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From $5 to $3 is a 40% decrease, not a 33% decrease.
That is correct. Not sure why I thought it was a 33% decrease.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sll3454
A. Children are not the clients of camp counselors and babysitters. They are charges. A babysitter whose primary concern is the opinion of the child is not what the responsible parent is looking for.
That girl who thinks she should have a personal assistant told me once, "I want 4 jumpropes right now! Go get them! I shouldn't have to wait! I'm the customer and you are the employee and my family paid for me to come here so I should always get what I want!"
Now I think that's a bit overkill, but I think the opinion of the child is still very important and should always be considered. If their opinion is dangerous, then we can decline to do what they want, but it should always be given due thought.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sll3454
B. There are certain standards that a society accepts. Each family also has certain standards. I would not hire a babysitter who thinks his standards are the only ones that matter. "If it feels right, I do it" would not be acceptable for me, and would certainly not make me feel better about having a young male in charge of my daughter and her friends.
But much of society is uneducated so I'm certainly not going to water down my principles to appease them. You seem to be looking at what I said in the worst possible light.
Consider an example of two of them venting to me about some other people in the group that they hated and made me promise not to tell anyone. Then, later on, having everyone know that criticism was very useful in clearing up a misunderstanding that developed. Many people would take the easy way out and just break their promise, but I remember saying something like, "There's nothing you can do to make me break my promise. I would rather die than break my word."
Maybe another adult would think it's better to break the promise for the good of the group, but I could never live with myself for doing that, regardless of how trivial the matter is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sll3454
F. A party facilitator for middle schoolers is not really a babysitter. It sounds like you want to hang out with middle-school girls and get paid for it. No, I wouldn't hire you.
I'm not talking about a huge party. There's no way I could manage so many kids. I'm talking about 3 or 4 other friends. And the kids are mostly 8-9 years old, who are clearly not in middle school so young. And, at that age, most boys and girls are not friends with each other, so the babysitting would be done separately for each group.
You made a ton of assumptions there. Not sure where you got them all from, but you should re-read the thread if you are unclear.
Honestly I don't think this will work for you. The kids are at a summer program, meaning they are all together in one place. I assume these kids all have their own sitters who come to their homes and take care of the kids during the year? During summer it's easier to drop kids off at this rather than take them to school then pick them up and take them to the babysitter. I'm guessing their sitters also either pick them up from school or are home when the kids get home.
My sister babysits to make extra money. She charges $20/hr to RICH clients (all her clients are rich). These are record producers, tv show producers, etc. She goes to their homes, she cooks for the kids, and she is there with them until the parents come home. She does this on weekdays and weekends, but mostly weekends. She definitely does not make $800/week! Maybe per month...
So you think that parents will bring their kids to your place when their babysitter comes to them? I think parents who can afford it will pay for the convenience. And some parents don't like 1 sitter with multiple kids because they feel their child won't get enough attention.
Kids can SAY anything, doesn't mean it will happen. If I'm happy with my current situation I'm not going to change it, doesn't matter what my kid says, and I'm betting those kids like their current sitters as well. Charging less doesn't make up for time lost taking the kids and picking them up, nor for food costs since you won't cook. And maybe these kids have nannies, not sitters. $1000/week for a nanny makes more sense. My friend is a nanny to 2 kids. But she is there 24/7. You can't do that and go to school.
Have the parents responded to you?
If she charges $20 per hour, she would only need 40 hours per week to make $800 per week. I feel like if you have 10 or 20 clients, you should be able to work 40 hours per week nearly every week, since that's only 2-4 hours per client all week.
The kids all know each other, so their child would still get lots of attention. In order to do a good job though, I couldn't picture watching more than 4 kids though, unless it was a special occasion. And I assume one kid's family would be OK with hosting the get-together and maybe the families would take turns.
"It doesn't matter what your kid says." Wow. I'm speechless. I thought parents like to make their kids happy? I would like to think that other parents value their child's input. I had one kid tell me that "I actually have fun with you, which isn't that common with me." She has a sister. Right there, that's two kids that probably don't like their current sitter all that much.
The kids all live within 10 minutes of each other, so there isn't much lost time in picking them up. I suppose the meal charges could be taken from my pay at the start. So if I worked 4 hours at $30 per hour and had to pay a restaurant $20 to provide the kid with a well cooked meal, I could still make $100 instead of $120. But that $100 is still better than not taking the job at all!
If she charges $20 per hour, she would only need 40 hours per week to make $800 per week. I feel like if you have 10 or 20 clients, you should be able to work 40 hours per week nearly every week, since that's only 2-4 hours per client all week.
My sister works a full time job as a preschool teacher, she babysits for EXTRA money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flamingo_pink
The kids all know each other, so their child would still get lots of attention. In order to do a good job though, I couldn't picture watching more than 4 kids though, unless it was a special occasion. And I assume one kid's family would be OK with hosting the get-together and maybe the families would take turns.
You have way too many assumptions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flamingo_pink
"It doesn't matter what your kid says." Wow. I'm speechless. I thought parents like to make their kids happy? I would like to think that other parents value their child's input. I had one kid tell me that "I actually have fun with you, which isn't that common with me." She has a sister. Right there, that's two kids that probably don't like their current sitter all that much.
Obviously you aren't a parent. If my kid says they want candy instead of vegetables, I don't say "OKAY HONEY!" Sometimes being a parent is about giving your kids what is good for them, not everything they want JUST cuz they want it. Also you are assuming the kids don't like their sitter. And if a parent has no legitimate reason to get rid of a sitter, they won't.
You sent your message out days ago with no response from the parents, I guess that's your answer.
If someone claimed a woman shouldn't watch a 12-year old boy, I feel like people wouldn't react the way you are reacting to me.
Fact is MEN are more likely to be a sexual predator than women. I think the stats are around 90% of sexual molester's are men. It's not sexist when it's a fact.
Honestly there is no WAY I'd trust my child with a male sitter, specially one I don't know. No matter how much my kid likes them. At a daycare or summer camp function I'd be more trusting because there are adult men and women, but a male alone at my house or their place? NO WAY. I used to work in law enforcement and saw MANY cases of little kids molested by adult men, and even men that were friends/family.
You sound naive and honestly I don't think you'll get any kids, just saying "oh they had fun with me" is not enough. Sitters are expected to do more than just provide entertainment.
My daughter goes to an amazing daycare in Orange County, CA. The day is very structured and the daycare is more like a school, in that they have a lesson plan, monthly theme, rotating modules, gardening and outdoor play at the nearby park. All meals are homemade and healthy, and all meals and drinks are provided. If she were still on formula, that would be provided too. I have to bring diapers and wipes, that's it. All supplies (even art supplies) are provided by the day care.
She averages between 40-45 hrs a week at daycare and I pay $225 a week in Southern California. My previous two sitters charged $200/week; the first one moved to another city and the second one I left because my current sitter had a better child development program. The first one did not provide food because I was breast feeding and the second one provided food included in the $200/wk.
Each of these really amounts to not much more than $5/hr.
If daycares could really charge $30-50 an hour, there would be a lot more people running daycares. It's not some hidden secret.
The way that some small home daycares make a better living is by taking the maximum allowed number of children to bring that $5/hr up to $15-25/hr.
That being said, every ad I saw for a male caregiver I immediately dismissed. I wouldn't leave my daughter with a non family member male caregiver under any circumstances.
My sister works a full time job as a preschool teacher, she babysits for EXTRA money.
OK, but you said it's not possible to make $800 per week doing that, which you could do with 40 hours of work.
I never said you could make $800 per week doing that in addition to a full time job.
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Originally Posted by beera
You have way too many assumptions.
There was one assumption there. How is that "way too many"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by beera
Obviously you aren't a parent. If my kid says they want candy instead of vegetables, I don't say "OKAY HONEY!" Sometimes being a parent is about giving your kids what is good for them, not everything they want JUST cuz they want it. Also you are assuming the kids don't like their sitter. And if a parent has no legitimate reason to get rid of a sitter, they won't.
You sent your message out days ago with no response from the parents, I guess that's your answer.
I would agree with you in that example, but in your prior example, you claimed "If I'm happy with my current situation I'm not going to change it, doesn't matter what my kid says," That doesn't imply that there's something good for them in forcing them to keep a sitter they don't like.
I'm not blindly assuming the kids don't like their sitter. I'm saying that of the ones I told about my idea to babysit them, most reacted very positively.
A legitimate reason would be that their kid prefers someone else.
I know some of the targeted families are on vacation this week. I assume some people don't find babysitting to be such a pressing need to disrupt their vacations, but I sent the e-mail out anyway just in case. If they don't respond by next Tuesday, I'll try resending it.
I wouldn't assume a "no" until I get a solid no from those involved. It's unlikely everyone is against it because I mentioned the idea to one of the parents that I happened to see on the last day and she thought it was a great idea.
Fact is MEN are more likely to be a sexual predator than women. I think the stats are around 90% of sexual molester's are men. It's not sexist when it's a fact.
Honestly there is no WAY I'd trust my child with a male sitter, specially one I don't know. No matter how much my kid likes them. At a daycare or summer camp function I'd be more trusting because there are adult men and women, but a male alone at my house or their place? NO WAY. I used to work in law enforcement and saw MANY cases of little kids molested by adult men, and even men that were friends/family.
You sound naive and honestly I don't think you'll get any kids, just saying "oh they had fun with me" is not enough. Sitters are expected to do more than just provide entertainment.
This is incorrect analysis. Fact is that a very small portion of the population are predators. If you were consistent with your analysis, you wouldn't want to ever associate with men at all, since a majority of any type of criminals are men as well.
And it's still sexist because you have already decided in your mind that a male is incapable of being trusted. Your thought here makes as much sense as a male saying a woman could never be president because women are more emotional than men. While that is true, it doesn't actually mean all women are incapable of controlling their emotions.
Some sitters are expected to do more than just provide entertainment, but not all. What else would you want out of a sitter?
My daughter goes to an amazing daycare in Orange County, CA. The day is very structured and the daycare is more like a school, in that they have a lesson plan, monthly theme, rotating modules, gardening and outdoor play at the nearby park. All meals are homemade and healthy, and all meals and drinks are provided. If she were still on formula, that would be provided too. I have to bring diapers and wipes, that's it. All supplies (even art supplies) are provided by the day care.
She averages between 40-45 hrs a week at daycare and I pay $225 a week in Southern California. My previous two sitters charged $200/week; the first one moved to another city and the second one I left because my current sitter had a better child development program. The first one did not provide food because I was breast feeding and the second one provided food included in the $200/wk.
The way that some small home daycares make a better living is by taking the maximum allowed number of children to bring that $5/hr up to $15-25/hr.
Each of these really amounts to not much more than $5/hr.
But that's because they are enrolling many kids in one facility. They make up for smaller margins with larger volume. Sort of like how products are sold. A store can buy 10,000 of a $2 item for 20 cents per item, but you could never buy just 10 of that item for 20 cents. Same with any job.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enkiktd
If daycares could really charge $30-50 an hour, there would be a lot more people running daycares. It's not some hidden secret.
No that wouldn't work. When you have a lot of people creating the same product, it depresses the value. But since there are so few people like me, my value is maximized. Not sure honestly how the other sitters get paid $50 per hour, but why would anyone complain about being paid too much?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enkiktd
That being said, every ad I saw for a male caregiver I immediately dismissed. I wouldn't leave my daughter with a non family member male caregiver under any circumstances.
And why not?
Why do you discriminate?
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