Tips for Keeping the Babysitter Happy

A great babysitter is a real treasure. They are the people who enable parents a night out on the town, help us take care of sick kids when we need to be at work, and entertain our little ones when the Finding a first-rate sitter can be a challenge, so when you do find a keeper, the following tips will ensure he or she will want to return to your home and will keep you at the top of the list for Friday night fun!

Pay Fairly, Well and On-time

You need to establish a fair rate of pay before you hire a sitter. I remember being far too shy to negotiate this myself when I was young, and I simply waited to be paid at the end of each evening. There were times when, after I got home and counted my money, I was terribly disappointed in the rate of pay offered. I usually did not sit for these families again. Families that did pay well, however, were top of my list on a Friday or Saturday night, and I tended to put more effort into keeping their homes clean and putting my best foot forward. Even young teenagers know the value of being paid well and fairly. Being cheap with babysitters is a bad value for everyone. You want your sitters to be happy and fairly compensated for their time so that they will do a great job while they are there and so that they will want to come back.

Let your sitter know ahead of time what you plan to pay, and ask him/her if that is an acceptable rate of pay. If you are paying "going rate" it should be fine. You will need to find the going rate depending on age, experience and your area. For example, if you are hiring a 15-year-old neighbor to watch your kids for a few hours while you work from home, you will pay less than if you hire a university graduate student to spend the day alone with your kids and drive them to and from soccer practice. To determine a fair and reasonable rate you can ask other parents what they usually pay for babysitters; you can ask current babysitters what they usually earn; you can call a nanny/babysitting agency or view their website, which often have rate information; or you can go online to any number of parenting forums and post the question to all of your virtual parent counterparts.

Ref: Carpet & Rug Institutes Carpet Maintenance Guidelines
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