Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). Dh and I have had this discussion, and I think the day has arrived. We say, you know, before you know it, we won't even need a babysitter!
No, THAT day hasn't arrived. But one close to it.
I know teenagers are the great, cheap babysitter. But I am wary. Not with my little LM. I am a little protective of him yet. Though I feel better at least now that he can talk clearly and tell me if his babysitter is an idiot. 
BUT we also are just really lacking teenagers around here. I have friends with teens who live 20 miles away who have offered - but their houses are not really child friendly and the logistics are a PITA.
Most of our neighbors are retired or are just really young families. Not a lot in between. Our next door neighbor at one point told me she would love to babysit - she worked with children. But then she moved...
Anyway, fast forward to tomorrow. It is Back-to-School-Nite and we have been discussing it. We both want to go, but the babysitting for the drop-in place is $12/hour. AND we expect it to be a little crowded for the evening - the place is popular with the locals. We even got a referral for a babysitter but we figured the same. She has got to be BOOKED tomorrow night. Hehe. The good ones always are backed up - we are the last ones to know. & then we go around if we want a "stranger" in our house. & all that. Why we will pay a premium for the drop-in place. The kids LOVE it. & most adult sitters cost the same anyway. (in the $10-$12/hour range for 2 kids). I am not sure I feel a ton of comfort with the teen sitters - particularly ones I do not know from Adam. So if I have to pay that much for an adult, we rather just go the the drop-in place with all the activity and fun.
So dh remembers over the weekend that our next door neighbors, on the other side, mentioned offhand their daughter is getting into the babysitting business. They mentioned this in July, as an offer really.
You know, when we moved in, she must have been 5. LOL. So I just think of her as a KID. Thought never crossed my mind.
Now she is about 11.
Dh went over and talked to them yesterday. Since they have a 4yo child, their house is FUN. They said we could drop the kids off and she will be in charge of them. IT will only be a couple of hours and not much to it - they will be fed. LM is potty trained. They usually are well-behaved. They will play for 2 hours and be happy as clams.
I was looking up what to offer (dh the dork didn't even discuss payment, or anything important really - LOL). I see $3/hour for pre-teens, as a standard for the area, and about $4-$5 for pre-teens with CPR training. Considering the parents will be there as well I think we will just offer $5 an hour, for the 2 kids. Open to negotiation.
At $5/hour, somewhere where we know they will be WELL taken care of, I think we might actually get out a bit more. & how CONVENIENT.
Kudos to the rather last minute-ness of it all. I think I am in heaven.
I am just beside myself that we can both go to back-to-school night and it won't cost us $25+. YAY!
An Affordable Baby Sitter!!!
September 9th, 2008 at 02:51 pm
September 9th, 2008 at 03:00 pm 1220972451
Just a thought. I've been on the other end of the babysitting thing, and let me tell you, those teens/pre-teens can hold a grudge. And if the pay is too low or the work too hard, they will not stick around. At age 11, it might be a little different. My niece was in a situation kind of like what you're doing. She was babysitting while the mother packed. So there were adults in the house, but she was in charge of the kid. The woman asked her what she charged, and when my niece told her she said, "Well, I'll pay you half that since I'm in the house." But, it really didn't matter that she was in the house, because she should have been paying for her time.
SO, SO glad it worked out that you can both go. I think it is important to be there and hear the same things, especially since this is your first child.
September 9th, 2008 at 04:48 pm 1220978910
I honestly don't know of any 16-year-old charging/getting $10, around here.
I can't imagine paying 50% because the parents are there - seems like you'd pay more since you would have an adult there in case of emergency. You wonder what people are thinking. Unless she wants to give 50% to the parents too(who will no doubt be inconvenienced by it all, even if they don't step in to help).
I know, I babysat too for many years. & yes why I am so annoyed dh didn't even bring it up. Hehe. You think you would negotiate the price at that point - duh. We'll see what we come up with on the big night... Whatever it is will be a better deal than we have been paying at daycare and drop-in childcare places.
September 9th, 2008 at 05:49 pm 1220982567
I say, take that deal and run with it! This could end up being such a great situation for you. We have more than a few children, and there were years that we didn't hire babysitters at all because (like you!) we were just too nervous about who it would be and how they would treat our children. I get it.
How wonderful to have this next door! And of course, since they're your neighbors, you've already checked them out and know that they're not freaks! Good job!
September 9th, 2008 at 06:31 pm 1220985070
September 9th, 2008 at 07:18 pm 1220987919
September 9th, 2008 at 08:01 pm 1220990462
The unanimous vote I hear is $5/hour a pre-teen but I do admit this is probably because it is a nice round #. I wonder if more parents just go with $10 for older babysitters, because it is easy. (Not sure on the $12). We will probably leave the kids 2.5 hours and just round up to $15. I am not going to ask for $2.50 change - for sure.
If we get to $12/hour we have other alternatives. Which could be affecting the market rate in our area. It is kind of interesting because the good babysitters are BOOKED UP. But I don't think they really ask that much - they are happy with minimum wage. Which is strange now that you mention it swimgirl. I wonder why so much where you are.
Of course, we have historically found babysitters to be way too expensive for us. BUT when the kids were younger I never liked the idea of a young/teen babysitter, though they were considerably cheaper. Which is funny since I took on a lot of responsibility as a teen myself - babysat infants and such. I guess I did fine, but ugh. I admit it, I am VERY overprotective of my children. I still only like this idea right now because the parents will be there AND they won't be in our house. BUT in a year or 2 I am very excited where this is going. Hope they don't move!!!! Would figure if they did.
(Julie - minimum wage here is $8).
September 9th, 2008 at 08:03 pm 1220990605
The unanimous vote I hear is $5/hour a pre-teen but I do admit this is probably because it is a nice round #. I wonder if more parents just go with $10 for older babysitters, because it is easy. (Not sure on the $12). We will probably leave the kids 2.5 hours and just round up to $15. I am not going to ask for $2.50 change - for sure.
If we get to $12/hour we have other alternatives. Which could be affecting the market rate in our area. It is kind of interesting because the good babysitters are BOOKED UP. But I don't think they really ask that much - they are happy with minimum wage. Which is strange now that you mention it swimgirl. I wonder why so much where you are.
Of course, we have historically found babysitters to be way too expensive for us. BUT when the kids were younger I never liked the idea of a young/teen babysitter, though they were considerably cheaper. Which is funny since I took on a lot of responsibility as a teen myself - babysat infants and such. I guess I did fine, but ugh. I admit it, I am VERY overprotective of my children. I still only like this idea right now because the parents will be there AND they won't be in our house. BUT in a year or 2 I am very excited where this is going. Hope they don't move!!!! Would figure if they did.
(Julie - minimum wage here is $8). Which basically means most anyone here 16 or over won't work for any less than minimum wage. There are plenty of other jobs. Just one difference.
September 9th, 2008 at 08:03 pm 1220990626
The unanimous vote I hear is $5/hour a pre-teen but I do admit this is probably because it is a nice round #. I wonder if more parents just go with $10 for older babysitters, because it is easy. (Not sure on the $12). We will probably leave the kids 2.5 hours and just round up to $15. I am not going to ask for $2.50 change - for sure.
If we get to $12/hour we have other alternatives. Which could be affecting the market rate in our area. It is kind of interesting because the good babysitters are BOOKED UP. But I don't think they really ask that much - they are happy with minimum wage. Which is strange now that you mention it swimgirl. I wonder why so much where you are.
Of course, we have historically found babysitters to be way too expensive for us. BUT when the kids were younger I never liked the idea of a young/teen babysitter, though they were considerably cheaper. Which is funny since I took on a lot of responsibility as a teen myself - babysat infants and such. I guess I did fine, but ugh. I admit it, I am VERY overprotective of my children. I still only like this idea right now because the parents will be there AND they won't be in our house. BUT in a year or 2 I am very excited where this is going. Hope they don't move!!!! Would figure if they did.
(Julie - minimum wage here is $8). Which basically means most anyone here 16 or over won't work for any less than minimum wage. There are plenty of other jobs. Just one difference.
Which is why I find babysitting to be such a luxury to be able to afford - it is PRICEY.
September 9th, 2008 at 08:57 pm 1220993823