Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a former preschool teacher who babysat for years, I have never received a tip but rounding up was pretty standard especially if the parents came home later than planned. I always cleaned up after myself and helped the kids do so as well, but I think that kind of stuff should be expected and included in the hourly rate- I surprised to hear it is not common practice.

I'm the one who gets tipped. Maybe people tip me BECAUSE I do it and others don't. To me though, it is just how my mother raised me - you don't go to somebody else's house and leave a big mess. And if somebody else made it, you do the nice thing and help clean it up. So I do.

I am the poster you quoted and I was raised the same way, and also as a teacher when I went into people's homes to babysit I felt I was representing the school. I have always treated my families I babysit this way and while I think I have been generously compensated for my hard work I would have never considered it a tip. But I guess you could call it that when I get over-paid for the night, I always just assumed it was rounding up and in no way would I expect any family to do this on the regular- no matter how fabulous a sitter I am...

Anonymous wrote:I am a former preschool teacher who babysat for years, I have never received a tip but rounding up was pretty standard especially if the parents came home later than planned. I always cleaned up after myself and helped the kids do so as well, but I think that kind of stuff should be expected and included in the hourly rate- I surprised to hear it is not common practice.

I'm the one who gets tipped. Maybe people tip me BECAUSE I do it and others don't. To me though, it is just how my mother raised me - you don't go to somebody else's house and leave a big mess. And if somebody else made it, you do the nice thing and help clean it up. So I do.

I am a former preschool teacher who babysat for years, I have never received a tip but rounding up was pretty standard especially if the parents came home later than planned. I always cleaned up after myself and helped the kids do so as well, but I think that kind of stuff should be expected and included in the hourly rate- I surprised to hear it is not common practice.

I don't tip our babysitter, although I think she does a fine job. We pay her $20 an hour to care for one three year old boy, plus give her money to buy dinner for the two of them. She definitely does play with our son, and takes him to the playground, but also lets him watch a little TV. I don't see anything wrong with that, and it is pretty consistent with what we ourselves do with him when we are home. We don't go out that often, and when we do, our expectation is that our son will be safe and have a decent time. It doesn't have to be some especially entertaining and educational experience for him.

^^ hit post to soon. I always thought that was sort of standard care for babysitting and never expected any kind of tip for it. That's what you are supposed to do!

I am a former babysitter and one of the "no tipping required" PPs. I babysat for a few families but one regularly in college. There was never any TV, unless it was a saturday morning and the kid was already watching a movie when I got there and Mom said he could finish it, and then it was off. We went to the playground or outside if we could. The playroom was always cleaned up, but I never touched any other part of the house. And I never touched her laundry... Maybe it's me but I think that is a bit weird...

Back in the day when I babysat, I would always get tips. Of course, I was the high school sitter who wouldn't bat an eye when the parents came home at 2am. I also did overnight and whole weekends at 18. I had a few families who I stayed with for years, through college, etc.; I always did dishes, folded laundry and let the little stuff roll off my back.

Rounding up is standard.

Tip if you are late.

Tip if you stay out past midnight.

Tip if your children are little hellions and you come home to a sparkling house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

Sorry, but that IS ridiculous.

Tipping has gotten out of control. NO, you do not need to tip a babysitter. I do typically round up the hour though.

It's not ridiculous, since everyone I babysit for does tip me.

Well, if you are the PP Babysitter and you really do all that you say you do in your post above, then I think you certainly deserve a tip. Heck, I would tip you an hour pay. BUT, I have yet to meet a babysitter who has done those things. Most of them put my son in front of the TV and just wait out their time. I'm paying $15 for my child to watch a DVD. I refuse to pay any tip if that is all that he does. I even have a hard time rounding up (even though I do it, but it is not because I really want to....).

Now, if I came home and my DS said that he'd been playing at the park, riding his bike, did an art project or cooking project or counted to ten in French, I would up the hourly rate and give you a tip!

I am not the tips required sitter-

but, sometimes parents tell me in front of the kid that the kid can watch a movie. It's hard to get them to do something else after that. Also, some families use TV so much that the kids are so used to it that they refuse to play. It's not worth a tantrum to me to get your kid to NOT watch TV. You should tell the kid NO TV in front of the babysitter.

Anonymous wrote:i round up, but i don't tip, unless something weird or exceptional happens.

i had a babysitter order food at my house a few weeks ago (found out when i got home) and i felt bad that she didn't want anything we had, so i covered the cost of her dinner with a $20.

That's generous of you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

I am one of those babysitters who plays with your kids and teaches them stuff. There's no tv. I won't use my cell phone until the kids are asleep. You'll come home and your five year old will now know how to do a back-walkover or count to ten in French or Spanish. I'll have gotten your potty-training kid to wash their hands like a surgeon.

If they slept while I was there, then when you come home a load of clean laundry will be folded. Or I'll have organized all the kiddie books. Something.

Plus, if you're a good tipper, I will move heaven and earth to always be available to babysit for you.

I dont think good babysitters are hard to find. Nice teenagers are readily available in our neighborhood. Also, thats great if you want to teach my kids to count in another language, but I am not paying you extra for it. I just want you to keep them alive so I can have a night out with DH.

I will give you dinner, allow you open access to our TV, on demand, internet, exercise equipment, video games, and library, but you set your rates and I will pay them. No "tipping" required.

I'd love to come babysit for you and you won't have to tip me

i round up, but i don't tip, unless something weird or exceptional happens.

i had a babysitter order food at my house a few weeks ago (found out when i got home) and i felt bad that she didn't want anything we had, so i covered the cost of her dinner with a $20.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

Sorry, but that IS ridiculous.

Tipping has gotten out of control. NO, you do not need to tip a babysitter. I do typically round up the hour though.

It's not ridiculous, since everyone I babysit for does tip me.

Well, if you are the PP Babysitter and you really do all that you say you do in your post above, then I think you certainly deserve a tip. Heck, I would tip you an hour pay. BUT, I have yet to meet a babysitter who has done those things. Most of them put my son in front of the TV and just wait out their time. I'm paying $15 for my child to watch a DVD. I refuse to pay any tip if that is all that he does. I even have a hard time rounding up (even though I do it, but it is not because I really want to....).

Now, if I came home and my DS said that he'd been playing at the park, riding his bike, did an art project or cooking project or counted to ten in French, I would up the hourly rate and give you a tip!

Unless the kid is sick or we're winding down in prep for bedtime, the tv stays off. We PLAY. I'm in my mid 30's and will totally throw a football around, play HORSE if you've got a basketball hoop in your driveway, etc. We cook, we have deep conversations, we set up elaborate stories with toy cars and trains, we read, we play Uno or War or whatever they've got, etc. The lowest amount of money I'll accept for babysitting is $15 an hour. I EARN that. I don't know who all these people are who babysit by simply making sure the child keeps breathing and that's it. That's just not how I interact with kids at all. Even if for some weird reason I accepted a minimum wage babysitting job I'd still go all out, because there's a human being involved. But generally if I'm willing to go that low, it's for a good friend and in that case, someone I'd just do it for free for.

I have found that the younger the babysitter, the better job she does. My friend's theory- a friend who has college-aged daughters- is that high school girls living under their mothers' thumbs regularly hear that they need to pick up after themselves. College-aged sitters have had the freedom to live like slobs in their dorm rooms and forget that some civilized people actually put pizza in the fridge after eating it, and do not leave it sitting out from dinner time at 6 PM until I arrive home at 11.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a babysitter, not a nanny and you should tip me. Tip me about an hour's pay. I know that seems ridiculous but you get your money's worth out of it.

Sorry, but that IS ridiculous.

Tipping has gotten out of control. NO, you do not need to tip a babysitter. I do typically round up the hour though.

It's not ridiculous, since everyone I babysit for does tip me.

Well, if you are the PP Babysitter and you really do all that you say you do in your post above, then I think you certainly deserve a tip. Heck, I would tip you an hour pay. BUT, I have yet to meet a babysitter who has done those things. Most of them put my son in front of the TV and just wait out their time. I'm paying $15 for my child to watch a DVD. I refuse to pay any tip if that is all that he does. I even have a hard time rounding up (even though I do it, but it is not because I really want to....).

Now, if I came home and my DS said that he'd been playing at the park, riding his bike, did an art project or cooking project or counted to ten in French, I would up the hourly rate and give you a tip!