Charging a friend for babysitting

[LostPuppy]

My wife is in a spot.

She does paid-for babysitting via the sitters network, but she has been booked by a friend. We dont know if the friend knew she was getting my other half when they booked, and my wife certainly wouldnt have accepted if she'd known.

So now the situation is horrible.

We both feel that we could never charge this friend for the babysitting, and dont know why this friend booked via sitters when there are half a dozen of us that could have sat if she'd just sent a text around.

So what does she do? It just feels WRONG to take money off these friends, but my wife could have been out at another sitters organised evening happily earning her £25

Cheers
LP

tbh if it was booked through an agency i would expect to be paid! how about a quiet word explaining that you don't want to have to charge her BUT your wife could have been earning 25 quid etc etc- maybe a mates-rates discount is a compromise!

if the friend went on the sitters site she is obviously willing to pay. you say you would not take the money and are hapy to babysit for the friend, then you say my wife could be earning 25 quid somewhere else. i think you should let the friend pay, keeping everything transparent and uncomplicated.

We've considered both those options, but we would never charge a friend to sit, and every time we go out with these guys in the future it will feel odd.

Can your wife swap with another babysitter so that she doesnt have to do it this time and takes another job instead??

Its too late notice unfortunately.

She should take the money. I am a childminder and i only started minding again lat june - after a 2 year break. I started again becuase i recieved an email that a friend had sent out to all the childminders in the area asking if they had vacancies.

She hadn't realised it was me when she emailed but after a chat we decided that i would mind her baby and occasionally her girls when they weren't at school.]

Because she is a friend there are times when i offer to help out as a friend and have the children for an hour or so. i don't charge her when i do this. If i have them as a childminder though then i do charge her.

I think childminding is slightly different DS, because you've discussed it as a long term thing and both sides know money will change hands so are comfortable with that. My wife is also thinking of doing that for a couple locally that are due this month.

Ah I see your point. They don't know it will be her coming then. She should call them then and let them know.

In a rational world your wife is providing a service that has to be paid.

I would pay a friend NO PROBS if she was providing me with her services from a website.

If your friend wanted casual babysitting she should have asked via text.

If the friend doesnt know it will be your wife turning up and is assuming it will a paid babysitter, then I think it will be perfectly acceptable for your wife to phone her and say something like
'I've accepted this babysitting job and have just realised that it will be working for you. I feel slightly odd about taking money from you, and I would have asked one of the other babysitters to do it had I realised in time, but its a bit late now to swap and I will lose out on money and you will be without a babysitter if we cancel. Are you happy with me doing it and with the money side of things as they are?'

and maybe say something like 'ask as a friend next time and if i'm not working that night i'd be happy to help out as a friend'

unfortunately the friend knows its my wife. we still dont know if she knew that before she booked