Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 06:00     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
I don’t know why babysitter = pizza on this board. We will leave dinner cooked and ready - maybe ravioli and salad, or leftovers from the night prior, etc. The babysitter can clean up while telling the kids to go get pjs on - even a four year old is capable of picking out their own. Babysitter can supervise teeth brushing and tidying up bedrooms. Play for a while, then read to calm down before bed. I’d expect the kids to be in bed no more than a half hour after their bedtime. Then babysitter can hang out until we’re home.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 04:55     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would expect two things:

1) To follow my instructions.
2) To keep the kids safe.

For a kid that age, I would assuming nothing else.

I would tell them to serve dinner at around 6:30pm. I'd give them something easy (chicken nuggets to microwave, or I would have ordered them a pizza).

Start getting ready for bed at about 7:30, they know where their pajamas are, make sure they both use the bathroom and brush their teeth before bed. Once they're all ready for bed, they can each pick a book for you to read to them. Lights out between 7:45 and 8. I'd provide a lot of detail here (my kids are finicky at bedtime and it goes much more smoothly if you follow the same steps).

I would also be clear with them that they may not invite anyone over, and that they may not use their phone, unless it's an emergency, until after the kids are in bed. No screens for the kids. I'd give them the wifi password for after bedtime, and I'd tell them they're also free to watch TV (we've got Netflix, hulu, etc) after bedtime. And with a sitter that young and with that little awake time, I'd tell them not to leave the house (again, unless there's an emergency), and not to let anyone in and I'd make sure all the doors were locked before we left.

I'd expect to come home to the sitter watching tv or on their phone, kids asleep. Maybe she cleaned up after dinner, maybe not (I wouldn't care about that). And I'd expect in the morning when I talked to the kids, that they had fun.

For this age - anything you forgot to say (like "please cleanup after dinner" or "don't show my kids your phone") is on you besides basic safety stuff.

It sounds like you’d be better off with an adult babysitter. I wouldn’t expect half of this from a teenager. I also think it’s ok to relax rules when you have a sitter in the house. No using your phone until the kids are in bed? Do you follow that rule?


PP here - yes, we don't use our phones around the kids except for things like "oh, we're out of toilet paper, let me add it to my amazon cart" or "what's the weather" but we do not scroll on our phones around the kids. And certainly a teenager who is being paid to watch the kids shouldn't be scrolling their phone while they're awake. I will say our kids are on the younger end of the stated range (K and 1st) so that might make the difference. But I don't think I'm expecting much here. Bottom line:

-Play with them
-Keep them safe
-Serve an easy dinner
-Get 'em ready for bed, read 'em a book, put 'em to bed.
-No guests, stay inside
-No screens until they go to bed.

Those feel like pretty reasonable expectations? I don't care if the house is a mess or anything like that, and they can do whatever they want once they're in bed.


PP to add - my broader point (perhaps lost) was that you can't expect anything besides basic safety from a sitter that young unless you TELL them. This OP sounded like maybe a parent who had a teen sitter and was disappointed after and was trying to determine if her expectations were reasonable. And my point is that, if your sitter is 16, you need to tell them exactly what you want or it's not reasonable to be disappointed. If you didn't say anything about cleaning up, the sitter may not clean up. If you don't say anything about phone usage, the sitter might spend a lot of time on her phone. Etc, etc. And it's not fair to be mad at the sitter for that if you weren't clear up front and this sitter isn't even old enough to drive a car.


NP. This is a good point. It took me a few times to realize I needed to ask the sitter to stick the leftover pizza in the fridge And to ask them to remind my kids to put their dishes in the dishwasher- obviously my DCs should remember to begin with but they're 6 and 8 and eager to move on so need reminding. Otherwsie I was coming home to hours old pizza on the counter and dirty dishes all over the table. I don't have high expectations, I always set up evenings with pizza delivery and a movie, but that was annoying me.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 14:29     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would expect two things:

1) To follow my instructions.
2) To keep the kids safe.

For a kid that age, I would assuming nothing else.

I would tell them to serve dinner at around 6:30pm. I'd give them something easy (chicken nuggets to microwave, or I would have ordered them a pizza).

Start getting ready for bed at about 7:30, they know where their pajamas are, make sure they both use the bathroom and brush their teeth before bed. Once they're all ready for bed, they can each pick a book for you to read to them. Lights out between 7:45 and 8. I'd provide a lot of detail here (my kids are finicky at bedtime and it goes much more smoothly if you follow the same steps).

I would also be clear with them that they may not invite anyone over, and that they may not use their phone, unless it's an emergency, until after the kids are in bed. No screens for the kids. I'd give them the wifi password for after bedtime, and I'd tell them they're also free to watch TV (we've got Netflix, hulu, etc) after bedtime. And with a sitter that young and with that little awake time, I'd tell them not to leave the house (again, unless there's an emergency), and not to let anyone in and I'd make sure all the doors were locked before we left.

I'd expect to come home to the sitter watching tv or on their phone, kids asleep. Maybe she cleaned up after dinner, maybe not (I wouldn't care about that). And I'd expect in the morning when I talked to the kids, that they had fun.

For this age - anything you forgot to say (like "please cleanup after dinner" or "don't show my kids your phone") is on you besides basic safety stuff.

It sounds like you’d be better off with an adult babysitter. I wouldn’t expect half of this from a teenager. I also think it’s ok to relax rules when you have a sitter in the house. No using your phone until the kids are in bed? Do you follow that rule?


PP here - yes, we don't use our phones around the kids except for things like "oh, we're out of toilet paper, let me add it to my amazon cart" or "what's the weather" but we do not scroll on our phones around the kids. And certainly a teenager who is being paid to watch the kids shouldn't be scrolling their phone while they're awake. I will say our kids are on the younger end of the stated range (K and 1st) so that might make the difference. But I don't think I'm expecting much here. Bottom line:

-Play with them
-Keep them safe
-Serve an easy dinner
-Get 'em ready for bed, read 'em a book, put 'em to bed.
-No guests, stay inside
-No screens until they go to bed.

Those feel like pretty reasonable expectations? I don't care if the house is a mess or anything like that, and they can do whatever they want once they're in bed.


PP to add - my broader point (perhaps lost) was that you can't expect anything besides basic safety from a sitter that young unless you TELL them. This OP sounded like maybe a parent who had a teen sitter and was disappointed after and was trying to determine if her expectations were reasonable. And my point is that, if your sitter is 16, you need to tell them exactly what you want or it's not reasonable to be disappointed. If you didn't say anything about cleaning up, the sitter may not clean up. If you don't say anything about phone usage, the sitter might spend a lot of time on her phone. Etc, etc. And it's not fair to be mad at the sitter for that if you weren't clear up front and this sitter isn't even old enough to drive a car.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 14:28     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would expect two things:

1) To follow my instructions.
2) To keep the kids safe.

For a kid that age, I would assuming nothing else.

I would tell them to serve dinner at around 6:30pm. I'd give them something easy (chicken nuggets to microwave, or I would have ordered them a pizza).

Start getting ready for bed at about 7:30, they know where their pajamas are, make sure they both use the bathroom and brush their teeth before bed. Once they're all ready for bed, they can each pick a book for you to read to them. Lights out between 7:45 and 8. I'd provide a lot of detail here (my kids are finicky at bedtime and it goes much more smoothly if you follow the same steps).

I would also be clear with them that they may not invite anyone over, and that they may not use their phone, unless it's an emergency, until after the kids are in bed. No screens for the kids. I'd give them the wifi password for after bedtime, and I'd tell them they're also free to watch TV (we've got Netflix, hulu, etc) after bedtime. And with a sitter that young and with that little awake time, I'd tell them not to leave the house (again, unless there's an emergency), and not to let anyone in and I'd make sure all the doors were locked before we left.

I'd expect to come home to the sitter watching tv or on their phone, kids asleep. Maybe she cleaned up after dinner, maybe not (I wouldn't care about that). And I'd expect in the morning when I talked to the kids, that they had fun.

For this age - anything you forgot to say (like "please cleanup after dinner" or "don't show my kids your phone") is on you besides basic safety stuff.

It sounds like you’d be better off with an adult babysitter. I wouldn’t expect half of this from a teenager. I also think it’s ok to relax rules when you have a sitter in the house. No using your phone until the kids are in bed? Do you follow that rule?


PP here - yes, we don't use our phones around the kids except for things like "oh, we're out of toilet paper, let me add it to my amazon cart" or "what's the weather" but we do not scroll on our phones around the kids. And certainly a teenager who is being paid to watch the kids shouldn't be scrolling their phone while they're awake. I will say our kids are on the younger end of the stated range (K and 1st) so that might make the difference. But I don't think I'm expecting much here. Bottom line:

-Play with them
-Keep them safe
-Serve an easy dinner
-Get 'em ready for bed, read 'em a book, put 'em to bed.
-No guests, stay inside
-No screens until they go to bed.

Those feel like pretty reasonable expectations? I don't care if the house is a mess or anything like that, and they can do whatever they want once they're in bed.



Agree with all of this. I'm not paying them to scroll on their phones the whole time. If my kids don't have at least some fun, I can hire someone else.
But, yes, keep them, more or less in their normal routine: safe, happy, and to bed.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 14:26     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
Feed them
Entertain them
Make sure they’re safe and follow any rules the parents have shared or that are appropriate and known
Assist w any bed routines

Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 14:22     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would expect two things:

1) To follow my instructions.
2) To keep the kids safe.

For a kid that age, I would assuming nothing else.

I would tell them to serve dinner at around 6:30pm. I'd give them something easy (chicken nuggets to microwave, or I would have ordered them a pizza).

Start getting ready for bed at about 7:30, they know where their pajamas are, make sure they both use the bathroom and brush their teeth before bed. Once they're all ready for bed, they can each pick a book for you to read to them. Lights out between 7:45 and 8. I'd provide a lot of detail here (my kids are finicky at bedtime and it goes much more smoothly if you follow the same steps).

I would also be clear with them that they may not invite anyone over, and that they may not use their phone, unless it's an emergency, until after the kids are in bed. No screens for the kids. I'd give them the wifi password for after bedtime, and I'd tell them they're also free to watch TV (we've got Netflix, hulu, etc) after bedtime. And with a sitter that young and with that little awake time, I'd tell them not to leave the house (again, unless there's an emergency), and not to let anyone in and I'd make sure all the doors were locked before we left.

I'd expect to come home to the sitter watching tv or on their phone, kids asleep. Maybe she cleaned up after dinner, maybe not (I wouldn't care about that). And I'd expect in the morning when I talked to the kids, that they had fun.

For this age - anything you forgot to say (like "please cleanup after dinner" or "don't show my kids your phone") is on you besides basic safety stuff.

It sounds like you’d be better off with an adult babysitter. I wouldn’t expect half of this from a teenager. I also think it’s ok to relax rules when you have a sitter in the house. No using your phone until the kids are in bed? Do you follow that rule?


PP here - yes, we don't use our phones around the kids except for things like "oh, we're out of toilet paper, let me add it to my amazon cart" or "what's the weather" but we do not scroll on our phones around the kids. And certainly a teenager who is being paid to watch the kids shouldn't be scrolling their phone while they're awake. I will say our kids are on the younger end of the stated range (K and 1st) so that might make the difference. But I don't think I'm expecting much here. Bottom line:

-Play with them
-Keep them safe
-Serve an easy dinner
-Get 'em ready for bed, read 'em a book, put 'em to bed.
-No guests, stay inside
-No screens until they go to bed.

Those feel like pretty reasonable expectations? I don't care if the house is a mess or anything like that, and they can do whatever they want once they're in bed.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 14:22     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
We had a teen sitter for our one kid from age 4-9ish. Was after school though not at bedtime.
She oversaw homework if there was any. Heated up dinner I prepared the day before.
Played card games or board games
Occasionally watched TV with DD
Walk to park or went out for a scooter/bike ride sometimes

I did not feel the need to micromanage and say no phone use or not to have anyone over. If she was on her phone ignoring DD then DD would have relayed that. It was never an issue
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 14:20     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would expect two things:

1) To follow my instructions.
2) To keep the kids safe.

For a kid that age, I would assuming nothing else.

I would tell them to serve dinner at around 6:30pm. I'd give them something easy (chicken nuggets to microwave, or I would have ordered them a pizza).

Start getting ready for bed at about 7:30, they know where their pajamas are, make sure they both use the bathroom and brush their teeth before bed. Once they're all ready for bed, they can each pick a book for you to read to them. Lights out between 7:45 and 8. I'd provide a lot of detail here (my kids are finicky at bedtime and it goes much more smoothly if you follow the same steps).

I would also be clear with them that they may not invite anyone over, and that they may not use their phone, unless it's an emergency, until after the kids are in bed. No screens for the kids. I'd give them the wifi password for after bedtime, and I'd tell them they're also free to watch TV (we've got Netflix, hulu, etc) after bedtime. And with a sitter that young and with that little awake time, I'd tell them not to leave the house (again, unless there's an emergency), and not to let anyone in and I'd make sure all the doors were locked before we left.

I'd expect to come home to the sitter watching tv or on their phone, kids asleep. Maybe she cleaned up after dinner, maybe not (I wouldn't care about that). And I'd expect in the morning when I talked to the kids, that they had fun.

For this age - anything you forgot to say (like "please cleanup after dinner" or "don't show my kids your phone") is on you besides basic safety stuff.

It sounds like you’d be better off with an adult babysitter. I wouldn’t expect half of this from a teenager. I also think it’s ok to relax rules when you have a sitter in the house. No using your phone until the kids are in bed? Do you follow that rule?


+100

Maybe my kids are just rowdier than others, but for a HS sitter I expect:
  • No major damage to house or things in house
    Kids safe and unharmed (including not being exposed to any inappropriate shows/games and no strangers in the house)
    Kids have eaten dinner (either pizza we pre-ordered or box mac n' cheese)
    Sitter has made some attempt to interact with the kids (i.e. not on their phone the whole time), if the kids want (my kids are usually really excited to play games with their sitters)


    • We do the bedtime routine with the kids when we get home and clean up.
    Anonymous
    Post 02/23/2026 14:14     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
    Anonymous wrote:I’d have a pizza already in the house. The kids would either be bathed, or I’d bathe them in the morning. I’d expect them fed, changed into pajamas, and relaxing on the couch with a pre-selected movie, until bed. I’d expect the sitter to clean up the paper plates, etc. I’d expect my kids to clean up any toys, etc, but I’d also ask the sitter to direct them to clean, because they’d probably try to skip this step lol That’s it. I’d want it to be pain free for the sitter.


    +1 But my kid is young enough that she gets really excited to meet teenagers, so I might ask them to play with her instead of a movie. But all the rest: I handle dinner, I lay out jammies, I let the sitter know she can tell them to clean up, I want her to be able to lounge about enjoying our cable after bedtime.

    And I would expect that it was my job to get them home safely if they didn't have their own car.
    Anonymous
    Post 02/23/2026 14:09     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
    Anonymous wrote:I would expect two things:

    1) To follow my instructions.
    2) To keep the kids safe.

    For a kid that age, I would assuming nothing else.

    I would tell them to serve dinner at around 6:30pm. I'd give them something easy (chicken nuggets to microwave, or I would have ordered them a pizza).

    Start getting ready for bed at about 7:30, they know where their pajamas are, make sure they both use the bathroom and brush their teeth before bed. Once they're all ready for bed, they can each pick a book for you to read to them. Lights out between 7:45 and 8. I'd provide a lot of detail here (my kids are finicky at bedtime and it goes much more smoothly if you follow the same steps).

    I would also be clear with them that they may not invite anyone over, and that they may not use their phone, unless it's an emergency, until after the kids are in bed. No screens for the kids. I'd give them the wifi password for after bedtime, and I'd tell them they're also free to watch TV (we've got Netflix, hulu, etc) after bedtime. And with a sitter that young and with that little awake time, I'd tell them not to leave the house (again, unless there's an emergency), and not to let anyone in and I'd make sure all the doors were locked before we left.

    I'd expect to come home to the sitter watching tv or on their phone, kids asleep. Maybe she cleaned up after dinner, maybe not (I wouldn't care about that). And I'd expect in the morning when I talked to the kids, that they had fun.

    For this age - anything you forgot to say (like "please cleanup after dinner" or "don't show my kids your phone") is on you besides basic safety stuff.

    It sounds like you’d be better off with an adult babysitter. I wouldn’t expect half of this from a teenager. I also think it’s ok to relax rules when you have a sitter in the house. No using your phone until the kids are in bed? Do you follow that rule?
    Anonymous
    Post 02/23/2026 13:54     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
    I would expect two things:

    1) To follow my instructions.
    2) To keep the kids safe.

    For a kid that age, I would assuming nothing else.

    I would tell them to serve dinner at around 6:30pm. I'd give them something easy (chicken nuggets to microwave, or I would have ordered them a pizza).

    Start getting ready for bed at about 7:30, they know where their pajamas are, make sure they both use the bathroom and brush their teeth before bed. Once they're all ready for bed, they can each pick a book for you to read to them. Lights out between 7:45 and 8. I'd provide a lot of detail here (my kids are finicky at bedtime and it goes much more smoothly if you follow the same steps).

    I would also be clear with them that they may not invite anyone over, and that they may not use their phone, unless it's an emergency, until after the kids are in bed. No screens for the kids. I'd give them the wifi password for after bedtime, and I'd tell them they're also free to watch TV (we've got Netflix, hulu, etc) after bedtime. And with a sitter that young and with that little awake time, I'd tell them not to leave the house (again, unless there's an emergency), and not to let anyone in and I'd make sure all the doors were locked before we left.

    I'd expect to come home to the sitter watching tv or on their phone, kids asleep. Maybe she cleaned up after dinner, maybe not (I wouldn't care about that). And I'd expect in the morning when I talked to the kids, that they had fun.

    For this age - anything you forgot to say (like "please cleanup after dinner" or "don't show my kids your phone") is on you besides basic safety stuff.
    Anonymous
    Post 02/23/2026 13:46     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
    I’d have a pizza already in the house. The kids would either be bathed, or I’d bathe them in the morning. I’d expect them fed, changed into pajamas, and relaxing on the couch with a pre-selected movie, until bed. I’d expect the sitter to clean up the paper plates, etc. I’d expect my kids to clean up any toys, etc, but I’d also ask the sitter to direct them to clean, because they’d probably try to skip this step lol That’s it. I’d want it to be pain free for the sitter.
    Anonymous
    Post 02/23/2026 13:39     Subject: Re:What do you expect from a babysitter?
    Anonymous wrote:Feed them dinner and make sure they get to bed/sleep at whatever time they're supposed.
    Clean any mess they (babysitter and kids) make. Keep them safe obviously.

    That's about it. Depends somewhat on age of kids.


    +1 , but I would expect that dinner would basically be on the table or easily served (like pizza).
    Anonymous
    Post 02/23/2026 13:37     Subject: Re:What do you expect from a babysitter?
    Feed them dinner and make sure they get to bed/sleep at whatever time they're supposed.
    Clean any mess they (babysitter and kids) make. Keep them safe obviously.

    That's about it. Depends somewhat on age of kids.
    Anonymous
    Post 02/23/2026 13:36     Subject: What do you expect from a babysitter?
    If you hired a high schooler (14-18) to babysit your elementary school-aged children (K-5th) for an evening, what would you expect from the sitter?

    Let’s say the evening was from 6pm-9:30/10pm. What would it look like?