To not pay for 15 minutes babysitting

[Hoppinggreen]

I'm going out with some people I don't know well next weekend. Usually when I go out with my mates we all make sure everyone gets home ok/ taxi shares etc but I'm not sure I can ask these people I don't know well. I am getting a lift there with someone but she has said she's staying out very late and I don't want to. DH not keen on my wandering around town alone looking for a taxi so want to pick me up ( will be out of the house 15 mins tops). There is no question of leaving the sleeping DC's obvs.
My neighbours 16 year old babysits for us sometimes and I pay her £5 an hour. We know the family well and help each other out - they feed cats for us when we are away and I sometimes let their dog out etc.
I was thinking of asking the daughter to come and sit in the house while DH picks me up - should I offer to pay her? If so how much?
Before I get told to " woman up" and get a taxi I'm just not comfortable with it and neither is DH and he wants to pick me up, which I would prefer too.

You still haven't told us why you can't book a taxi. Would save all the hassle.

OP I think you're getting an unnecessarily hard time over the lift thing. My DH used to prefer to pick me up when we lived in a particularly unsalubrious area, or for me to take the car if he wasn't well enough to drive. To be fair I work for the CPS so have seen a number of taxi drivers (a number that might surprise some MNers) prosecuted for rape, sexual assault or dangerous driving, so I appreciate I am conditioned by seeing the worst of humanity.

I could go into detail about why I prefer a lift but it wasn't the title of my post and is frankly no ones business.
I was asking about paying a babysitter and that question has been answered.
Should I feel the need to get everyone's approval for my travel arrangements I will post a thread on that too.

You said you didn't want to wander around for a taxi.

But you could pre book one.

Instead of the farce of getting your DH to get you, your baby sitter in etc.

I agree none of our business but on the other hand it's hard to understand why a grown woman can't get a cab at 11pm. I have done it 8 billion times and live in London. The thing is that it's created this ludicrous situation of having to find 15 mins of babysitting at 11pm - it's such a faff and you're clearly stressed about it.

Why don't you just drive there and back? I love a drink too but it all seems too much like hard work.

The thing is - you normally have a paying relationship with her. As such, you can't start asking her to do things for free - esp at 11pm on a weekend night! I would either pay her, or ask one of the neighbours who'll do it for free. (Well, I would just sort out a taxi, tbh)

This thread is nuts.

Actually thinking about it I think asking anyone to babysit at 11pm is rude/nuts. Yes they can just say no but even so...

Sorry if already been said but why not pre book a taxi like an organised adult instead of expecting free childcare.

Get one of your other neighbours to do it for free then. I also have a reciprocal arrangement with some neighbours like this.

Other times I have to pay a babysitter. She does it for money, not because we swap favours (we don't). Put your hand in your pocket and stop confusing the people you pay with the people you do a swap with.

I'm just insanely jealous you can get a babysitter for £5/hr! It's £10/hr min. and a taxi home too!

This thread is brilliant.

I would definitely pay.

You have a very good deal getting babysitting for 5/hour. Why risk ruining it for the sake of a few pounds?

She is already working very cheaply for you, to ask for her to work for free would be taking the piss.

Blimey, AIBU is brutal, isn't it?

I think it's fine to ask a near neighbour to babysit at 11pm. I would offer to pay, OP. She can always say no if she wants to do you a favour.

Have a nice night out!

I would pay. In that time she is still expected to be responsible for your DC's

YABU.

Personally, I would always take a taxi rather than cause the hassle for both DH and the neighbour over a 5-10 minute journey home. You can always book in advance so you're not wandering around randomly looking for one.

Hilarious. Get a taxi yourself you sound ridiculous. Call them, and they'll ring you back when they arrive outside.

What happens when you go out til oooh 2am?

Comic, don't you and your neighbours do favours for each other?

We do 'favours' for neighbours and vice versa... However these are offered and never demanded!!

My DD is 16 and she would not agree to doing this as she would be in her bed asleep by 11 pm. She can barely keep herself awake after 9.30! Could you ask her mum to pop in to the house for 15 minutes if you think she will still be up then?

Personally i would get a taxi. There will surely be a taxi rank somewhere so you don't have to wander around? Or book one before you go out?

11pm is a HUGE favour, and a cheeky one, frankly. Pay your babysitter.

The most sensible option seems to be to book a taxi, so you don't have to wander round looking for one.
Having spent my teen years babysitting I would say you should definitely pay the babysitter. It takes the piss otherwise. She's only coming for 15 mins but will have to give up her evening to do this. The way I always thought of babysitting is most of the time it felt like money for nothing, but the parents were paying me for IF there was an emergency. And at times when I dealt with difficult behaviour, tantrums etc. I felt I was really earning the money that'd seemed like a doddle on those evenings when I just watched telly while children slept. It all balances out in the end.

I wonder if OP has got the point yet, everyone is being so indifferent. Has anyone mentioned getting a taxi?

OP, I'm not sure what kind of an answer you were after with your original question and some of your other conflicting statements.