Saturday, August 08, 2009

First Impression; update at bottom

I interviewed two babysitters this week. The first babysitter was petting Ranger and found a FLEA on him. I was mortified. The second babysitter witnessed my children throwing toys all over the floor and running around screaming (as in, for fun.) Ashlyn was put into time out more than once. She was only in our apartment for about 25 minutes or so. I should probably have been mortified about that one, too. That's real life, though, and she would have to deal with those things while babysitting.

So, how much do you pay your babysitters? I realize that I live in a rather expensive area, but, seriously, this is expensive. These are not high school students, but we're just talking a few hours of babysitting here. When I realize that one of them is asking more per hour than I made my first year of teaching, for which I needed a degree and teaching certificate, it seems awfully high. (For reference: minimum wage here is $9.79)

Edited to add: The babysitter is a 19 years old college student, does not have CPR or first aid certification, much less anything else, and no experience with children under 3. And she wants me to pay her $20 an hour. I wasn't crazy about her anyway, (she kept asking Christopher to hug her. She just met him.) The other babysitter, the one who will be here in an hour, has a college degree, experience with all ages, and only wants $10-$15. I find that much more reasonable.

7 comments:

Smitty 1, 2 , 3 and 4 said...

We just paid a sitter $10.00/hour in CO. I think that is what seems to be the rate now. It makes the cost of dinner and a movie a lot more, huh?

Harrisonjoy said...

Yeh, Angie...I'm afraid that you have just forgotten how it is to pay someone to babysit! It's not TOO bad, if you consider that you and Allen might get away for a little while!

Anonymous said...

OMG...I really don't think that I could pay $20 for a babysitter. The entire time I was gone I'd be thinking about how much I was spending. Hopefully you and Allen will take advantage of our visit next month and spend some alone time together.

Grandma Vicki

Anonymous said...

I think 10-15 an hour for two kids is a great rate!- plus you are living in one of the most expensive places in the states. If your lucky they will clean a bit while the kids are sleeping? - or if it is during the day that you need a sitter I would consider bartering a cheaper rate - say 10 an hour (I pay 5 75 an hour for Jackson and we are in AR - plus I don't get one person to entertain him and do craft projects ect - he just gets lumped in with 10 other kids and they run around for a few hours then nap) so 10 and hour for two kids with a fun sitter during the day I think is reasonable. Plus you don't have to pay every week - so it will even out if you think of it in a monthly budget kind of way. At night I would pay more, as it is difficult to find someone reliable to sit at night. If you give him/her some hours during the week in-between classes - he/she may be more inclined to sit on a Sat night and be more reliable for future babysitting?
Hope you had a great time where ever you guys went! I have lost my phone. Miss talking to you!

sara said...

First, great pics in the last couple posts! I know, I am way behind!

We usually pay about $8 an hour for babysitting. $20 an hour seems crazy! Especially with not much experience!

Farrah said...

I have a J.D., and I am pretty sure I don't make $20/hour. Maybe I should move to CA and try to babysit?

Farrah

Katie said...

GAH!~ That 20 dollar person was CRAZY. Wow. We pay 8 dollars an hour for highschool kids to watch our kids. But I think it is worth paying whatever it costs on some level....but 20 is overboard. And the hugging thing is weird, too....