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[quote=Anonymous]I think you are having unusually bad luck and should keep trying. But you should also expect that teens often don't like to schedule a lot of work at once, or schedule too far in advance. They are also intimidated by adults, generally, and haven't learned how to be good communicators or how to say no politely. We have two great teen babysitters, and last summer I tried to get one to come regularly, like 3-4 hours a week, on a set schedule. She was initially like "summer is coming, I'll have free time, keep me posted!" and then would never agree to a schedule. I finally concluded that she didn't want to do it and just couldn't figure out a way to tell me that, and wanted to keep her occasional babysitting gigs with us. Now, as an adult, I would say (and would expect another adult to say), "I'm sorry, my summer is too unpredictable to set up a regular gig, but I would be happy to sit for you here and there, like always!" But if I'm honest, I might not have had that in me as a teen. I definitely have had teen babysitters that seem intimidated by me and treat me like I'm the principal instead of the cool lady from down the street who remembers being a teen herself like it was yesterday (which is how I think of myself, HAHA, I know...)

Anyway. The key is to remember that teens are more likely than adults to say yes when they mean no; to agree in person and then back out in indirect communication; to ignore communications if their response will be no. Accordingly, my requests are always succinct, cheerful, and specific -- and if I find myself having to work too hard to coordinate with somebody, I drop them from my list and don't look back. [/quote]

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