I just posted an ad on craigslist looking for a babysitter for two Friday nights per month... hello, date night. I've already gotten one response, and I've already decided I don't like her name. I've GOT to relax.
What's the going rate for a babysitter? I was cheeeeaaaap, absolutely the cheapest in town. 5 bucks per night, per kid. Crazy, right? My clientèle was overwhelmingly barflies, so I was pretty popular. I was ticked when I found out that my friends were charging $5 per hour.
What do you ask a potential babysitter when interviewing them? I want someone that lives nearby. If they're young, someone with parents living nearby. Valid driver's license. References. No boyfriend/girlfriend. No friends. No cell phone. Reads all the time. Good report card. Nursing degree. I don't think that's too much to ask.
Gosh, this is weirding me out. I can't believe I'm looking for a babysitter. That's such a MOM thing to do. "Babe, we gotta get home, the babysitter needs to leave." Whoa.
Okay, I just looked up the first girl on myspace. She's not bad. She's 22, so that's good. Sorry I stalked you, babysitter.
7 months ago
7 comments:
really no cell phone? I would think having a cell phone would be a good thing. And are there any kids that don't have cell phones any more?
When we used a sitter 2 years ago (2 hours tops, while I went to work p/t until dh got home), we paid her between 6-$7/hour. Usually cloer to $7. We lucked out, as she was a friend's younger sister. We would take Aidan to their house, w/ her mom there and everything.
Today I'd pay no less than $7/hour, I'm guessing.
Have you ever heard of sittercity.com? You can search there via zipcodes, and it provides you profile info, etc. You have to pay $7 (around there) for the entire YEAR, but that's what will enable you to access the phone numbers, etc. The rest you can browse.
Good Luck!
Ok... I'm not quite as paranoid as you are :) But here are questions we ask our potential sitters:
are you first aid/ cpr certified (if they say no then we will pay for them to take a class... if they aren't interested in the class they don't get the job)
how would you discipline a child who: is biting, hitting, crying non-stop, throwing toys, screaming, etc.
Have you ever been accused of abusing a child?
Are you available all evenings? weekends?
What is your prior experience with a child this age?
What prior experience do you have babysitting?
We have more... we ask a TON of questions really! But those are the biggest ones for us.
I also go with my gut instinct. If my mommy radar says no.. then it's no.
Good luck, Stac! I know you'll be fine and so will Ace :)
Jo
I'm paying my high-school-senior sitter $8 an hour in the daytime. My other babysitter, who is older and has some health background, got $10/hour, and that's what I pay at night. However, given that you don't have *two* one-year-olds, I would think $7-8 would be fair.
I'm so picky about sitters, I fired one of my relatives.
Regan - if I know teenagers, I know that if we hired a teenager with a cell phone, she'd be texting/talking on the phone all night instead of watching my kid. Again, being ridiculously over protective, but still.
Jo - in the absence of the ability to verify that claim, wouldn't anyone who's been accused of abusing a child would lie through their teeth if asked?
(2) friday nights a month? I have a 20 year old sister who's at Hinds who needs work! She's kept mine and Black Betty's (who had double ear infections at the time)....
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