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.