Babysitting $$ question

[mjkacmom]

I still think it's fifty bucks more than you had yesterday, it will put gas in your car for a while. Sure, you wish it was more, but it's still fifty bucks and you didn't work overly hard for it..

So let's say a woman runs a business cutting hair in her home. She charges $30 for a cut. You go in, get a haircut, and hand over $15. You say "hey, it's $15 more than you had an hour ago." Is that right? The fact that they OP's dd expected to be babysitting until only 8 pm or so, and had to stay hours longer, without notice, I would expect the couple to pay her more than her usual $10 an hour - what if she had made plans for that evening?

 

[Disney Doll]

Probably $10/hour.

 

[bookgirl]

I would not have charged by the hour for a long term job. Honestly it's kinda like a bulk discount LOL. By the hour is for 4 or 5 hours. After that I would have set up a set rate for the day. Probably between 50-100 dollars depending on how much I would have to do.

I put 50-74 in the poll because when I have done this I usually knew it would be a long day. I may not have known exactly how long but I would have talked with the folks before hand and been giving a rough estimate. ie- The weddings at 1, then we have a dinner and a reception. It might be late, can you stay till Midnight. There are snacks in the fridge and you guys can order a pizza/have frozen microwave/do sandwiches for dinner.


I've also been paid 100 or over for the same amount of time. If there were more to do with the child, (they have a party/lesson/homework), and you need to fix the "dinner" and have a bath. Young child who needed diapers or would need more one on one time.

With a kid that old that I did not have to amuse/change/or have glued to my side for the entire day then 50.00 would have been acceptable. Young kids are a different story. Being way over time is also another story.

Always set up the pay and limits before hand, or be willing to take what you get.

 

[mjkacmom]

I would not have charged by the hour for a long term job. Honestly it's kinda like a bulk discount LOL. By the hour is for 4 or 5 hours.

Always set up the pay and limits before hand, or be willing to take what you get.

It seems like they told her they were going to a wedding, so there was no reason why the sitter wouldn't assume they'd be gone for 5 hours or so. Since they've paid her $10 an hour in the past, why would she assume it would be less? I pay my sitters $10 an hour, and we don't bring it up every time they sit for me. The only reason why I would discuss the rate is if I planned on paying them something different.

 

[ChrizJen]

I wouldn't pay 10 an hour for a 12 yr old, they really don't need watched it is more of a someone there situation but I do think 50 is a little light I would think 5 an hour would be more than enough for a child that old.

My DD never got 10 an hour for even 3 kids that were little and needed things done for them.

I'm sure she didn't do much that day so she should look at it as what would I have been doing yesterday and am I not better off having 50 for not doing much or nothing.

I was thinking along the same lines with the child being almost old enough to care for himself or herself, BUT I was thinking more like $8 an hour.
$5 is definitely not enough. Regardless of how easy or difficult the child is to care for, the babysitter needs to be paid at least minimum wage or close to it just for taking time out of her schedule to be there.

 

[ajk912]

So let's say a woman runs a business cutting hair in her home. She charges $30 for a cut. You go in, get a haircut, and hand over $15. You say "hey, it's $15 more than you had an hour ago." Is that right? The fact that they OP's dd expected to be babysitting until only 8 pm or so, and had to stay hours longer, without notice, I would expect the couple to pay her more than her usual $10 an hour - what if she had made plans for that evening?

It's not the same at all. I would think the person would say, "Oh, you must have miscounted the cash, I charge $30 per haircut." And then the client would get out the rest of the money. The babysitter didn't mention pay, the client didn't mention pay, they were just going off of what happened in the past but no one mentioned pay today for the long term job. If the OP's daughter wanted $10 an hour for the 12 hour job, she should have said so. I may have missed that in the post, but I don't believe the babysitter said, "Oh, you must have miscounted..there is only $50 here..." and gave the family a chance to remedy the situation. The family felt that $50 was fair for that work for that day, so they paid that. The babysitter said nothing, so unless the family was in the mindreading business, that was that.

 

[Mermaid02]

It's not the same at all. I would think the person would say, "Oh, you must have miscounted the cash, I charge $30 per haircut." And then the client would get out the rest of the money. The babysitter didn't mention pay, the client didn't mention pay, they were just going off of what happened in the past but no one mentioned pay today for the long term job. If the OP's daughter wanted $10 an hour for the 12 hour job, she should have said so. I may have missed that in the post, but I don't believe the babysitter said, "Oh, you must have miscounted..there is only $50 here..." and gave the family a chance to remedy the situation. The family felt that $50 was fair for that work for that day, so they paid that. The babysitter said nothing, so unless the family was in the mindreading business, that was that.

So- the last time the sitter sat, she got $50 for a little over 5 hours and this time she sat for 12 hours and they still only gave her $50 and you don't see the issue? DD was handed a wad of bills and didn't count it until she got in her car (she thought it would be rude to count it right then) and then she was dumbfounded. I don't know many sitters who would have the nerve to go back in the house and say, "Excuse me, you under paid me by about $50"

 

[ajk912]

So- the last time the sitter sat, she got $50 for a little over 5 hours and this time she sat for 12 hours and they still only gave her $50 and you don't see the issue? DD was handed a wad of bills and didn't count it until she got in her car (she thought it would be rude to count it right then) and then she was dumbfounded. I don't know many sitters who would have the nerve to go back in the house and say, "Excuse me, you under paid me by about $50"

Well, if she's running it like a business and her rate was $10 an hour, when she saw the people going to pay, she'd do like anyone who ran a business does..either give the client a verbal quote or hand them an invoice. Since she probably doesn't invoice she would say, "Your daughter was a pleasure today! If I calculated right I was here for 12 hours..my hourly rate is $10 as we discussed..so that will be $120." Nothing wrong with counting right then, that's what most business owners do. It could have been a mistake, you said it was a wad of bills, maybe the mom/dad was tired and really honestly thought there was an additional $50 bill in that wad of bills.

Without actually counting and finalizing payment immediately, it's all a bunch of guessing games about what happened. Either they miscounted the hours, they thought they had a reduced rate, maybe they were being scummy, maybe they thought it was $50 flat fee per job, maybe one thought they pre-paid at the beginning and and only had to pay for the extra hours, maybe one thought the other paid and was leaving a tip, maybe they miscounted bills or who knows what.

 

[Mermaid02]

Well, if she's running it like a business and her rate was $10 an hour, when she saw the people going to pay, she'd do like anyone who ran a business does..either give the client a verbal quote or hand them an invoice. Since she probably doesn't invoice she would say, "Your daughter was a pleasure today! If I calculated right I was here for 12 hours..my hourly rate is $10 as we dicussed..so that will be $120." Nothing wrong with counting right then, that's what most business owers do. It could have been a mistake, you said it was a wad of bills, maybe the mom/dad was tired and really honestly thought there was an additional $50 bill in that wad of bills.

Without actually counting and finalizing payment immediately, it's all a bunch of guessing games about what happened. Either they miscounted the hours, they thought they had a reduced rate, maybe they were being scummy, maybe one thought they pre-paid at the beginning and and only had to pay for the extra hours, maybe one thought the other paid and was leaving a tip, maybe they miscounted bills or who knows what.

I doubt we'll ever know- she won't be sitting for them again.

 

[kymmyk13]

My daughter did this yesterday and was only paid 50.00. She was very upset. She has babysat for them for a long time- granted that's a lot of $$ for one day (100.00 or more) but if you can't afford to pay your sitter- don't go.

my DD19 got $50.00 the other day for 5 1/2 hours. So yes, I would say that was low.

 

[suzannen]

My DD is old enough so I haven't had to use a sitter for several years, but even then I always paid $10 an hour. In a case like this wedding, I would have paid $120 (the hourly wage) plus an additional $10-$20 for the unusual length of time involved.

A great babysitter, one you really trust, is hard to find and is a person to value. I would NEVER stiff a good sitter - you lose them! Sorry your DD got stiffed.

 

[jen0610]

I like how there are those who say that because of the kids age, she should accept a lower price, as it is soooo much easier to take care of an older child.

I know of plenty 9-12 years that would be 10x's more work, then a baby or small child. My one friends boy is called "The demon spawn from hell" (his mother refers to him this way when he is on a roll) for several reasons. And those reason is why they have gone through about 30 different babysitters over the last 10 years.

On the other hand, I also know of a couple of babies that I wouldn't watch for $20.00 an hour. Mom there's a reason why your baby crys whenever you try and put them down....you spent the first 6 months of their life doing nothing put holding them. Even while they slept, you held them. Now, you are trying to go back to work and you wonder why no one will watch your baby, they don't have the time to do nothing up hold the precious bundle of joy the entire 10 hours they would have them.

 

[Mermaid02]

I like how there are those who say that because of the kids age, she should accept a lower price, as it is soooo much easier to take care of an older child.

I know of plenty 9-12 years that would be 10x's more work, then a baby or small child. My one friends boy is called "The demon spawn from hell" (his mother refers to him this way when he is on a roll) for several reasons. And those reason is why they have gone through about 30 different babysitters over the last 10 years.

On the other hand, I also know of a couple of babies that I wouldn't watch for $20.00 an hour. Mom there's a reason why your baby crys whenever you try and put them down....you spent the first 6 months of their life doing nothing put holding them. Even while they slept, you held them. Now, you are trying to go back to work and you wonder why no one will watch your baby, they don't have the time to do nothing up hold the precious bundle of joy the entire 10 hours they would have them.

That's a really good point. Not all 10 year olds are created equally!

 

[mjkacmom]

It's not the same at all. I would think the person would say, "Oh, you must have miscounted the cash, I charge $30 per haircut." And then the client would get out the rest of the money. The babysitter didn't mention pay, the client didn't mention pay, they were just going off of what happened in the past but no one mentioned pay today for the long term job. If the OP's daughter wanted $10 an hour for the 12 hour job, she should have said so. I may have missed that in the post, but I don't believe the babysitter said, "Oh, you must have miscounted..there is only $50 here..." and gave the family a chance to remedy the situation. The family felt that $50 was fair for that work for that day, so they paid that. The babysitter said nothing, so unless the family was in the mindreading business, that was that.

But it wasn't supposed to be a 12 hour job - she was told they were going to a wedding reception, which is typically about 4 hours long. If they knew they had plans to go out later, they should've told the sitter that, instead of leading her to believe they would be home in 5 hours or so. The couple changed the contract without letting the sitter know. If they had said "I know we usually pay you $10 an hour, but we will be gone for 12 hours, and want to only pay you $50 for the whole time," the sitter could've decided if it was worth her time, earning less than $5 an hour.

 

[camlace]

My DD is old enough so I haven't had to use a sitter for several years, but even then I always paid $10 an hour. In a case like this wedding, I would have paid $120 (the hourly wage) plus an additional $10-$20 for the unusual length of time involved.

A great babysitter, one you really trust, is hard to find and is a person to value. I would NEVER stiff a good sitter - you lose them! Sorry your DD got stiffed.

Totally agree...20 years ago when I babysat on a regular basis I was paid $10/hr. If I babysat for something like a wedding or any long duration (other than the normal "date night" 3-5 hours) then I was paid $10/ hour PLUS another $10/20/50 on top of that depending on the situation. And also there was usually a pizza delivery tossed in or some kind of paid for activity to entertain us for such a long length of time.

The quickest way to lose a good babysitter is to not pay them fairly!

 

[Piglets Mommy]

I would pay the $120 for the 12 hrs plus a tip. I would also make sure that the sitter knew how long we would be gone...in this case, it sounds like she thought they would be home much sooner....what if she had plans later in the evening. If that is the case, and she had to cancel plans, she deserves even more, not LESS.