-year old mother's helper (she's on her way right now!). I love having her come! She plays with my 4.5 year old and 2.5 year old. They play board games, make believe, do puzzles and crafts. She helps me distract them when we go shopping.

I am able to clean the house, start dinner, pay bills, etc. I love my mother's helper--this is my second summer of having her with me and I'll miss her once summer's done!

As for coming when you're out of town...I'd talk to her mother about that. Mine has not done things when we are out of town but that's more because she does not live in our neighborhood.

I'd say try it out! I pay her $2 per child per hour. That's the rate her mom and I worked out.

[Anonymous]

When I was 12, I watched two neighborhood kids while their mom slept (she worked the night shift, so I came over from about 8am to noon) and did my best to keep the kids quiet. They were young...I'd say one and three. I have no recollection of what I was paid, but that wouldn't matter because it was so long ago.

We have had a brother and sister who are about 10 and 13 come over and bring in the mail, and take care of our dogs (let them out and play with them two times per day, feed them, give them any meds they might need) while we were out of town. We consulted with their parents first, so we knew someone would kick them out of bed to do the morning shift. Plus, we had our regular dog walker for the mid-day walk, which was extra reassurance. I think we gave the kids about $20/day.

[Anonymous]

I have a 13 year old mother's helper. She comes and plays with our 16 mth DD while I take a break, do dishes/laundry/start dinner/etc. I usually don't leave her with our daughter unattended. We pay her $5/hour.

[Anonymous]

I'd start by asking her what her services are in a job interview. Not some formal thing - I realize she's only 11 - but a chance for her to tell you what she's willing to do. You may find she's perfectly willing to play with your child, for example, but that she's never changed a diaper before or doesn't feel comfortable walking a dog. If you plan on leaving her with your child unsupervised (even if you're nearby), I'd also encourage her to take the Red Cros's babysitting/CPR class.

[Anonymous]

Apparently I pay well. 7 an hour. $2 seems way too low. I would at least start at 5.