Question about part time care

[mom.to.one]

I was at a play group that I attend last week and was chatting with another Mom and she has asked me if I will watch her daughter part time. Right now she has a nanny watching her daughter but doesn't think the nanny is changing her diapers often enough. The Mom is driving to another town 1.5 hour drive away each way for work and back. Her daughter just turned one and is a few days older than my son.

Is $11.00 an hour a good rate for part time care? The rate here for daycare seems to be about $50.00 a day for full time care.

Who covers the food?

She cloth diapers, do I send her home at the end of the day with a bag of dirty diapers?

She asked what kind of days I would like to work (weekdays or weekends) I said I could do whatever but I am now thinking that it would have been better to do a Tuesday Thursday or something that way I could take other kids during the week.

I would like to sign a contract to protect myself. Any other things that I should know about or advice you have?

Thanks!

[torontokids]

Only do weekdays. You will burn out and most people need weekday care. You send her home with dirty diapers, ask her for a wet bag. I would negotiate set hours/days per week so you know how much you will get each week. $11 is great but again, I would contract for a certain # of hours. If she is paying you per hour this normally is more like an employee/employer relationship and she would provide food. If you want to call the shots (days worked, hours, how late your will keep her etc) you might want to look at a daily fee.

[Artsand crafts]

I charge $50/day for full time care from 8AM to 5PM. I just enrolled a part time family (3 days per week) at a rate of $67/day. Most people in my area hire live in nannies and they pay around $70 day plus benefits, food, shelter and services for the nanny. So if your friend can afford a nanny, depending on what city you are in (and the minimum wage) you could charge around what I charge for part time and you could also have other kids. On the other hand, if you are looking for a nanny job, you could charge per hour and go to her home, but you will only be working for her.

You could also call her and tell her that you have given it a good though and that it would be much better taken care of her child during weekdays.

If you are setting up a home daycare having a contract is a must. I don't accept cloth diapers, but experienced ladies handling cloth diapers have adviced that they do not clean or scrap them. They just fold them as they were a disposable diapers and put them in a bag provided by parents for them to take care of the waste and the cleaning.

Usually, daycares provide 2 snacks and lunch, but there are some home daycares that ask parents to provide meals. I provide meals.