OT: What do you FEED your babysitter?

[Princess Roo]

What do you have made for dinner when a babysitter is watching your kids (and eating with them)? DH and I are trying to be consistent about going on dates once a month and I feel bad always feeding the sitter a freezer pizza but don't really want to make a whole meal when we're not there to eat it! And whatever it is also has to be easy for the sitter to finish preparing while holding a potentially fussy baby. Are leftovers from the previous night appropriate? Do you cook something new? (FYI, our sitter is a grad student.)
Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[SDFgirl]

I used to babysit a lot. Most families would order a pizza. Some would have chili or soup simmering on the stove that can be eaten whenever. How about some lunch meat and sub rolls for sandwiches? Or some grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup? Peanut butter and jelly, chips, and some fruit?

If I was a babysitter, I probably wouldn't want to eat leftovers. Can't really put my finger on why, exactly, but it seems kind of gross to eat other people's leftovers.

 

[mrstomrice]

We've only used a babsitter once (I know, we've got to get out more) and I prepared a baked ziti the night before. They all ate it and we ahd leftovers the next day.

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

I do not cook anything- Im trying to get out to help me feel less overwhelmed, not add to it.
I let them know there are drinks, snacks, etc and to help themselves to whatever they like. Both girls I use always come with their own food. Heck Im paying them $7.50-$8.00 an hr- if they had a retail job their employer would not be providing food for them.
I DO make sure my kitchen and table are 100% clean for them to use if they wish.

 

[Crisgw]

I don't cook. Everytime I order pizza and prepay over the phone so all she has to do it open the door and get it

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm big on ordering Pizza too. Preferably I have it delivered a few minutes before the sitter is due; that way she's not opening the door to a stranger.

 

[tjmw2727]

I would just ask her what she would like to do. I babysat for a great family during college and most of the time I just ate after the kids went to bed or were busy watching a little TV.

Occasionally the mom would make something the day before for me to heat up but most of the time she would feed the kids early or I would just feed them and I would eat later. Honestly I preferred having them eat early and then having something myself later. This way I could concentrate on them and then realax while I ate. She always had sandwich and salad fixings available for me or I would bring a sub or something to heat up for myself later.

TJ


TJ

 

[gibsontrio]

i've offered pizza but my babysitter said no thanks, so I just tell her to help her self , she usually( i have NO clue why ) opens a can of soup and dumps it in my sink..loll

 

[Princess Roo]

I like the idea of something like a casserole or soup that they can eat (it's just her and a 3 year old) and then we can all eat as leftovers the next day. Adult sitters here are actually $12/hour for 2 kids, so I'm not too excited to add the cost of pizza delivery to that!
In high school I babysat for the same family just about every Saturday night and started at 7pm after the kids had eaten. Right now we like to go out a little earlier...since I'm still nursing the baby in the middle of the night, I don't stay up that late! I asked if she preferred us to feed DS before she comes (6pm) or eat with him and she chose to eat with him (and then I started stressing - LOL).

 

[Princess Roo]

i've offered pizza but my babysitter said no thanks, so I just tell her to help her self , she usually( i have NO clue why ) opens a can of soup and dumps it in my sink..loll

That is odd...do you think she eats half a can and dumps the rest? I usually only eat half (but put the rest in the fridge).

 

[juliana_sd]

I have one sitter who is a picky eater and she always brings her own food and DS gets a Kid Cuisine, and the other one eats with DS so I usually have her heat up one of those frozen "dinner in a bag" things.

 

[ljhmom]

We usually order pizza, I order it online then have it delivered about 30 minutes after she gets here.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am a professional nanny, but I do babysit for select families on occasion.

One family always has a pizza on the way for us.
One family makes dinner for the kids (like a pasta dish) and leaves it warming on the stove for me.
One family orders Chinese or Italian delivery after I get there so I can choose whatever I want.
If I am going directly to sit after my full-time job I usually pick up my own dinner on the way.
Other families just tell me I am welcome to fix a sandwich, etc.
For what it's worth, unless I was beginning a job early in the evening (like 5 PM) I wouldn't expect the family to provide dinner for me.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I don't think babysitters should expect a full meal when they're being paid to watch the kids. Afterall, most of us who work don't expect our employers to buy us lunch during the day. I think it's fair to offer a few snacks - "There's fruit in the bowl on the table and chips and cookies in the cupboard in case you get hungry." Provide limits up front as to what she's welcome to snack on but don't worry about an entire meal. I don't remember ever eating a meal while babysitting except once when I was there for 8 hours. I made lunch for me and the boy I was watching. Otherwise, I ate before I went (granted, this was almost 30 years ago!).

I'm lucky to have my parents and my sister as my primary babysitters. My sister is picky and always picks up take-out before she comes. My parents don't want to eat our food (mom says, "You guys work hard! We're not going to eat your food."). They've been known to bring over entire meals that they've cooked at home. My dad is diabetic and needs to eat regularly so he'll sometimes make a sandwich. He considers that his payment!

 

[Aliceacc]

I think there's a huge difference between hiring an adult and hiring a teenager.

My last set of sitters (twins) went off to college in September, so we have a new set-- a 14 year old girl and her 16 year old sister. We use them primarily when we:

a) go out to dinner-- 10 minutes away and 2 hours or so of sitting. But it's at dinner time and of course I feed them.

b) have parent conferences or something at school. Both my husband's school and mine serve a (NICE!!!) dinner to the faculty on each of these 5 nights per year. Again, that means I'm gone during dinner time and of course I include the sitter in the dinner plans I make for my own kids.

And because my sitters are young girls, I'm very hesitant to have the pizza delivered when I'm not home. I would rather have them eat lukewarm pizza than have them uncomfortable opening the door to the delivery guy, especially during the winter months when it's dark for dinner time.

Possibly just my own paranoia, but I order ahead of time.

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

I only feed the baby sitter if its dinnertime. If its after 7:00pm or so I don't..I usually will leave out a bag of popcorn...and tell them where snacks and drinks are.
Its usually pizza here too...

 

[tinkandpan]

I only include dinner if my children are having dinner with her (ie it is an early sitter night- before 6pm). In that case- I usually order a pizza to be delivered but my kids are also eating it. When I used to have a day sitter I would leave sandwich meat but then I realized when I got a new day sitter that if this was any other job she would be bringing her own food so i nipped that in the bud real quick. I always leave snacks and tell them to help themselves to anything in the house including the freezer where there is usually a frozen pizza or two, a lean cuisine or something if you were hungry you would eat.

 

[thegrimdwarf]

Our sitter is a vegetarian, so I try to make sure I have everything she needs to put together a nice salad or sandwich - nice fresh greens, crusty bread, and a couple of good-quality cheeses, and roasted peppers. And I always bake a batch of peanut butter cookies, which I know are her favorite.

She usually doesn't come over until a bit after seven because we prefer to put our younger boy to bed ourselves because he can be difficult. And we don't go out much - maybe once every 6 weeks. If she was coming more often, I might make less of a big deal about it, since she only rarely eats anything besides the cookies.

 

[janey99]

I pay my sitter 15$ an hour to watch my 9yo DS play his DS. To me, that's a good enough deal with no dinner included!

She's welcome to any snacks in the house, but I don't provide dinner even if DS will eat while she's there.

Jane

 

[Princess Roo]

For those of you that don't provide dinner, do you tell them in advance that you won't be? If I was babysitting at 5PM, for example, I guess I would assume that I would be feeding the kids and that I would be able to eat what they were eating. I think the way I got into this "mess" of providing dinner for 6PM sitting is I didn't know how to politely tell her to eat before she came. Can you tell I'm a wimp!?

Thank you for all the ideas! Tonight we're going with a casserole that DH and DS will also eat as leftovers Tuesday when I'm not going to be home for dinner.