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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Venting & Advice Seeking! (Parents ALWAY Late, Paying Late, Missing Payments, Etc...)
Unregistered 04:50 PM 12-22-2017
So I babysit for a family (A friend of a friend), but it is only occasionally. After the last time babysitting, I am usually over whatever had me so heated.
I am mostly just venting, but any advice is helpful! (9 month old)

Anyways, the parents ALWAY text me last minute, asking if I can watch their son. Since I am a SAHM, I am always at home anyways, so if they need someone, I'm more than happy to help for a few hours. Our agreement is that they only have to pay me a set amount for each day. But if I am only watching him for an hour or two, they can just pay half. I am very flexible, and nice, but people often take advantage and I hate it!
Often, they will have me watch him, and then agree to pay the following week. Then they will have me watch him a day or two after that, and then only pay me for 1.5 days out of 3. Like, they will pay me for 3 days, but try to pay 3 half days, instead of 3 full days, even though I watching him for 5-7 hours each day, and agreed to it with less than 24 hours notice! Where do parents get that this is okay?? Or they just "forget" to pay me altogether. And having to let them know that they owe me a measly $10, is so awkward and uncomfortable! And honestly I very rarely do it. I don't think that I should be put in that position..

Another thing, is it's something ALWAYS comes up. If I watch him while they go out, they always hit me with some, "Oh they show started later than we thought..... would you be able to watch him a little longer? If not we can just leave.." and of course I feel guilty, and agree.

I don't mind watching him, but for some reason it bugs me when they tell me WHY I am watching him. If I am watching him, I assume they have an appointment or something. But when I find out I am stuck watching him last minute just because the mom doesn't want to take him grocery shopping, or other normal daily tasks, or doesn't want to take him on the hour drive to the next town, or has to pick the dad up from work. I understand it is easier, but I watch him for EVERY 'errand'. (When I agree to watch him, I don't know what I am watching him for) She claims it is because he 'throws tantrums, and just cries and screams' but 1. he is only 9 months old! 2. If you never take him with you, how is he going to know how to act???

Just this last week I had a situation that just left me so annoyed! The mom had some things to do, and I agreed to watch him. Then she texted me about 30 minutes before she was to pick him up, saying that she needed to pick her husband up from work. (How was this not factored in before??) And if it was okay if she just went to pick him up , and was a little late, or she could pick him up at the agreed time if I needed. I figured she only asked because it would be closer to pick him up first, and I was more out of the way. A little late.. I figured 30 minutes or so. She texts me 1.5 hours later saying that he was about to get out of work, and it shouldn't be long...??? 30 minutes later, she says they are finally on their way! I figure they are close, so I wake him up from his nap, and get him ready to go. Waiting, and waiting! another FOURTY minutes later she shows up!! I just don't get how someone can think that is okay???? She was almost 3 hours late from our agreed time!

They are a friend of a friend who live nearby, so I feel awkward for just saying "can't watch him anymore"
But they have 2 other kids, that they take with them everywhere. He is the only one who is constantly getting pawned off, and doesn't get to go out much.
I don't mind watching him, but when I agree to watch him for 7 hours, with less than 24 hours notice, and end up watching him for 10 hours, only to get paid for half the day... I can't!
And as much as I love this little kid, he cries ALL the time! He will be happy, and then suddenly start screaming and crying. And his constant crying takes away attention from my LO. And is ALWAYS waking my LO up from naps with all of his screaming over nothing!

Are there any good excuses I can use to just drop them??? I feel like as soon as I resolve one issue, they do something else!!

Also, just another annoying thing, (again, I don't like to know what the parents do, because sometimes it is just stupid!) But the mom would drop him off, and he would be all tired, hadn't eaten anything yet, so now I have to feed him, etc.. I figure she is in a hurry, so whatever. Then, she would come back to pick him up, with her hair done, make up fully done, dressed completely different. It just seemed like he would wake up, and she would just put him in the car and bring him over, and make me do the whole morning routine with him, so she could go home and get ready, because she couldn't be bothered to get up an hour earlier.
Another time she was over an hour late. No text, no heads up, nothing. Then she comes over with her hair professionally dyed, and styled. She was over an hour late because she was out getting her hair done, and couldn't be bothered to text me and let me know.

I understand needing a break sometimes, but if you are a stay at home mom, don't pawn your poor kid off because you can't handle simple tasks with the kid you chose to have. These things are at least 1-2 times a week. But it just bothers me because too often they try to get away with the 1/2 day pay for a full day.
If YOU don't want to take YOUR kid to run errands, because YOU want to make it easier on YOU, make sure you can afford to pay your babysitter for the time you use!
Rant over! )
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Tags:enforcing policies - consistency
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