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The Pit Parenting Thread

SkinsNDeacs said:
We are having a collage aged neighbor come over to watch our 2 year old's monitor tonight for four hours while we go to a movie. She will likely not even come into contact with him. She is basically there to make sure the house doesn't burn down. How much should we pay her?
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Depends. Is she providing the scissors and glue, or are you?
 
SkinsNDeacs said:
We are having a collage aged neighbor come over to watch our 2 year old's monitor tonight for four hours while we go to a movie. She will likely not even come into contact with him. She is basically there to make sure the house doesn't burn down. How much should we pay her?
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When you drive her home DO NOT touch the Gummi bear. Delicious yes but it won't end well.
 
Skins, you're actually paying her to rock your child back to sleep if he wakes up, quickly grab him and rush him outside if the house catches fire, or any other emergency that could happen. Pay like you would a normal babysitter. You don't know what could happen.
 
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awakeandready said:
Do/did any if your kids move around in the crib a bunch and wake him/her self up? Squirrel's had some extra wake ups and sleep issues lately and a lot of the time it seems like it's because he's gotten wedged in the corner or something.
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We just started having this problem with B. Very glad we got a video monitor so I can look and see when she is stuck and gonna need help or whether I can wait her out. Her issue is she can only roll back to front one way so when she scooches all around she eventually ends up smashed against the side and can't roll the other way. Hopefully she sorts it out soon cuz I miss my all night sleepies.
 
PhDeac said:
Skins, you're actually paying her to rock your child back to sleep if he wakes up, quickly grab him and rush him outside if the house catches fire, or any other emergency that could happen. Pay like you would a normal babysitter. You don't know what could happen.
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Agree with this. It's a simple job, until something goes wrong. You should pay a reasonable amount.
 
PhDeac said:
Skins, you're actually paying her to rock your child back to sleep if he wakes up, quickly grab him and rush him outside if the house catches fire, or any other emergency that could happen. Pay like you would a normal babysitter. You don't know what could happen.
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Agreed.
 
Babysitter rates vary from location to location and also based on the age of the babysitter. An extra $10 or $15 isn't going to break the bank and will ensure that you have that babysitter locked down for the future.
 
And it also means that she is likely to refer one of her friends to sit for you when she invariably is unable to do it at some point in the future.
 
I am a notoriously cheap person, but don't skimp on babysitter pay. For one child---even a child who may end up sleeping the entire time you are gone---I think you should be paying at least $10-12/hr for a college age sitter (I am in Greensboro FWIW, as location may play a big role in this). Its worth it to pay a bit more for a good sitter, because the sitter will put you first on the depth chart. If you will be using a sitter repeatedly, having the same sitter every time is a huge plus because she gets to know the children, learns their routines, and you don't have to explain the same things over and over.
 
Did we just have to walk Skins through the basics of hiring an employee?
 
KitchinDeac said:
I am a notoriously cheap person, but don't skimp on babysitter pay. For one child---even a child who may end up sleeping the entire time you are gone---I think you should be paying at least $10-12/hr for a college age sitter (I am in Greensboro FWIW, as location may play a big role in this). Its worth it to pay a bit more for a good sitter, because the sitter will put you first on the depth chart. If you will be using a sitter repeatedly, having the same sitter every time is a huge plus because she gets to know the children, learns their routines, and you don't have to explain the same things over and over.
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I pay $15/hr for a senior Elementary Ed major in suburban Baltimore for two kids. Seems like a little much, but she is great with the kids. She does crafts with them instead of parking them in front of the TV. Also, my 4 year old vomited after dinner and she dealt with it. Let us know what happened and cleaned it all up. Peace of mind is a great thing.
 
deacondamo said:
I pay $15/hr for a senior Elementary Ed major in suburban Baltimore for two kids. Seems like a little much, but she is great with the kids. She does crafts with them instead of parking them in front of the TV. Also, my 4 year old vomited after dinner and she dealt with it. Let us know what happened and cleaned it all up. Peace of mind is a great thing.
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That's a bargain. You're getting someone a year away from being an elementary school teacher for barely minimum wage per kid.
 
BostonDeac said:
Recommend for someone that has been around babies his whole life but just never been a father?
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Yeah, sure. It goes into detail about what your wife is going through. Also, what to expect on the day of the delivery. I enjoyed learning about the medical side of things. The book isn't that long and sheds some light onto the prenatal and delivery process from a male perspective.
 
We got a sitter for the first time since our daughter has been born (2.25 years ago). We've been lucky to have a neighbor who watcher her for free, and both of our parents nearby. $40 for the evening (4 hours)- makes me really thankful to have family so close.
 
$10/hour is a good paying job in Salisbury. We paid $70 for about 5.5 hours the other night. That included having our two plus another two for about two hours and then putting our two to bed.
 
Those are Salisbury prices. What else is someone going to do for 5.5 hours there?
 
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