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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

How much would you pay a teenager to stay overnight in your house?

28 replies

cluttered · 16/08/2015 12:03

Have posted this in Chat but it may get lost in there so thought posting here may attract more replies!

I occasionally need to go away overnight for work and as I am now a lone parent I have found a local 6th former to come and stay in the house overnight with my 2 secondary aged DC the next time I need to do this. DC1 will be 16 when this occurs so could stay in theory by themselves but I am not happy with them being responsible for younger DC2 who would probably not obey them in an emergency but would obey another teenager. Also the 6th former will have nearby family to call on so am much happier with this arrangement even though they are not much older than DC1.

My question is, how much should I pay them? They will need to come over at some point after school when my DC are back and probably check that DC2 gets something to eat as DC1 can cook but may not include DC2 in this. They will then need to stay overnight in the house and check the DC get off to school before leaving themselves. I will be back that evening so it will just be a single night. My DC go to a school that is further away so they will have to leave the house earlier than the 6th former and are completely fine at sorting themselves out in the morning so really it should just be a matter of the 6th former staying in our house for the night and possibly heating up some food for DC2. I don't want to insult them by offering a ridiculously low amount but am unsure what the going rate is nowadays for teenage babysitters? Should I just pay an hourly rate for the 12-14 hours they will be in the house or what? Anybody have a DC that does similar babysitting?

OP posts:
cluttered · 21/08/2015 01:19

eyebags if I were staying elsewhere in London overnight yes I would leave DC1 to look after DC2 (who is a young teen) but I will be staying several hours drive away in the rural north, it's not unlikely I could be snowed in and unable to return quickly in an emergency or even delayed getting back, potentially leaving them alone for a second night. Also DC1 is notoriously poor at answering his phone or the landline while DC2 is always running out of credit and also seems oblivious to the landline ringing so it's very likely I wouldn't be able to get through to them to check how they were, although obviously they could reach me in an emergency.

We have just had a leaflet through the door warning us that there have been several burglaries in the area recently, if they were burgled while I was away and called the police I think the police would rightly be concerned that I was hundreds of miles away without there being a responsible adult nearby.

I have just seen the Mum of the sixth former in the local shop and she thanked me for asking her daughter to do this and said she would be only too happy to be on call if the teenagers had any problems so I think it will be fine.

OP posts:
Mrsmoneyworries · 07/09/2015 14:46

Can older DC not go to EXP, while younger DC has the 6th former there?

You've had the notice about the burglaries and still want to let someone who isn't an adult yet, be the sole responsible person in charge of the situation? Wow HmmShock

OneBreathAfterAnother · 07/09/2015 14:56

I did this as a child, for children a year younger than me. It was fine, they behaved and it was pretty easy money. I used to get £40 a night but it was a fair few years ago now, and not London.

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