How is a babysitter and HDC Provider....

[Judy Trickett]

Babysitters are teenagers that come over after my kids have gone to bed, sit on my couch, watch TV while texting and eat food from my pantry while I pay them twice as much per hour as the average daycare provider earns.

On the other hand, dcproviders are caretakers who consistently care for the same children and who are legally responsible for the care of those children and anything that happens to them while in their charge, who are subject to laws and regulation and get paid less than the teenage babysitter, all things considered.

I know that sounds flippant but it's true. Most providers make between $3.50 and $4.00 per hour for every daycare child in their care. But my teenage babysitter would come and sit on my couch for four hours and make $40 for her time with NO expenses to her, and really, zero responsibility or legal ramifications should something have happened.

[bright sparks]

Babysitting costs what it costs and IMO you either pay it and suck it up or don't. You do have a choice and if for some reason you don't have a choice, it's not productive to let it drive you crazy, either accept it or find an alternative that suits you better. Also not all babysitters sit on their ass for the duration of the time they are there. Once the kiddies have gone to bed then of course it's tv and texting time. If you have a babysitter who charges $10 an hour and they do absolutely nothing with your kids and eat you out of house and home, then it's either time to find a new babysitter or set some ground rules on your expectations. I have obviously been very lucky by the sounds of things that my babysitters have ALL done plenty of activities with my kids, and through all of our relocations we have had 6 babysitters in total. Once my babysitters turn 16/17 I start to look for new ones as I see a change in them and think this is the time when they are starting to want to text more and would prefer to be out driving to their mates places and hanging out at the mall etc. Nearly every time I've returned home there has been some craft project drying, kids outside playing tag with the sitter or some other outdoor activity, or they have helped them with homework. I always leave specific snacks out for the sitter that they can totally have free run over or sometimes do tell them to help themselves if I am happy with that. If I wasn't happy with my babysitter, I would get rid of them, not complain about them and carry on with it.

[bright sparks]

No I didn't miss your points at all. I totally agree that providers are under paid and the comparison in pay between sitters and hdcp is ridiculous and not fair. What I was saying is that if you don't like that your babysitter sits on their ass then do something about it. Let them know what you expect for the $10 an hour and if they won't do that, then find someone else. The complaining about it doesn't help. Of course you can not like it and complain about it, that's our prerogative , but it's not like you don't have the option of finding a babysitter who better meet your needs by setting these expectations from day one. I will pay you this much per hour but this is what I expect from you and this is what you are being paid to do. If they don't like it then don't use them.

I was simply commenting on the fact that not all babysitters sit on their ass and do nothing. They definitely don't deserve as much per hour when you compare what us providers do for our measly hourly rate, but they aren't all lazy sods either.

[5 Little Monkeys]

Yes, I agree with BS. If a babysitter wasn't doing what I expected for the amount I was paying I would either let her know or move on to another babysitter. I don't pay any other service provider money time and time again if I'm not happy with their work.