Just needing advice on the children I watch.

[momto3kitties]

I am going through a lot of problems now with the girls I watch and their mother. I am such a softy and I have no idea how to stop this.

I watch her 3 children 50 hours a week. The one goes to school so I only have her for a few hours sometimes. Other times she works from 2pm-midnight so I have all three.

Anyway for watching just the two for 10 hours she pays me $20.
For watching the three for 10 hours she pays me $25.

Not only that, but she has me buy their food.

I am so loosing money out on this, its terrible. I like her a lot and I have the hardest time asking for more money. I do not even know what to say to her, or what to ask her for because times are tough but I need money to.

So that is problem number one. Now onto problem number two.

She gives me her work schedule for the month. At least 4 times a month she changes it where oh, on so and so day my mom is going to watch the kids so you won't have them. That is fine and dandy, but I budgeted that money into my bills so I know what I can pay and how much I will have left over.

Problem number three. At least 3-4 times a week she calls me at 3 when she is suppose to leave work and says she has a few errands to run, if it will be okay if I had the kids for another 30 minutes-1 hour or so...I always say yes...but its getting reticulas now. She does not pay me for that extra time and I would feel weird asking her to pay me for that time because I do not even have a set $ per hour...She pays me $1 per hour per child..it would be stupid to ask for that .50c ya know?

Problem number four. She is always forgetting to pack things the girls need. Ie-bibs, baby spoon, the eight year olds underwear, and even baby food for the baby...

And problem number five...She is not providing things for the girls to do...Now..If I had my own daycare which I want to do within the next 6months to a year I would provide that stuff but making $20 a day, and after buying their weekly food I am most definitely not going to start buying crafts and stuff for them to do. I just got play doh the other day for them. It was $9. She did not pay me back. Now that summer is coming and I will have all three girls all day..I am worried about what I am suppose to do with them. The eight year old gets SO BORED so fast, I don't know what to do with her, and their mom does not want them watching a lot of TV.

I know, I really put myself in this hole. This is my first time babysitting. I want to suck it up and just talk to her about it, but I have anxiety, bad, especially when it comes to this stuff. I think if I got another family and started being a hard @$$ right from the beginning it would not be so bad, but the mom and I are kinda friends so it makes it even weirder. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

[sweetcinna]

It sounds to me that you are off to a good start, however it also sounds as though you feel a bit taken advantge of? Right? Well, lets do the math......20 a day for 3 children= 5.12 a day per child(or bout .50 cents an hour per child) for 10 hours a day or 100 a week. You name your price, not the client,(i charge 95 per week and 55 a week for each additional child). I charge a flat rate fee. Example: If i had 3 siblings in my care i would cost $205 per week, due every friday. My daily rate is 40 a day, paid daily. I don't take drop-ins but if the need arises....my rate in 10.00 hour paid upon pick up. Another thing you need to do is to check your state regulations on daycare in the home, now I'm not licenced either but in my state i can have up to 5 children in my care at one time without a licence, I also suggest that you ahere to the state standards..****n you business like you are licenced, take it from me it will help in the long run..And for crying out loud make your self a contract, some things to include in that contract........hours of operation, your fee ( Whether it be daily, weekly, monthly), Holidays, Vaction, sick days, meals, discipline policy etc...I know I'm forgetting somethings, you should also have a medical consent form and you should be trained in CPR, First Aid. Lets see..........I'm sure there are some other providers here that could add to this........Don't give up, just take charge.

[tymaboy]

You need to consider yourself a professional child care provider & even if you do not consider yourself a daycare you are in business now (not 6 months from now) Before you even took these children you should have had a set wage, whether it is a daily, weekly or hourly wage per child. It is also a good idea to have a policy & contracts in place also when you take new children. At $1 an hour per child you will never make any money. She can not even pay a teenagers at that price any more. I know teenagers that make more money babysitting then I do an hour with my child care. Depending on the parents situation I have 2 policies - 1 is an hourly policy & the 2nd is a daily policy. I believe right now I have the hourly policy on my site along with some other forms that I use if you would like to take a look. You are welcome to use them too if you like. In my policy I a supply list that states that if they do not supply the items then I will charge them $40 a week to buy the items for them. If I was any good at write letters to parents I would write a ruff draft for you stating how starting immediately you will need to raise your rates to cover your costs. Most child care providers have the cost of food in on the wage & most parents supply the formula for their babies.

[momto3kitties]

Originally Posted by tymaboy

You need to consider yourself a professional child care provider & even if you do not consider yourself a daycare you are in business now (not 6 months from now) Before you even took these children you should have had a set wage, whether it is a daily, weekly or hourly wage per child. It is also a good idea to have a policy & contracts in place also when you take new children. At $1 an hour per child you will never make any money. She can not even pay a teenagers at that price any more. I know teenagers that make more money babysitting then I do an hour with my child care. Depending on the parents situation I have 2 policies - 1 is an hourly policy & the 2nd is a daily policy. I believe right now I have the hourly policy on my site along with some other forms that I use if you would like to take a look. You are welcome to use them too if you like. In my policy I a supply list that states that if they do not supply the items then I will charge them $40 a week to buy the items for them. If I was any good at write letters to parents I would write a ruff draft for you stating how starting immediately you will need to raise your rates to cover your costs. Most child care providers have the cost of food in on the wage & most parents supply the formula for their babies.

thanks very much. I would love to see the forms and such...let me know

Originally Posted by sweetcinna

It sounds to me that you are off to a good start, however it also sounds as though you feel a bit taken advantge of? Right? Well, lets do the math......20 a day for 3 children= 5.12 a day per child(or bout .50 cents an hour per child) for 10 hours a day or 100 a week. You name your price, not the client,(i charge 95 per week and 55 a week for each additional child). I charge a flat rate fee. Example: If i had 3 siblings in my care i would cost $205 per week, due every friday. My daily rate is 40 a day, paid daily. I don't take drop-ins but if the need arises....my rate in 10.00 hour paid upon pick up. Another thing you need to do is to check your state regulations on daycare in the home, now I'm not licenced either but in my state i can have up to 5 children in my care at one time without a licence, I also suggest that you ahere to the state standards..****n you business like you are licenced, take it from me it will help in the long run..And for crying out loud make your self a contract, some things to include in that contract........hours of operation, your fee ( Whether it be daily, weekly, monthly), Holidays, Vaction, sick days, meals, discipline policy etc...I know I'm forgetting somethings, you should also have a medical consent form and you should be trained in CPR, First Aid. Lets see..........I'm sure there are some other providers here that could add to this........Don't give up, just take charge.

I definitely agree. I am not licensed either but I can have up to 6 children without a license. I run my daycare as if I'm licensed. I charge a flat rate of $75 per child and I don't do discounts for siblings because I already charge a low rate. I used forms from http://www.pammshouse.com. She has many things to use from her website. You should be trained in CPR and first aid also. Once you take charge of everything then you will be ok. Sometimes its hard to tell a friend how you feel but you can't suffer financially because she wants to pay you the bare minimum. Good Luck!