Do you provide lunch for your babysitter?

[Gumbo4x4]

$15/hour is more than the people who work at licensed daycare facilities make around here



Actually, I guess that isn't so funny when you think about it

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Ok - I'm stuck on all she has for her OWN SON to eat is a lunchable. Seriously That kid is probably starving.

I kind of thought that on the first post as well. Not so much for the small child but the sitter. I'd probably just not eat if a lunchable were my only option

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I'm assuming that paying someone $15/hour is not a hardship for most posters here since the Disboards are a place for people who travel to Disney often. So from that perspective I guess I could see where it's "criminal" or "outrageous" to only pay someone $4/hour to watch your children.

But, I'm looking at it from the perspective of a single mother who may only be making $7 or $8 an hour. She may feel that $4/hour is generous. (Since the OP and her child feel the rate is adequate, I'm sure that's the norm for their area.)

I have a feeling the folks you mention toward the bottom are more common here than you might suspect. I think even among the frequent Disney travelers (and I do not count myself among them), you'll find a lot of them having to make a lot of sacrifices in other areas of their lives in order to make their trips possible - including dual income families

 

[ccgirl]

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...

Haven't read all the replies. If I have a babysitter for the kids I will either tell them what to make/cook or have pizza delivered and leave the money for that (with tip). I would fully expect the babysitter to make enough so they can eat as well. I tell them to help themselves to anything in the house.

Lunchables do not count as a meal in my house. The only time they have them once in a great while when they are going on a field trip.

WHile pay is definitely regional; there is also a big difference between a babysitter and a daycare provider. Babysitters are temporary, once in a while, and get paid usually per hour. My Daycare provider gets $200 a week for my DS4. Babysitter's get $10 an hour.

 

[Mkebound]

I didn't babysit a lot growing up as there isn't as much demand for male babysitters, but I did sit regularly for a family that had a 4 year old when I was 15. The going rate was $2 an hour and at that time minimum wage was $4.25 an hour. They always had food for me if I was working during a meal time.

Now days I don't know any one in our circle of friends who pays less than $10 for a babysitter, and a few of our friends pay $15-20 bucks an hour. Minimum wage is $7.15 an hour? So babysitters are now making 40% to a 300% premium over minimum wage. I can understand why some families might not feel the need to provide food.

 

[Mkebound]

After making my first post after just reading the post from the OP, I went back and read all of the posts including the follow up posts by the OP.

I think this is a teaching moment for your son. He is an employee now and came to an agreement with his employer. He's happy with the agreement (which counts for A LOT) but there's this little thing he didn't get clarified up front.

Dealing with an issue like this is an important life lesson that will serve him well! Congratulations for him being so young and out earning some money and building a work ethic!

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

i pay my babysitter $5 an hour, but she is also a family friend and my kids are very easy going and its super easy "work" for her. She knows she can eat whatever she wants and i always make sure if i cook dinner before hand that there are leftovers for her to eat.

 

[cornflake]

I didn't babysit a lot growing up as there isn't as much demand for male babysitters, but I did sit regularly for a family that had a 4 year old when I was 15. The going rate was $2 an hour and at that time minimum wage was $4.25 an hour. They always had food for me if I was working during a meal time.

Now days I don't know any one in our circle of friends who pays less than $10 for a babysitter, and a few of our friends pay $15-20 bucks an hour. Minimum wage is $7.15 an hour? So babysitters are now making 40% to a 300% premium over minimum wage. I can understand why some families might not feel the need to provide food.

I guess this too is regional, as male sitters, walkers, and especially male nannies command higher than average prices here. Want to make $700+/wk plus your own free apartment?

 

[ShanPooh]

$15/hour is more than the people who work at licensed daycare facilities make around here



Actually, I guess that isn't so funny when you think about it

I made $5.50/hour at a national chain daycare 12 years ago (minimum wage back then).

My jobs now, in a different field, pay $7.75/hr and $14.50/hr, which is why DH and I work alternate schedules. There wouldn't be much of a point working if I had to pay someone the same amount of money that I make an hour.

To the OP, sounds good if your son is having fun and happy with the pay.
If he comes with his own lunch, maybe he can bring a treat/snack for the kiddo he is watching, too (if allergies aren't an issue). My three kids couldn't make it that long on just Lunchables.

 

[disney*mom*82]

I have a sitter come to my house 2 days a week, for 4 hours, I pay her $20 per day and she is welcome to any food/drink she wants. She always makes DD4 breakfast and she eats some too. My DD4 is super easy and they have a blast, I dont feel that I under pay her, she only asked for $15 per day. Plus, she knows if she ever needs a day off or is sick, I have a back up and it is no big deal. (The college I teach at has on site preschool and they only charge $20 also, she just isnt a morning person and doesnt like getting up to go there and she has health issues, so I like for her to be able to stay home these days.)

 

[disfan07]

At 19, I made $9/hour working at a daycare....if I was there now at 22, I would be making about $12/hour. Personally, IMO, babysitting is more work than the daycare.

For $9/hour I had a class of 13 three year olds and always had a second person with me and we had 3 administrators who dealt with all of the major discipline problems.

For $15/hour, I have 3 kids (usually all under the age of 10) by myself and have to deal with meals, sibling fights, homework, bedtimes, etc.

I was more worn out after 4 hours babysitting than I was after 9 hours with my preschoolers.

Now, what you have to understand with what I charge is that I will usually take what the parents are willing to pay. If its a single parent, or a parent who does not make a lot or is struggling, I will babysit for what they can afford (I do have my limits though...If the child is difficult, I'm not going to babysit for $5/hour regardless of the situation). I have done that for new teachers and new nurses just starting out who have loans and are not making a lot of money. For them, they usually say they can pay about $8/hour and I have no problem doing that. But that is not the situation most of the time where I live now and where i lived before. I'm willing to negotiate to a point (especially if the kids are older) but when they've asked my rates, I tell them and no one has ever had a problem with it.

FWIW, I have always lived in very high COL places so my rates are on the low end of normal.

 

[disfan07]

Also not meaning to make it any sort of debate, but to explain. This, like many financial things, is completely geographic. I used to make $15-20/hr babysitting when I did it occasionally in h.s. and college and that was years ago. I know someone used to supplement her income sitting a couple years back and she got $20 so it doesn't seem to have gone up much or she charges what she used to in high school herself, heh.

That's the norm here, I'd be shocked if I heard of anyone sitting for less than $15, and that price would be the cheap young teen who lives down the hall type of arrangement.

I really don't think it's about people being wealthier or not, but the area. Of course there are people here who make minimum wage but they're either only hiring single sitters for a special thing and doing like bartering sitting or finding someone who will do it for very low rates but... it's not the norm in general I don't believe. The jobs that pay under $15 here are traditional minimum wage type jobs, like fast food or cleaning. I also used to temp and even receptionist would pay $18/hr. Just to let you know the differing scale - it's not that it's wealthy people, it's that the whole scale of wages and housing (a tiny studio apartment here can easily cost $300,000) and etc. is different in different areas. It's fairly exreme where I live, so I'm sure there's plenty of middle ground.
As for the food thing - the norm was usually 'help yourself' or 'here's the menu stash and $$.' I agree that the OP lives right there may be at the root of the assumption that he can find food without it being provided - though I also wonder what else is there that she may assume he'll just find and eat.


They're meant to be lunch - a meal - especially for a kid. The calories are fairly high in them (and the nutrition is awful), and the kid in question is small, I think it's plenty for lunch for a kid.

And also, I htink a lot of it depends on whether it is a regular job or just ocasional babysitting.

My rates are based on once a week sitting (so I had one family I sat for basically every week --sometiems twice if needed) and that was what I charged.

But over the summer for a more regular job, I have charged less because it is a steady job. Usually on average for summer jobs I charge $9/hour for 1 kid up to $12/hour for 4 kids. So for a family of 4 that I sat for 3 days a week one summer, I was making about $350/week. At regular rates, it would have been about $500/week

I might be a nanny this summer and pay would be $18/hour for 2 kids (about $850-$900/week). The combination of where they live and the mothers career, its not that outrageous.

 

[NYCDiane]

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.

Sure but this isn't a regular "job" --- it's an occassional babysitting gig. I babysat as a teen (way back when) and the parents always said "there's food in the fridge, have whatever you and the kids want" or "we left money on the counter if you want to order pizza or something for you and the kids".

A few years ago, I would watch DDs friends (at their house) on Sundays while the parents worked or went out. The parents would always leave a kitchen full of food AND $40 to order food or get fast food if we all wanted (my daughter would be there, too). In addition, she would pay me for my time, even when I told her she didn't have to pay.

If I ever had a babysitter, I would absolutely leave enough food for them or money to get food.

 

[want2bamommy]

Haven't read all the replies. If I have a babysitter for the kids I will either tell them what to make/cook or have pizza delivered and leave the money for that (with tip). I would fully expect the babysitter to make enough so they can eat as well. I tell them to help themselves to anything in the house.

Lunchables do not count as a meal in my house. The only time they have them once in a great while when they are going on a field trip.

WHile pay is definitely regional; there is also a big difference between a babysitter and a daycare provider. Babysitters are temporary, once in a while, and get paid usually per hour. My Daycare provider gets $200 a week for my DS4. Babysitter's get $10 an hour.

I totally agree with that.

I last babysat 20 years ago (for a single Mom with 2 kids) and was making about $6-$8/hr. It was also overnight for most of my "shift." The Mom was a waitress at a diner and I worked 4pm-4am on Friday nights and 4pm-1am on Saturday nights.

 

[kwhite1022]

Here in Michigan I pay $2 a child, so if my sitter has all 3 of my kids she gets $6 an hour....but I always round up. For example, if we are only gone 2.5 hours they will get $20 rather then the $15 and so forth. I always provide food and snacks for my kids and the sitter.