Reply to Hiring teenagers--help me get better at this!

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

Reply to "Hiring teenagers--help me get better at this!"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]OP: I can see both sides of this issue. When I needed a babysitter for my school age children, several of the neighbors said their teens were "never" busy and always available. But it seemed that our schedules matched perfectly: her teen was always (legitimately) busy the times I needed a sitter. Then there were the parents who had a pretty strict curfew on when the babysitting had to end -- like 10PM. That left us scrambling. We also live in a neighborhood where it is not so much that they don't need the money, as they do not have the time. Teens are busy. we hired a professional for those times. Nanny or college student with a car.

Now I have teens and the younger neighbors have asked us. They have very nice children, but one has four kids and one is in diapers. If something goes wrong, I know where the blame will rest -- on my teen. So then I feel I have to be home "in case" That is not worth  $30 to me.

Second, my teens are very busy. There is no way they could be available to be a mother's helper on a regular schedule such as after school every day. They scramble from one activity to another with little time between. They have sports, church, home work, friends and so on. They also do not need the money or the experience, really. Unlikely to pull weeds -- lawn service does that. Same with mowing.
Although it might be a good experience, I am not comfortable with having that relationship with my neighbors. I was not crazy about the tone the neighbor took with my DD -- just way too bossy. Of course I did not say anything, just, too busy.

I really prefer some distance with the neighbors, particularly around the emotional issue of children. Perhaps I will get flamed for this but I do not think I am alone in this thinking.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics