To not want to be watched by cameras

[Englishrose223]

I'm babysitting my neices (6 and 3) while sister and brother in law are out for the evening. She has cameras in both of their rooms and can listen in and watch and it makes me feel really uncomfortable. She's been texting me about what the kids are doing (eg one was playing with a toy in bed) and asking me to go back upstairs to see to them. I wish she'd just leave me to it.

I wouldn’t babysit for them again.

God no, I'd hate that and not agree to it. Are they paying you?

Can you switch them off or put a towel over them?
She either trusts you to babysit or she doesn’t.
I would hate this.

I'd ring her and say you feel ill. Then refuse to babysit again.

Turn them off/cover them

Lots of people have nanny cams, but I think its a bit helicoptery. Is she watching you in the living room too?

Just take the kids downstairs and watch a movie or something. I wouldn't cover them like other posters have suggested. It's quite weird but it's their home and their children, did your sister mention the cameras before you agreed to babysit? Because that's when you should have told her you felt uncomfortable about it. It wouldn't annoy me personally though, I'd be giving my own sister the middle finger through it 🤣 but we are close and I can openly tell tell her if she's being a weirdo

Surely it’s normal for people to have baby monitors in their young kids bedrooms?
The suggestion to put something over it are nuts imo. It would be incredibly alarming if someone was minding my kids and covered the baby monitor.
It’s not like there are cameras watching you around the house!

100% this. Cameras in kids bedrooms is really normal and I think especially when you have young kids it’s normal to maybe have a bit of anxiety and have a look to see how they are?

It is not normal for someone who is out for the night to be rude enough to issue orders to the person who is caring for their children by remote.

You either trust that person or you don't.

If you do, enjoy your evening. If you don't come home and do the work yourself.

I cannot imagine any nanny or child care professional agreeing to this.

I know she has cameras, I didn't know I would receive orders through them constantly.

Monitors are one thing, but it's totally inappropriate to spy on your babysitter and message them to tell them what to do.

No I'm not being paid, I'm never paid. I look after one of them for the whole day once a month at least and am not paid.

Then stop doing this.

You are allowing them to treat you this way - like you're some sort of minion or servant.

I would not tolerate this - who would?

Let them pay for childcare - and believe me they will be very short of babysitters if they try this.

Are you receiving orders constantly though? Your OP mentions one thing, being asked to remove a toy from one of the kids in bed. Maybe it was something that would keep her up, maybe it was a dangerous toy for the younger one to have unattended etc.

Get through tonight as best you can and NEVER agree to babysit again.

totally intolerable behaviour.
disgraceful of her really.

So normal. Whilst I won't use a wifi one, personally, if I did I would look in on them when I'm not around.

No I won't be babysitting again. Not if it's going to be like this.

The cameras wouldn’t bother me per se but I definitely wouldn’t tolerate the micromanaging while I was there doing them a favour.

That's the issue. Just leave me to it. Either you trust me to look after your kids or you don't.

This. Micromanaging over a nanny cam is ridiculous. I'd be tempted to reply with "if you're not happy, then come home and do it yourself, then"

It might be common, but I wouldn't say it's "normal". Definitely not healthy to be monitoring children in this way

Is it really normal to have cameras in kids’ rooms now? 😱 Admittedly I’m about 15 years out of the toddler stage but I don’t know anyone who did this.

OP, yanbu. If I knew someone had cameras in their house I’d never set foot in the place!

Really rude of her. She should switch them off when you’re babysitting or unplug them until you leave the kids in bed. Tell her you find it uncomfortable. I never had any cameras in my kids rooms, baby monitor for sound when under 1, but not cameras and I wouldn’t have expected a babysitter to be comfortable with them