Every Thursday I work six hours, so my daughter goes to a friend's house to play/babysitting. They used to take her after school so they had her from 3:30-5:30/6ish. Now that school is out they will have her from 10:30-5:30/6ish. They have two kids a seven year old daughter like my daughter and a four year old boy who is not potty trained, and a real handfull. He acts compariably to a two year old. He only says a handful of understandable words, and throws fits about everything. Anyway, he's a tough cookie, we are planning to trade babysitting (friend works days and her hubby works nights so he doesn't get alot of rest) I was just wondering if you think it is fair if 2 hours of my one kid is equal to 1 hour of her two kids? I just don't think one kid for an hour is equal to two kids for an hour, especially when one is soo young. Or if 2 hours of my kid is equal to a1.5hour of her two? What do you think? Suggestions?
Thanks
I wouldn't do the trade.
However, if you do, you can't compare it like you are. ALL kids are different and will behave differently for different care takers. If you are trading babysitting, it's the time you pay for. My sitter gets $10/hr whether she has one or all 3 kids. It's her TIME I'm paying for, or trading if we were doing that.
If you can't afford to pay her, you've got to trade evenly. When she watches your daughter (which it sounds like she did for FREE during the school year) she's doing it on TOP of caring for her own kids... seems fair that you would take those kids off of her hands for a while every now and then.
We have a babysitter we pay to watch our son a couple of evenings a month when we go out. Her rate is $10 an hour... we have only one child and we STILL pay that rate even though other families with 2 and 3 kids get the same rate... her time is her time.
don't do the trade. you'll regret it. just pay her for the babysitting. trust me on this one. doing the trade will result in both of you feeling it is unfair and being resentful. just back out of it, tell her you can't handle it.
Nope. Straight trade, or not at all.
And you're already in the red. By a LOT. She's been dealing with your daughter on top of 2 kids. Now you'll be dealing with your daughter on top of 2 kids.
You didn't mention if she has been charging you to watch your daughter during the school year. Kind of an important bit of information when you consider that if that is the case then during that time they were drawing the short straw. Now that it equalizes you draw the short straw and you are going to point that out? Bad form.
Regardless of the history if you approach this as not even going forward she will probably end the deal anyway. Most people don't take it well when people say their kids are a handful even if they are a handful and they know it.
Do you pay her to watch your daughter? If not, then they have really helped you out, so you need to return the favor.
He might not be that bad for you:) I have a friend with a pretty out of control 6 year old. Whenever we played together (moms present), the play date couldn't end soon enough. She asked me to watch him for 2 hours once so she could go to the doctor. I reluctantly agreed--I have 3 boys, so surely I could handle hers for 2 hours! He was SO DIFFERENT without her! I couldn't believe it. He listened to me--even when I told him he couldn't do something.
I think its tacky to think of taking her kids for only half the amount of time she does for you. regardless of whether you have one or two kids for her to take care of her time is being taken up for x hours. you should reciprocate with the same amount of time. It's hard that her little boy is not at the age appropriate behavior. but she needs a sitter s much as you did.
