WWYD? Teenaged DD being paid too much for babysitting/petsitting!

[dis-happy]

My "real life" IS like this- and my dad taught my sister and I that we should find something that pays us to do what we enjoy. Nearly 30 years later, my dad still loves doing what he does and his passion shows.

Yes, my dad didn't say that we would be paid "tons of money" for having fun (and he didn't say we wouldn't have to work hard)

I love what I do (overall) and if I didn't, I wouldn't stay in my job for another minute.

Why is it hard to instill work ethic when you are doing what you love? Most people do a BETTER job when they are doing what they enjoy.

Oh I agree, nothing like skipping into work every day. But she isn't going to be able to spend the rest of her life getting paid to exercise horses. And even going to university and grad school to do what she loves is still going to be work.

 

[shellcruiser]

I agree w/ not too much. We LOVE that there is a teen across the street willing to tend to our dog while we're on vacation. We have a big dog, so boarding him is very expensive, and he is miserable. At home he sleeps all day anyway. Having someone tend animals in the home is a huge plus for most pet owners. I dread the day she goes to college and I have to find another pet sitter.

 

[figment52]

If yiu think it is too much you can always instill the savings rule. 50% is to spend as she wishes and 50% goes into a savings account for her first car or college specding money or something that will be long term savings.

 

[figment52]

Whenever things seem awkward, it is usually a good teaching moment as others have said. This is your opportunity to teach your daughter your family values. Perhaps share how you manage your money. I started with a breakdown as follows:

40% fun money!
40% long term savings
20% charity

Then, I shared a realistic example of how much the long term savings can turn into.

This is another way to teach financial life lessons. If they learn them young they will be prepared later in life

 

[mjkacmom]

I payed my mother's helper (12) $6 an hour to help me when I was home. I then paid her $10 an hour (plus tip) when she was 14, and I left the kids with her. Dd14 gets about $9 an hour for a regular babysitting gig.

 

[StitchBuddy]

Sounds about right to me. My daughter makes $10 an hour babysitting. When she pet sits she get $10 a day per pet. But that being said they are dogs and she goes over 3-4 times day and that is still half of what they would pay to put them in the kennel, plus the dogs are happier being at home, that also includes mail and watering flowers.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I also feel the prices are correct.

I had a similar issue with my two teenage boys. They are "on call" to shovel my neighbor and dear friend's sidewalks. They came home with 30.00 for about 45 minutes work the first time. I had a fit ... and my boys also told her it was too much money. When I saw her the next day at work she told me, "Do you know how much money I am saving by having them?" She told me she had a landscaping company shoveling and was paying them 50.00 every time they came.

In her eyes, she was getting a bargain AND she was paying someone she knew for the work.

So, don't feel bad. I love when kids work no matter what they do. It is such a learning experience that schools and home can't teach. (And since my sons were carrying their shovels to and from her house, they picked up 3 more neighbors who want them to shovel their sidewalks in the winter! )

 

[deedeecee]

I think your daughter is being fairly compensated for her time.
We recently hired a teenager from the neighborhood to take care of our two dogs while we were on vacation. We paid her $10 a visit, 3 visits a day. I think it was a fair price; it was cheaper than boarding, and having my dogs kept in a familiar environment was invaluable to me. I wanted to make it worth her while. She did a fabulous job, and I look forward to hiring again this summer!

 

[Gigi22]

In my area petsitting from a bonded sitter with experience is $25 a visit for 2 animals; they recommend two visits a day, so potentially $350 a week. For that money the sitter looks around your house on a daily basis (often required by insurance), feeds and grooms the animals, takes in any mail, and waters the houseplants. If required the sitter will also give your pets any medication, monitors their health, and takes them to the vet should the need arise.

 

[malibuconlee]

I don't think it's too much. She was with the kids for several hours. I'm sure it was worth mor thatn the $20 the parents gave to have the help. Lots of times I round up to the next 10 or 20 when paying our sitter.

As for the cats. Just imagine how much the neighbor would have had to pay to kennel both of those cats for a week. I'm sure the neighbors find it a steal.

Then again, we might over-pay our sitters. We are just happy to have them from time to time. Miss the teenage neighbor in El Paso we had.

 

[NewCrew42]

My 13-year old DD has had two little jobs lately that are bringing in WAY too much money, IMO.

She's been a "mother's helper" for a young couple around the corner.....playing with their two young boys while the parents work on big jobs at home that they couldn't get done with their kids underfoot. (one day, they cleaned the garage; another time, they did yardwork) Each time, she's there for only 3-4 hours, and comes home with $20! I think that's WAY too much money to be paid for watching children when the parents are home.

This week, she's feeding a neighbor's cats while the neighbors are on vacation. All she has to do is bring in the mail and feed the cats for a week. They left her an envelope on the kitchen counter the first day.....there was $100 inside! What the heck?!?! That's more than $10 a day to do very little. I would have been surprised if there had been more than $30.

Have the rates for such small jobs really gone up so much? Are my friends and neighbors just being very generous?? I really feel that the $100 is way too much, and wish I could give some back..............WWYD?

My DD13 was just paid $60 for dog sitting two dogs for 3 days over Spring Break. She would let the dogs out, feed them, water them, and walk them, then kennel them at bedtime. It was actually quite a bit of work since she went over several times a day to tend them.

I thought it was very reasonable considering it would cost the owner a lot more to put the dogs in a kennal somewhere.

 

[SoonerSarah]

We have frequently had house sitters, usually speaking they are college, or at least driving. We have paid $100 or more for a week, but they are also getting to stay in our home, instead of going back to Mom's house (which thus far, the young college kids are very, very happy to be able to come home and make Mom happy, but not have to stay the night under MOm's roof). Anyway, they check out mail, put our dogs out 2-3 times per day, feed them and feed the chinchilla, and they get to eat whatever is in the house, I usually leave some of their favorite foods in the fridge. Even when we have had younger kids do it, we still pay the same amount.

Basically, it is cheaper than boarding our dogs, they are happier at home, someone is checking on our house and the mail is on the table when we come home. For us, its a winning situation.

We dont have babysitters much, but for two young children, that doesnt sound like a bad price. And, you keep the sitter happy and well paid, then you are more likely to get a long term reliable sitter who will actually care about the kids and watch over them.

 

[EllenFrasier]

The babysitting sounds about right
The pet sitting is not out of line. How much would those people have paid if they boarded the cats in a kennel? Way more than $10 a day!
I don't think I would tell my child they were paid too much. I think I would tell her that the people were very generous and perhaps other people would not pay her that much. They must trust her to do a good job, or they would not have hired her.
You have a ambitious little girl on your hands.

 

[seashoreCM]

Perhaps share how you manage your money. I started with a breakdown as follows:

40% fun money!
40% long term savings
20% charity.

I would not give 20% of earnings to charity. Maybe give to charity in kind (things) instead of money.

For some of you who think that ($20.) is too much, do a little bit of researching and find out how much it costs to go to college these days. Compared with how much it cost you to go to college.

Me? Freshman year budget at a private university (incl. room and board and incidentals): $4300.

 

[defendthehill]

IMHO...

$20 to watch and play with the kiddos for a few hours is not being overpaid. As a parent of three DD's very close in age....those 20 bucks are worth it!

$100 for feeding the cat and bringing in the mail is generous but not outrageous.

We recently paid a young lady and friend of the family $300 to stay at our house for a week while we were gone. Feed the dogs and cats, bring in the mail etc. She is living at home with mom and dad until she gets married in the fall.

 

[sk!mom]

My 13-year old DD has had two little jobs lately that are bringing in WAY too much money, IMO.

She's been a "mother's helper" for a young couple around the corner.....playing with their two young boys while the parents work on big jobs at home that they couldn't get done with their kids underfoot. (one day, they cleaned the garage; another time, they did yardwork) Each time, she's there for only 3-4 hours, and comes home with $20! I think that's WAY too much money to be paid for watching children when the parents are home.

This week, she's feeding a neighbor's cats while the neighbors are on vacation. All she has to do is bring in the mail and feed the cats for a week. They left her an envelope on the kitchen counter the first day.....there was $100 inside! What the heck?!?! That's more than $10 a day to do very little. I would have been surprised if there had been more than $30.

Have the rates for such small jobs really gone up so much? Are my friends and neighbors just being very generous?? I really feel that the $100 is way too much, and wish I could give some back..............WWYD?

I think that she's paid too little for the Mother's Helper job and probably a "just right" amount for the cat feeding job.

Really doesn't matter if the parent's are home or not, she's giving up several hours of her day. $5 dollars and hour seems like a bargain for the parents, Minimum wage would be more fair.

As far as the cat feeding job, $10 a day seems fair. She has to set the time aside and interrupt her day plus be responsible to make it a priority. Our neighbors always paid DD $10 a day for the same job. All she had to do was go over twice a day to check the water, feed, and clean the litter box.

 

[dvcnewgirl]

Yep, these are pretty much the going rates.

 

[Owishingonastar]

Taking care of my pets are priceless. There isnt a dollar amount i wouldnt pay.. Now is the time to teach her money management though while she is getting good pay.

 

[princessmom29]

The mother's helper money is right in line. $20 for 3-4 hours work is reasonable. $100 for the cat sitting might be a a little excessive, but not so much that I would be concerned. I say don't worry about it. They are paying what they feel your DD's ervices are worth to them. It would be different if your DD were demanding x amount per hour.

 

[pixiewings71]

I didn't read all the replies but wanted to say that is equal to what we pay our pet sitter when we are gone and I'd pay $20 without a doubt to someone who helped watch my kids so I could do things like yardwork and garage cleaning. I don't think she was overpaid at all.