You need to find a babysitter (someone who does not work taking care of children as a job). If a nanny or teacher is working on the weekend, it means she really needs the $ and would take a job with more hours. If she doesn't really need the $, she probably needs the break from taking care of kids.

I think the preschool teacher likely is sick from working w/all those children.

I can only imagine all the germs in her work environment.

And the full-time Nanny likely realized she would burn herself out adding an extra day of work to her weekly schedule.

OP, I think the price is more than fair for two kids.
I live in SoCal (my town is on fire now!).

Nanny here. It’s the daytime hours and short hours. On Saturdays I can easily find babysitting jobs where I come over around dinner, do the bedtime routine, then from 8-midnight I get paid $20+ to watch tv. That is going to be better money and much less stressful than working from 10-2 on a Saturday, for example.

Anonymous wrote:Are you home and hovering? Is there weekend mess to clean up or is this just childcare? I have a family who has me come 3-4hrs here and there but they expect me to fold laundry, do piles of hand washing dishes and clean the playroom. I turn them down on weekends because I know their house is a pig stye and at least during the week it’s not as bad.

OP here. No, I am out of the house. It’s the only time I can get my hair colored, nails done and meet a friend in peace. Our house is always clean as I have a housekeeper two times a week. And regardless, I would never ask nor expect a sitter to clean anything. The preschool teacher who keeps canceling on me never even did her lunch dishes much less my 3.5 yr olds - or washed a bottle.

I will offer the next sitter more hourly and let her choose the four hour slot. Having these last minute cancellations is just too hard.

More than enough.

Are you home and hovering? Is there weekend mess to clean up or is this just childcare? I have a family who has me come 3-4hrs here and there but they expect me to fold laundry, do piles of hand washing dishes and clean the playroom. I turn them down on weekends because I know their house is a pig stye and at least during the week it’s not as bad.

I think you will have much better luck with 8-12 at $25/hr but you need to make it flexible, if you can so sometimes they don’t have to pretend to be sick to get a weekend off. 12-4 ruins the day because you can’t do anything before or after, and it doesn’t feel like a real day off. I have a family who has me come 7-11 and it’s flexible for when I want to come or not. I quit a family that paid more because they wanted 2-6 and it took up the whole day- it felt like at least!

OP here. Thanks - I hear you. The preschool teacher lives maybe five minutes away but I guess $25 an hour isn’t enough. Or at least isn’t enough for this preschool teacher (who, btw, asked this mutual friend/nanny if she knew of any weekend work).

I am totally flexible on the four hours too. If 8 to 12 works better than 10 to 2, that’s fine. I’ll ask the new sitters which they prefer.

Thank you again for the responses.

It could also be the hours you want. If it’s 8-12pm Saturday, sure. But I’m not doing 12-4 or 2-6 on a weekend day. That ruins the entire day!

Depends on where you live. For those ages in LA, I’d want $25-30 on weekdays. If you want me every weekend, then it’s $30-35. If you are in SF then add $2-3/hr to those numbers.

Another thought is where do they live...do they have to drive far to get to you? Our former nanny does weekend work, but she asks for a minimum of five hours worth because she lives about 45 minutes away. It's not a big deal to come on weeknights when she's already in the neighborhood, but she wants to make it worth her time to drive out on weekends.

Anonymous wrote:I don't think most professional nannies that already work full time would want to give up a Saturday for $100.

Have you tried a local high school or college student?

This! You might think $100 for 4 hours on a weekend is good but, honestly, it’s not enough. Who wants to work all week then work on the weekend. Either up the amount or look for college students.

I don't think most professional nannies that already work full time would want to give up a Saturday for $100.

Have you tried a local high school or college student?

Sounds good to me OP. Maybe they just don't like giving up their Saturdays? I'm a nanny and prefer to never work on weekends.

We aren’t in DC but another high cost-of-living area. We have two children, a 3.5 and 3 month old.

A great nanny I know gave us two glowing references for two weekend daytime sitters - one a full-time nanny and another preschool teacher. The full-time nanny lost our phone number after meeting us and has been ghosting me. The preschool teacher nanny calls in sick about half the time.

Our baby sleeps a lot, 3.5 is a quiet good kid, and we’re respectful nice people with a large playroom and fenced in yard. I always have lots of food in the house and 3.5 yr old is allowed to watch a movie when the sitter is here.

I am a SAHM but need a few hours to myself on one day on the weekend. DH works weekends.

What’s up? I think $100 cash in your pocket guaranteed for four hours on a Saturday afternoon is a good gig! Am I wrong?

Thanks for any insight.