should i feel bad for this?

[mama77]

i was booked for a babysitting last night(sitters)and some of you my know how little the pay is.So i was booked from 5pm to 12am.i have arrived at 5pm and the family were not at home.i called the lady and she said that she will be about 35 minutes late and it is ok i can wait in my car so i wont freeze.

She finally arrived home with the 9 year old boy asking me to start dinner so she can go to pick up her 5 year old girl.I looked at her and with all do respect i was not there to do after school care,that i will do it this time but never again.

She left to get her girl,droped her off and left.So i was left to do dinner,bath,bed time.

Now i am a nanny day time so when i choose to do evening babysitting i thought it is really sittting while the children asleep and parents away.I dont know....
Anyway they came home gave me the money and said nothing else.Now for sure they will never ask the sitters for me again as i will never accept theyr booking again.

But should i feel bat for saying that i am not there to do dinner etc?

I don't think you should really expect a 5yr old and 9yr old to be in bed at 5pm. Not sure about whether you could have expected them to have already had/started dinner.

Sorry, not much help, but I think it is just because your booking time was early.

Agree. If booking time is 5pm then of course you are expected to do whole routine.

Entirely up to you to say no to babysitting requests, but I really struggle to see how you would have expected it to work with a 5pm start?

I don't get this either. You knew it was 5pm start. Even a 6pm start would need some bedtime routine and possibly dinner.

When I used to babysit for families I know (and for a bit of extra cash) on occasion before having DS, I would have thought myself very lucky if the kids were already in bed or on their way to bed. I would fully expect to do something, regardless of the rate of pay (as rate of pay was agreed in advance anyway.. likewise, if you accept a booking through sitters, you know the rate of pay).

It's a job. Sorry but I'm always when people expect to get paid for doing as little as possible. I know someone will come and tell me off soon for that.

Sitters terms and conditions used to say something along the lines of the children should be in bed or getting ready for bed. Their current terms don't seem to say that anymore - though their contract with you might.

Given the 5pm start, I would expect to be doing a bit more though... but pay should reflect that. Does the agency not have different rates for daytime care? Is there a time that daytime changes to evening, such as 6pm/7pm.

it was a 5pm start, did you really not think you would be sorting out tea/homeowrk/bath&bed?

yes sitters pay bad money but you agreed to the wage and time of start - no sympathy from me lol :)

How on earth would you get the children fed and bathed before 5 pm anyway????!!!! And if they were there to do it, then why would they need you?????

I would think for babysitting doing bedtime routine (e.g. TV, calm game, drink, bath, story) is fine. Not so sure about food: possibly heating up food but not full on preparing dinner in a house you haven't worked in before. This is part of nursery duties I would have thought and would expect to get paid for it as such.

I tend to charge the same rate day and eve., as I value my evenings. However, Sitters pay is rubbish and they really ought to think of having different rates for different duties/hours like this, and perhaps dept. on expreience, quals., or increase after you've done a certain number of sits for them. Or a way they still got paid/booking but individual nannies set their own rates esp. as it is effectively self-employed work. Obviously their system is working for them though.

I suppose due to the nature of their service (babysitting) I would also have hoped Sitters would have asked/told the family explicitly what was expected (as you would if you yourself were approached directly by family) and explicitly passed anything out of the ordinary on to me.

What did you expect to be doing from, say, 5pm - 8pm? Surely you can't have expected to have nothing to do with the children until they were asleep?

Sitters pay is, I think, really aimed at just sitting there when the kids are asleep, you are right in that. However, I can't see how you could have accepted a booking at 5pm and expected not to have to do any care until the kids were asleep!

I have done a lot of evening babysitting in my time, and NEVER has a child been asleep at 5pm. Evenings always involve bedtime routine because that's when children go to bed...

I think that mama was pointing out that sitters pay only sitting rates. I work for sitters and I like you have refused to go back for this very reason it does not pay enough to do cooking etc.

It does state in terms and conditions that they should be ready for bed and the most you should do is read a bedtime story.

I am also with sitters, If you get a job at 5pm you know that it will involve nanny duties, so I wouldn't agree to a 'babysit' if I knew that I would have to those duties! Sitters really should take into consideration their pay rates!! after all they are just the folks on the phone taking commission on our work.. would they really do tea, bath, stories, settling etc for under £6 an hour?? I think not.. sitting is just that, a qualified person to sit there child whilst they go out!!!

So how much does a babysitter charge to give kids dinner and baths and put them to bed? Sounds like people shouldn't work for sitters anymore if they are unhappy with the pay.

Star, I am not unhappy with the pay from sitters.

However I would charge nanny rates at the start of the evening which I do when i babysit not through an agency.

What is the fee parents pay sitters?

Last time I looked it was £4 per booking plus £51 annual membership (split into 4 payments).

It was a 5pm start so yes I'd of expected to have to follow all evening routine.I'd of thought I'd at least be told what to give them for dinner in a house I didnt know/with children I dont know and maybe it being prepared somewhat/simple meal but on the whole I dont think you have anything to be cross about.
She didnt need an after school nanny she wanted some adhoc babysitting

If I babysit & its an early start time I quite like having to do food/bath/bed routine as it makes the time go faster then once they are in bed you can chill. IMHO if you were just playing from 5pm until bedtime it would feel like the time passed slower, or maybe thats just me

When I start an early babysit I charge my nanny rates up until the children go to bed and then go over to babysitting rates.

I was once told by a client that sitting in someones house was an easy way to earn money I told this parent (very politely) that they were paying for my time which was precious to me and for the peace of mind that comes with knowing someone responsible is there To take care of their child in an emergency or offer comfort if the child wakes up

I so agree with you Sunshinenanny,Parents have it in their heads that we sit and do nothing and that the children will just sleep which as we know in the majority of cases they do,but there are always the cases from a baby crying all evening to children being ill,sickness ,power cuts with 5month old twins[that was a bad one],night terrors etc. to someone trying to break in and being able to dial 999 and trying while waiting for them to come to calm a very mentally ill man down.[That was a worse one!!]All these have happened to me I have definite views on not letting young girls baby sit unless the children or babysitters parents are close by.

I also agree with you sunshine nanny and euracantha. I babysat with a girl recently diagonised with Diabetes..there was no food in the house and her levels dropped(also 2 other children with me as well) I had to get the sugar levels stable and check her levels
on her machine every half an hour, her mum then questioned why i had charged her nanny rates!!! (they were miles away) am qualified and have first aid training, a young person would not have been able to have dealt with that situation, let alone be able to drive them to hospital if needs be.

euracantha poor you I will be having nightmares when I next babysit. I also took over a sitting job where they used to employ a fifteen year old they came home to their drinks cabinet empty and the fifteen year old had invited all her freinds back.

I am with you sunshine nanny you get what you pay for.

and thats why i charge the same whether if children are awake or asleep - its still my time and if an emergancy arose i know i would cope (unlike maybe a teenager)

i have also had throwing up twin babies of 9mths and parents were in london at the theatre, so phones turned off/no signal - they came home striaght after the show after they got my message but still took 3hrs to get home via traffic

i see mama77 didnt come back after her non sympathetic replies

yes sitters pay rubbish money but you knew that, also surely you must have reliesed that at 5pm you wouldnt be sitting on your bum watching tv esp with a 9yr (who prob went to bed 8.30ish)

thanks blonds,and why are you grinning there?

Coz you got raked over the coals and often if the op gets harsh replies etc they don't return and reply

do you still think you were hard done by?

I think you were hard done by mama . The same has happened to me I also requested not to go back to that family.

I think sitters should pay nanny rates up untill 8 may be we should suggest it.