If our babysitter (who is in her 20s) comes before 7 I offer to pick something up for her but she always declines. She is a nanny during the day (and we pay her nanny rates for babysitting) so I guess she figures it's the same as when she nannies during the day and she is responsible for her lunch.

My mom used to say (back in the days when I was babysitting): "If you will be there during a mealtime, they are expected to feed you." Whatever they wanted to feed me was fine: leftovers, whatever the kid was having, a frozen meal option, $$ for pizza, whatever. But I sort of adopted that as my general rule of thumb. And if by chance people didn't broach this subject, my mom would tell me to speak up for myself, and say something like, "And what would you like me to eat or not eat for dinner?" Etc....

Anonymous wrote:I would feel very uncomfortable with eating out of anyones kitchen. All the times that I have babysat, there would always be multiple flyers on the counter along with a 20 dollar bill. Most places have a 15 dollar minimum charge and then I give a 5 dollar tip, so the 20 bucks was perfect. Granted, I always babysat for the same person.

I dont't understand

I would feel very uncomfortable with eating out of anyones kitchen. All the times that I have babysat, there would always be multiple flyers on the counter along with a 20 dollar bill. Most places have a 15 dollar minimum charge and then I give a 5 dollar tip, so the 20 bucks was perfect. Granted, I always babysat for the same person.

Either a frozen pizza and maybe some frozen entrees (lasagne or something). Or you can leave a $20 bill and a flyer for pizza and one for Chinese delivery on the counter and tell her if she wants she can order delivery and that she should tip the guy and leave the change on the counter.