Hi ladies,
this may be long so bear with...
My husband and I do not have a regular babysitter because my husband refuses to pay someone $10/hour. He has no problem paying that if the children are awake and the sitter is engaging them. What he has a problem with is paying someone $10/hr to sit on our couch, eat our food and talk on the phone or sleep. We have 3 children and they go to bed by 7 or 7:30 and then the rest of the evening the sitter is left to their own devices. When I used to babysit, after the kids went to bed, I would clean, do the dishes, vacuum....whatever to better the place. These days sitters deal with the kids and then "take a load off". We usually come home with the kitchen a mess, toys everywhere and the sitter is sitting or asleep on the couch.
My husbands solution to this is to create a document stating that he will pay $10/hour while a sitter is "working" (playing with the kids/cleaning up) but will pay $5/hr once the kids are in bed and they are sitting on the couch.
I understand his position and I agree that sitters get paid an outrageous amount (especially since you can pay a laborer the same amount and get a lot more for your money) to do nothing but I think we'll never get a sitter if he continues to have this attitude.
Any thoughts?
Anyone know a really great sitter with reasonable rates in the Naperville area?
thanks in advance!
M.
Maybe look for retired grandma who may take less then $10/hr, or at least they would be more prone to p/u, or load the dishwasher for you.
One of the HS girls we have used actually loaded the dishwasher for me. I was plesantly surprised. We will use her again.
I have 3 kids and pay $10/hr. Dates nights are usually expensive, but we only do them once a month.
I suppose the security of having someone home and in case of emergency for your kids isn't worth $10 an hour to your husband.
Or that going out with you isn't worth $10 an hour peace of mind.
I say he just needs to suck it up and pay the going rate unless he wants to pay even more for a professional babysitter/maid person.
The way I think of a babysitter is that you have someone to stay with your children. If you didn't have this young lady babysitting your children are you able to go out anyway? I have a teen babysitter and I am grateful that she comes to my house (which is a perk) and stay with my son. I pay her $5.00/hr for one child. You have 3, big difference. If you want someone to clean, that is extra. That is my look on things I just sometimes feel babysitters are undervalued. You might want to suggest to her though if she can pick up the toys after they are done playing with it. If you like her as a babysitter talk to her. Tell her "we are paying you $10/hr to babysit when in reality the children are asleep when you come over. Do you mind for that same price cleaning up a bit." Just a suggestion. I understand your husband's frustration but having someone come to your house and babysit so you guys can go out is priceless.
I agree somewhat with your husband. You just need to either offer less or up the job description. For example, when you interview a new sitter, let her know that you expect light housework to be done after the kids are sleeping. If you offer less, especially for three kids, I wouldn't expect anything to be cleaned or put away. I pay $8 an hour in Naperville for a highschooler to watch my two. I have paid 10 for a college student when we lived in Wheaton and in Oak Park. I think it might be hard to find someone to watch 3 kids for less than $10. I don't like the idea of any sitter sleeping while on the job. We used a sitter once and went to a wedding reception in our same town. We called at about 10:30 to check in and after 4 calls with no answer, hopped in a cab and came home. The sitter had fallen asleep in my daughter's bed and at the time my son was 18 months and she put him in a twin bed instead of in his crib. Since she was sleeping sound enough to not answer the phone I thought, what would happen if he had waken up and ran around the house and hit his head on something. So, needless to say, we didn't use her again. See if you can find a list of highschool girls in your subdivision that babysit.
I understand your hubby's position but I also ask this question- if they are not into cleaning up or doing the dishes then do you really want that(meaning do they really do a good job if they are mad about having to do it- no one is supervising)? I think you just keep trying different sitters until you find one that does those things at the rate you want to pay. I don't know where you are but I can tell you that I pay $7/hr- that kinda evens out "while they are sleeping" vs awake.
I agree that it seems crazy to have to pay them the same rate after the kids are in bed but that just seems to be how it is in the burbs. That being said I think it is a given that a sitter should clean up the toys(with or without the kids help) and straighten up the kitchen.
That is ridiculous, if you ask me! I would love to find a good babysitter, one that I could trust with my kids, when me and my husband go out. I also would feel better if the kids were sleeping, while we were out! If she is a good, responsible babysitter, she will not have a problem, picking up, or doing a few dishes that she used, but if you want a cleaning lady, you should hire one.
