Occasional babysitter
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Anonymous
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DD's music class teacher has agreed to occasionally babysit for us. DD loves her and I really feel like I scored getting her to sit for us since she is really sought after. I just want to make sure she stays and is happy since we live the farthest away and traffic can be a nightmare.
We are guaranteeing her commitment - she will get paid in full even if we cancel. And she is guaranteed for four hours at a minimum. We will have dinner for her - something good (pasta and chicken) as well as fruit, sparkling, flavored and plain bottled water. A great hourly wage ($24 an hour). And DD is a pretty good kid although she has been having trouble going to bed at night recently. What else can I do to make sure we keep this babysitter? |
Anonymous
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Book as far ahead as you can. If you know you want New Year's Eve, let her know now, and ask how much (holidays are more). Tell her when your important dates are (anniversary, birthdays, etc.) NOW and ask if she's booked already for those. Ask if you can book the same night every two weeks or every night, and if she wants to do it, think about making it a weekday date night. Babysitters prioritize people who book far ahead and those who have a regular schedule.
As far as food and drink go, ASK! Just because you think chicken and pasta is great, doesn't mean she does. Ask what she drinks. If she doesn't drink flavored water don't worry about it! |
Anonymous
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$24 an hour is great for one kid who will be asleep some of the time. I am assuming if you are guaranteeing hours you will give her $100, and not county out $96?
Tell her she can help herself to wahtever food she likes but I dont think you need to plan on making her dinner to be honest, unless she is eating what DD is eating and you have asked ahead of time. |
Anonymous
| You don’t need to make her dinner or leave any beverages. Let her know she can help herself to anything. How far is her drive? I think $24/h is really good. |
Anonymous
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Good heavens OP - that's a pretty amazing gig for babysitting.
It's not really any of my business, but why are you going so high-end for babysitting? (I get those hourly rates and credentials for a nanny position, but for occasional evening babysitting??) |
Anonymous
She’s a music teacher...but do you mean credentials? |
Anonymous
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OP here. We are paying her a higher rate because DD loves her and is excited for us to go out just to spend time with her. And there will be times when DD will be awake during the weekend days where we would like to use her.
Yes, we do plan on handing her $100 bill. We have a separate dinner for her since DH and I are dieting. She is welcome to anything but I wanted to give her the option of a non-diet dinner. Thanks for the suggestions! |
Anonymous
I am clearly not charging enough for babysitting. 
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