I am sure you can find someone who will be willing to take on this type of position.
You just may need to be a bit more patient in your search however. Perhaps a retired older person who would like to make a little extra cash daily? Or like others suggested, a college student as well. Good luck! |
You should have thought about this before you had kids Also, family should not be your go to babysitter. |
$32 an hour |
I was well aware that my family wasn’t going to be my free babysitter. I said “wish.” It would sure be nice if I had local, involved grandparents. |
Live-in nanny/housekeeper. Fill up the rest of a total 8 hours daily with household maintenance, laundry, and errands. It’ll be cheaper than a live-out nanny or babysitter, more flexibility than aftercare, and you won’t know how you did without her after a short while. |
I have found a college student to do this who is fantastic (I am also an au-pair program dropout). We pay for 2 hours in the morning, and a varying amount in the afternoon. I don't think it is reasonable to ask someone to come out for less than 2 hours I posted on care.com, and the focused on people who listed their location as close to us. I got responses from people on the other side of the beltway, etc- who said they were willing to travel but I ignored them b/c I thought as soon as they found someone better they would leave. |
Of course they're hard to find because who wants to have that kind of schedule and only make part-time money? Perhaps you can find a student, but then you need to be aware that they will not be available for sick days, school holidays, etc., and that you'll have to give them time off for exams. We only need a part-time nanny because our kids are in school now but we pay one full-time because that's the only way we could get one. It's great because she's available if the kids are sick, etc., but it costs an arm and a leg. |
+1 Since your kids are older, look for someone who can not only take care of the kids but do light housekeeping, groceries, meal prep, errands, etc. while they're in school. That's what we did after we moved and the kids started school. It's not cheap but it's so nice to have someone take care of all this stuff. |
There are a few SAHMs in my neighborhood who p/t nanny/ babysit for the hours you describe. One lady has a middle school-aged child and has a really good gig, as her kid is off to school way before the elementary or preschoolers around here, and then in sports after school. Her husband works from home and can keep an eye on their kid when there are no sports. She's a former teacher and wonderful with children. There is another mom who does the same thing, although the kids she watches come to her house and are around her two younger kids. These ladies only do the childcare/ driving part of it; no household tasks or anything like that. They DO watch the kids on snow days or teacher work days, for an additional price. This arrangement may not be what you're looking for, but if cost is a factor, it's definitely less expensive than hiring someone for an entire day and having them do your shopping and everything else. |
+1. I agree -- the key is to find 2 separate people. We've had this type of arrangement for 10 years. 1. We have a morning nanny who comes for 1 hour (6:45 am to 7:45 am) before she starts her regular nanny job with another family. The morning nanny is supporting many of her family members and so she loves having even an additional hour each day. (We pay $25/hour, and we also use her services on weekends if we have a date night, etc.) 2. We have an after-school nanny (1-6 pm) who preps dinner, does laundry, and drives the kids to their activities. She insisted on a minimum of 25 hours/week, and that's what we guarantee her ($25/hour). In the mornings, she has another job (not babysitting). I know our after-school nanny wishes it were a full-time position with us, but we just don't need that much coverage. We love her, and hope she continues to stay with us (she's been with us for 5 years so far). We hope to be able to persuade her to stay with us until our youngest daughter has her driver's license. |
you need a full time nanny |
Yes, but they’re mostly college students. |
Can you detail . your Au Pair experiences. Truthfully, I am thinking about going this route, as it does seem cheaper than some of these nanny prices. |
Go ask in the AP section. |