My husband and I have only used a babysitter once. We just never liked the idea of someone watching our child unless it was each other or a family member. I don't have to tell you, there are some odd balls out there in the world and if you find one with their head on straight, it's like stumbling onto a pot of gold!
I wouldn't quite call myself a pot of gold but I'm not a nut babysitter. I have routines for my kids and yes, I expect the two I sit for to be worked into those routines, but I'm flexible. My issue really isn't with the kids, but the parents!
Although this is really just a well thought out rant, it could be considered as 5 Ways to Silently Say Thank You to Your Babysitter.
1. BE ON TIME: Regardless if you are the sitter or the parents, be respectful of the other parties time. Don't call at 11pm wanting a sitter bright and early at 6am, chances are, it's not going to happen. Also, it irritates me to no end when parents say I'll be there at 7am and what they really meant is they will be here sometime during the 7 o'clock hour. If you know you are going to be late picking them up, call. If you're running behind because little *Johnny decided to make a massive mess at breakfast that you need to clean up before leaving, call. If little *Suzy couldn't decide on wearing her pajamas or her Halloween costume to the sitters throwing you 10 minutes off time, call! Watching your children isn't the only thing the sitter does during the day. There may be kids to drive to/pick up from school, appointments that they need to get to, errands they need to run, life to live!
2. BE PREPARED: Some babysitters come to your house, some babysitters only watch at theirs, either way make sure your sitter will have the supplies needed to care for your child properly. My biggest pet peeve is disorganized diaper bags. I'm not talking about the order in which they are packed, I could care less, but when it is clearly Fall with Winter approaching, switch out the spare outfits you keep in the bag. Like today for instance, little *Johnny woke up from his nap with an exploded diaper. I go to retrieve his spare outfit to find a wet shirt with yesterday's (I'm assuming) spit up all over it and a pair of shorts. It's only 48 degrees for a high and I'm not rich enough to keep the heat on hot enough for a naked baby crawling around. So as a good sitter, I put this 11 month old boy in my 3 yr old daughters shorts and smallest shirt and safety pinned them to act as a onesie as his clothes went through the laundry machines. I managed but it was unnecessary. My suggestion is to prepare the bag the night before so that if your morning is chaotic and you're running behind *and have called to let the sitter know you're late!* you will grab your already prepared bag and know that your child will have every thing he or she will need once you drop them off.
3. PAY ON TIME and in the full amount: Now the price and day of payment is something you and your sitter will have to work out but be clear and up front. I was once watching for three families. Now I'm down to one because getting payment from the other two families became such a hassle, I dropped them. It's almost been a year and I still haven't yet received payment from one family. The other eventually paid but I refuse to watch their kids anymore, which is sad because they loved it here and I loved watching them. If you're a sitter, stand your ground and demand payment before allowing your family's to add another week of charges. If you're the parent, understand that your sitter is taking care of your most prized possession, thank them by paying and paying on time!
4. DON'T EXPECT SERVICE THAT YOUR SITTER CAN'T PROVIDE: If your child has a developmental set back, do not expect your babysitter to fulfill the role a specialist would have to fill. What I mean is this, my two youngest children are in speech therapy. They thought that instead of English, they would make their own language, and to them it worked. They have a special bond because for the longest time they were the only ones who could understand each other. The girl I sit for has a large delay in speech, even though I've told Mom & Dad that I am not qualified to assist their daughter in correcting her delay, they still believe that I have some special power that will fix this. I don't! I couldn't fix it for my own children without the help, support, and knowledge from their therapist.
5. TELL YOUR SITTER IF ANY CHANGES HAVE BEEN OR WILL BE MADE in how you raise your children: Things such as no longer using pacifiers, no longer using training pants, no longer using bottles, formula, breast milk. If any allergies have been noticed, if you no longer wish to use the corner but rather a stool for timeouts, things of that sort. Babysitters are not mind readers, although we try to be, especially with kids who have little to no communication skills. If you stop formula, tell the sitter that you've gone onto cow's milk. The last thing a sitter wants to do is call you at work and tell you that you didn't pack formula. Or when the sitter thinks the child is in pull-ups, turns around notices a puddle of urine on the floor wondering what is going on because you didn't mention, oh we've started potty training!
So there are 5 things you can do to show appreciation to your babysitter, the one person who you are trusting to watch over your children. We also accept accept the Three C's: Cash, Coffee, and Chocolate.
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