Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Our First Babysitter

My husband once babysat three kids for eight hours and got paid a mere ten dollars. Not that he’s still bitter or anything... But I digress. I have hired a babysitter for this Saturday night. I have only left James a few times and it was only with family members for a short amount of time. But this weekend I am leaving James with an unfamiliar babysitter to go to a Valentine’s Day dinner and dance. I will be gone for about three hours and he is only seven months. As a new mom I am unfamiliar about the market for paying a babysitter. How much do you pay a babysitter?  Do you pay based on a crafted algorithm consisting of the number of children, their ages, and the amount of time babysitting?

To do this for my circumstances, I have 1 kid, age 7 months, for 3 hours. But he will be sleeping for half the time (let’s hope) so I can divide it into 1.5 hours, right?

And then I have to factor in the fact that I have a fridge stocked with soda and ice cream so that of course reduces that inconvenience of babysitting. And we said her boyfriend could come so that is easily 5 bucks back in our pockets! I had bfs babysit with me all the time. It was like being paid to make out for a couple hours (Just kidding Brian… (But seriously it was great.)). And we have good movies and a wii so that’s another deduction out of her paycheck. But then I don’t have cable TV so that will be more money back to the babysitter.

But you always have to account for the crying factor which is always a variable depending on baby James’ mood. (Brian subscribes to the school of thought that one should pay crying insurance—which is a sum of money paid upfront as insurance/incentive in case of the horrific crying). We are debating if our lack of income should be a contributing factor on how we pay the babysitter. Brian thinks that we should try paying in kind with wii games or church pamphlets---I said no. He even suggests that my YW's medallion could cover the whole night. Nice try honey.

We appreciate any and all input. We have four days to figure this out! Help!
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11 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 9, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    I always consider what night it is as well, a saturday isn't even comparable to a wednesday night job. You also want to be on your babysitters good side, since you're trusting them with your sweet little baby. With all the favorable variables factored in I would probably do 20 and call it good.

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  2. ErinFebruary 9, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    Make it two cartons of ice cream, oreos, and soda, and I think you can pretty much not pay them at all, right?

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  3. ErinFebruary 9, 2011 at 2:08 PM

    p.s. enjoy your night out! Fun!

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  4. BrandonFebruary 9, 2011 at 2:42 PM

    You have to take into account who's doing it. I pay a college student more than a 15 year old. Currently we pay our babysitter (age 15) 5 dollars an hour (and round up) for 2 kids. Ages 3 & 6 months.

    Have a good time!

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  5. The VanDerwerken'sFebruary 9, 2011 at 6:16 PM

    John and I always pay well the first time someone babysits so that way they will be more likely to want to babysit again. That being said we do between $4-5 an hour for Abby normally whether she's sleeping or not. If she washes the dishes and cleans up after herself then I think $5 and rounding the hour up is in order. I even have Moms ask me to leave dishes to see if their daughters do them or not while Abby is sleeping. Find that babysitter and keep her! But John never lets boys over.

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  6. Cami!February 9, 2011 at 7:14 PM

    For the record, I've watched James before - lest anyone think I'm a crappy neighbor.
    (Although I pretty much sit him in front of the fish tank and he's good for an hour.)
    I was going to comment with advice on how to pay babysitters. Then I remembered I don't have any kids.

    So...good luck! You're on your own.

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  7. JaromFebruary 9, 2011 at 7:42 PM

    you guys are funny, we have a baby sitter that comes 2 times a week and we pay her $5 an hr...

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  8. Christina and BrianFebruary 9, 2011 at 7:42 PM

    Christy I didn't even of think of dishes and cleaning! And I think it's a good idea to pay well so they will want to babysit again.

    And Cami of course you were a great babysitter! James is in love with you! Watch out Nate!

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  9. UnknownFebruary 10, 2011 at 11:28 AM

    Ha! I loved this post! I just consider "what is it worth to have a night out?" and go from there---I often have asked around the area what people are used to paying. Good to know that you have your mom's hostess skills. Soda. Ice Cream. I'll have to come babysit for you---since we carry neither of those consistently in ours!

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  10. UnknownFebruary 10, 2011 at 11:30 AM

    Can I "Like" Cami's post?

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  11. RachelFebruary 11, 2011 at 1:09 PM

    I saw you have a blog now because I track who comes to my blog and I saw people coming to my blog from your blog...Hey-thanks a lot for telling me about your blog!!! Ok-I guess since you've only been blogging for a few days, consider yourself forgiven.

    Anyway, I usually pay $5 an hour for when we go out. Eva is usually asleep most of the time that we are gone too. I did have one babysitter tell me that I paid too much for watching just one kid who was super easy to watch. But I personally want to be known for being someone who pays too much than to be known around as someone who is a cheapskate--especially when it comes to paying someone who is watching and taking care of my most prized possession. (Granted you know I am frugal in other ways...just not when it comes to that aspect.)

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