Babysitter wants to charge more for children who did this one thing

"If you have this job, you should expect to do this," someone told her. 

"I do babysitting, and the majority of the time, I have one or two children," a babysitter began her post on Mumsnet. 

"Usually, they’re in bed sleeping and stay asleep for the evening; parents give me the remote, kindly say I can help myself to food, and all is great," she continues.

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Should she charge more for this?

"I recently sat for someone who had three very active boys, they were still up when I arrived, wanted constant snacks, mum asked me to make and tidy things away," the woman explains.

She said they all had different bedtimes, and their mum wanted her to play games with them and put them to bed.

The youngest boy apparently fought with her about this, and the eldest's bedtime was "literally just before the parents returned home", so she spent the rest of the evening getting him snacks, tidying after him, and playing games.

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She said she was "okay doing all of this", but it did make her wonder... "should this be the same charges as basically sitting with the child already in bed?"

"Also, nice as this mum was, she initially queried the price being a bit expensive, whereas all others have been very appreciative."

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"Cheeky"

In the comments, there were people in both camps - some agreed with her that she should charge more, while others said that she was being ridiculous for expecting extra. 

One person in the comments said, "If anything, I think you should offer a reduction if the parent is sorting everything out before they go. I don't think you can decide a cost you charge for babysitting/ childcare, and then complain if you have to do babysitting/ childcare within that cost. If you have an easy night, that's a bonus for you, not the other way round."

"Agree," shared another. "If you have this job, you should expect to interact with children. It's cheeky to expect to only do jobs when all you do is eat and watch TV."

But another said: "You should have one charge if the kids are asleep and sorted. You are the safety monitor. A higher charge if kids awake, you are expected to give constant attention, and food etc. You are the nanny."

"Yep, you are right - babysitting and childcare are two different things," someone else echoed. 

And this person provided this advice: "I guess this is something you need to discuss before you take the job. If you don't feel you charge enough to compensate for having to be actively engaged with the kids etc then up your charges. Of course, it's great when the kids are just asleep, but not every job will be like this."

Originally published as Babysitter wants to charge more for children who did this one thing