Recently, I've become frustrated with and watched others become frustrated with how some people handle the situation of paying a teenager for taking care of their children for X amount of hours - and I wanted to write up a post to give a bit of advice to the care givers, and those seeking care. Ready? Here we gooooo!
*disclaimer* everything I am about to state/express comes from my personal experiences - and is relative to my area in specific - I encourage you to do some research about what the rates are in your area with all of your qualifications and such.
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I've been legitimately taking care of kids for almost 7 years now - and yes, I mean legitimately. I started as a mother's helper when I was 9, and gradually began working with more kids alone. By the time I was 13 I was watching 3 kids for 5-9 hours at times, on a weekly basis. By the time I was 14, the family added another baby and so began even more chaos and learning opportunities.
In my area, childcare is more expensive than most places. But this varies in every town and city...so. I wanted to let you know a few things, from my perspective, about what to pay as a parent, and what to charge as a sitter. And all the things one must take into account when decided on pay.
SITTERS:
things to consider before setting a basic rate:
experience - how much do you really have? Not just how many years, but how frequently you cared for kids over those years. The more experience you have, the more you're "allowed" to charge.
will your rate change with more kids - personally, I think it should. One kid is easy, you have two eyes on one child - that's not so demanding. Two kids is easy, as well. But you take it up to three, four, five, or even six and seven, and that is a lot.
do some research - I decided to go to
care.com the other day and check out their
rate calculator - you put in your experience, number of kids you'll be watching, and zip code, and it calculates a general rate. according to to them, I should charge $12 for 1-2 kids, $13+ for 3 kids, $16 for 4 or more. This is just for my area, and is almost totally accurate - but I know that rates here are
really high, so don't expect that much everywhere.
will the length and time of job affect your rate - this is important. I personally have a policy that goes along the lines of "I'll charge you a normal hourly rate until all kids are in bed, and then give you a flat rate for the rest of the evening." This works fairly well, because I don't necessarily feel right charging full price for sitting on the couch, doing school or watching a movie while the kids are asleep - but I still have a level of responsibility to maintain and it's still my time that I'm giving to the family - but every job is different.
decide if chores or cooking will change your rates - need I say more? I always make sure the house is clean when parents get home - but you need to decide if your duties exceed basic tidying or preparing of meals, will that change your rate?
Now, decide what you want your beginning rates to be. These are mine:
$10 an hour for a basic one child job - specifically a toddler/baby
$12 an hour for 2 to 3 kids - sometimes it goes up if the ages are wide spread - i.e., a baby, 2 y/o, and an 8 y/o - those situations are more difficult.
$14-16 an hour for 4 or more kids
One of the biggest things you as a sitter need to remember is this:
You need to be able to say what your starting rate is when someone asks - and if they don't want to pay that, don't do the job again. Your time is of a different value to everyone - and unless you just are having fun and don't want the extra cash, you probably should find the people who value your time the most. I have one family that gets first pick of all my weekends - they appreciate that, and they make sure I always want to come back. They "take care of me", so to speak.
And, if the family isn't willing to pay you full price - especially if it's a big job, or will run late, they don't value your time enough and it's not worth it to you as a sitter. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say "Oh, the 11 year old can practically take care of himself - we just need you to keep an eye on him"....well...guess what? It's still my time I'm giving to you, and my rates stand - no matter how low maintenance he or she is. Don't babysit for those people unless you must - it's just not worth it.
Always remember though - none of this stuff matters if you aren't responsible or professional about it. The one time I've been late to a job I was so embarrassed, and it was all my fault and made me look sooooo lame. don't do that! Be on time, or even a few minutes early - but not too much.
moving on....
PARENTS:
You are dying for a date night with your hubby, or want to go out to see a movie with your friends, but the hubs is going to be busy. You need a sitter! But, uh oh! your sitter is unavailable, has moved, or you've never ventured into the sea of finding childcare! What do you do?!
Well - I'm no parent. I'm sixteen, for crying out loud - but I've watched my parents hire many, many caregivers for us kids. We've had steady "nannies" off and on since I was little, and I've made sure to pay attention to what my parents did to find these wonderful ladies.
ask your friends to refer you to either their sitter, or another girl they know - this works out fairly well most of the time - I babysit mostly for the contractors my dad works with, and my mom's friend's kids.
if you find someone you've never met, call her first and talk about the job, not when she first gets there - unless it's a steady weekly job and you want to interview her. need I say more? there is nothing worse than knowing just your clients names and showing up at their door, knowing nothing about what you're taking on.
also, make sure to tell your kids someone is coming to watch them for a while, let them be prepared - please, moms and dads, do this! It makes it much harder on us when we show up and the kids don't know what's coming - prepare them, and maybe suggest, once we get there, that they give us a house tour with you following. It eases them into getting comfortable with us as the sitter, and you get to see how they'll interact with us.
if you know your child or children aren't going to enjoy you leaving, please don't make a big deal out of it - seriously. The longer you hold them or coddle them, the harder it is for us to get them to calm down. sneak away and be discreet - or give them kisses and run. I know it's awful and sucks - but the longer they have to dwell on it, the worse it is.
if after the first job you're unsatisfied, don't call again. it's okay - really, it is. it can take some time to find a good sitter if you've never looked before.
ABOUT PAY:
know what you're willing to pay first - please, know what you're willing to pay - whether you ask us what our rates are, or tell us what you think the job is/should be worth, just make sure you know what your price point is.
check up on what your friends pay their sitters - do this! It will give you a better idea of what to pay your sitter, and what's fair - and if she's being absolutely greedy about it for your area.
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Basically, do everything in listed above for sitters - from your perspective. Don't undervalue our time - no matter our age. But don't hire a 13 year old to watch a 10 year old. Bad idea. Make sure you give us all the details before hand. Please, if you aren't going to have food for us to eat - let us know. Most of the time I'm happy to bring some snacks from home - but there is nothing worse than getting to a job and having nothing to eat...you don't need to have a ton of snacks and stuff, just make sure you let us know if we can or can't open your fridge or raid your pantry, and generally, we're not pigs about it...and. remember your kids deserve to have fun while you're away - don't compromise for them! If they tell you they don't like the sitter when you come home or the next morning, make sure you ask them why - was it because she was too strict? did she just not entertain them? was she boring? and if the reason is "She wouldn't let me have more ice cream" chances are, you want her back...
Anyway! that's all for this post - just wanted to get that out there, and I hope I don't sound too "know it all" about all this - I don't want to sound like I'm telling you parents how to pick your sitters, but I did want to let you know some things from a teenage sitter's perspective - and I hope it worked.
And sitters? Remember it's all relative to where you live. I babysat 3 kids last week from Colorado, and their parents were used to paying about half of what I charged them - and I didn't even charge full price. So it really really really does depend on your area. Have fun with the kids though! Bring them cookies sometimes, or make cookies with them! You need to have the fun as much as they do, and those are always the best jobs! :)
I hope this was informative - even if it was only a little bit! ♥
