Do you provide lunch for your babysitter?

[sksjasams]

DS13 has babysat occassionally for our neighbor. Sometimes just in the evening for a couple hours, twice now all day while she is at work. She is a teacher in another school district, so the days off from school are sometimes different.
The last time DS babysat all day (6:45am-4:30pm), I asked him how it went for lunch. He said the little boy had a lunchables and there was only one, so he didn't know what to do. He just ate a cup of yogurt from the fridge and that was it.
DS is babysitting again all day today. I told him to ask her what he should make for lunch. He texted me before I left for work that he needed a lunch. I brought him over a sandwich and some crackers. I asked him what she said when he asked what he should make for lunch, and she told him there was a lunchables in the fridge for the little boy.
I'm not sure if things have changed, but don't you usually have something on hand for the babysitter to eat if they are feeding your kids a meal?
Maybe she has never had a sitter before, or never babysat herself as a kid.
We will just have DS pack a lunch next time...

 

[disprincessatheart]

You're not wrong. I babysat a lot growing up and if i was feeding the kids it was always something i could eat too - mac n cheese, pizza, etc. Now that I have a son, the few times we've had a sitter I've let her know she's welcome to anything in the kitchen, and I always make sure there's at least frozen pizza and microwave popcorn. It's weird to me that there's been just one lunchable both times too. Like she's specifically making sure your ds doesn't eat. What are the chances she was down to just one both times? I hope she's at least paying him well!

 

[Que_Sarah_Sarah]

I was always offered food if the child/ren were eating. Sometimes it was just a duplicate of what they ate (order pizza for everyone) and sometimes they would have food just for me because the kids were eating mac and cheese or something (to be fair, I would have eaten mac and cheese too, lol).

I think it is reasonable to ask the neighbor (you, not your child) if you should pack a lunch or if there will be food at the house. I remember early on in babysitting I didn't eat anything one night because I was afraid to ask, and when the parents got home they felt badly because they had forgotten to say "have whatever from the fridge".

 

[princessmom29]

Seems odd to me as well. I babysat a lot as a teen, and if I was serivng a meal, I was always included in that. It is almost like she is making a loint that your DS is NOT to eat her food. Odd.

 

[clm10308]

That sounds weird to me too. I also baby sat a lot as a teen, and there was always food. For me as well as the child. In fact, the one time that a family did not have anything extra for me that was the one and only time I sat for them. The few time that my DD has babysat, there were always snacks for her.

Does your DS fix any snacks for the boy. One lunchable doesn't seem like much food for all day even for a toddler.

 

[Leajess99]

I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that this is a paid job thus you bring your own meal. It did not use to be this way but I think more and more people are thinking along these lines.

 

[LaDonna]

I would definately tell the sitter to help herself to whatever she wanted for lunch.......hmmm maybe she just has so many sitters she assumes the sitter knows this? If I was sitting for someone that long I would just help myself lol but I guess being younger I'd be very shy about doing that

 

[TinkerTY]

We always try to supply food for our babysitters (or $ to order a pizza for them and the kids).

We had our normal babysitter over last Saturday and I made baked ziti for the kids (and her) but she decided to order from a deli and have it delivered. I felt like maybe she didn't know she could have some so she ordered herself dinner.

 

[LaDonna]

I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that this is a paid job thus you bring your own meal. It did not use to be this way but I think more and more people are thinking along these lines.

yeah I can see that, with the prices everyone pays nowadays for sitting being minimum wage and over

 

[Judique]

DS13 has babysat occassionally for our neighbor. Sometimes just in the evening for a couple hours, twice now all day while she is at work. She is a teacher in another school district, so the days off from school are sometimes different.
The last time DS babysat all day (6:45am-4:30pm), I asked him how it went for lunch. He said the little boy had a lunchables and there was only one, so he didn't know what to do. He just ate a cup of yogurt from the fridge and that was it.
DS is babysitting again all day today. I told him to ask her what he should make for lunch. He texted me before I left for work that he needed a lunch. I brought him over a sandwich and some crackers. I asked him what she said when he asked what he should make for lunch, and she told him there was a lunchables in the fridge for the little boy.
I'm not sure if things have changed, but don't you usually have something on hand for the babysitter to eat if they are feeding your kids a meal?
Maybe she has never had a sitter before, or never babysat herself as a kid.
We will just have DS pack a lunch next time...

Some people are strange about food. I guess I should say 'different'.

I have a budget but you can always find something ready to eat in my kitchen. No one goes hungry - ever!

But, I've seen people who keep the bare essentials. You are lucky to find a glass of water and a toothpick, and food is just not a concern....or rather it's where they really cut corners.

Is it getting paid a reasonable amount for babysitting? If he is, then I'd just pack him a lunch and some snacks and let it go. But you are right, even back when I babysat, there was food for the sitter.

 

[angierae]

DD nannied last summer from 8-3 for two girls (11 and 5). They told her she was more than welcome to eat breakfast there (the girls at cereal or toaster waffles) and there was always lunch for her too -as a matter of fact they specifically asked her what she liked so they could include it in their weekly shopping trips. (She usually just asked for ramen or said she'd eat the same PB&J the girls always liked to eat. Sometimes they'd have something else for her - microwave pizza - she was 16, her tastes are simple. )

They paid her $150 a week for 30 hours a week, which was about half of what they'd pay for daycare, so they didn't mind feeding her too.

 

[luvmy3]

I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that this is a paid job thus you bring your own meal. It did not use to be this way but I think more and more people are thinking along these lines.

As strange as I think that is to do, it would be nice if the parents told the babysitter when asking them to babysit instead of not saying anything at all, even after they show up.

I would never expect a babysitter to provide their own meal if I am asking them to watch my child, especially during a timeframe that included mealtime. Is a sandwich really going to set someone back too much, if it is then maybe they can't afford a babysitter in the first place

 

[happygirl]

I provide food when I have a babysitter.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We don't use sitters often, but when we do, I either get a large pizza from Sam's Club or order from Pizza Hut and tell the sitter to help herself.

Sometimes in the summer my nephew (15) will hang out at my house with my sons while I run to the office for a couple of hours and I will make sure we have hotdogs or plenty of sandwich meat on hand for them to have for lunch.

OP, if I were your son, I'd start bringing my own lunch when asked to babysit for this family.

 

[Kellydelly]

When I babysat as a teen I was usually offered whatever food the kids were eating. As a nanny, I only had two employers who didn't provide me lunch. One was a divorcee who never even brought up the subject, so I helped myself . She seemed more mad than happy when I complimented a casserole dish she had made. Oops . The other family were quite RICH and I guess just stingy, and let me know that while I was watching their precious children I was not to eat out of their pantry . Thankfully most people are more generous than that. I did a few nanny temp day jobs and would take my lunch with me, since I didn't know the families. I am surprised that your son didn't leave your house with a sack lunch the second time he sat for these people. I always offer food to my babysitters .

 

[kirstenb1]

I think you may be right when you stated maybe this was her first babysitter, and she didn't sit as a teenager. It was such a huge part of my life, I never thought about someone who didn't babysit.

Anyway, yes, I think it's reasonable to think she'd provide some type of food.

 

[prncess674]

Next time, send your son with a very obvious cooler with his lunch in hopes that she notices it.

 

[sksjasams]

We talked about sending a lunch with him, but I really thought it was just an oversight. Like she had forgotten to mention anything about lunch, and he was too timid to ask. That's why this time, I had him specifically ask what he should make for lunch.

The thing that bugs me though as a mom, is that she sees him walk into the house empty handed, he asks about lunch, and she doesn't even give him a second thought.
I do tend to think she just doesn't know, and is kind of flighty. Anyway, its not that big of deal. He will just bring a lunch from now on, in his very obvious lunch box. I won't say anything...my very self-concious DS would be too embarrassed.

I don't think rate of pay should have anything to do with this, really. He is paid $4 an hour, which he is happy with. He thinks its a pretty sweet gig, since the little boy is easy to care for and a "really funny little kid".

 

[rockyroad]

We talked about sending a lunch with him, but I really thought it was just an oversight. Like she had forgotten to mention anything about lunch, and he was too timid to ask. That's why this time, I had him specifically ask what he should make for lunch.

The thing that bugs me though as a mom, is that she sees him walk into the house empty handed, he asks about lunch, and she doesn't even give him a second thought.
I do tend to think she just doesn't know, and is kind of flighty. Anyway, its not that big of deal. He will just bring a lunch from now on, in his very obvious lunch box. I won't say anything...my very self-concious DS would be too embarrassed.

I don't think rate of pay should have anything to do with this, really. He is paid $4 an hour, which he is happy with. He thinks its a pretty sweet gig, since the little boy is easy to care for and a "really funny little kid".

I think it is weird too.
If there is a child in my house at meal time then he is going to be fed.

Back in the olden days when I was a babysitter the people would have special things there just for me.
Cokes, pretzels and things like that.

 

[Crystal824]

I don't have a babysitter often, but when I do, I always provide food. Once we needed a sitter for a Sunday afternoon. It was before DD was eating real food. I had DH stop at McDonalds on the way home from church to make sure she got lunch.

This is strange.