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Babysitter Battles
Rated by 4 members
"A dad tried to pick up our sitter right under my nose yesterday!" blurts my friend Leslie the second I pick up the phone. It takes me a minute to understand that the father didn't ask Leslie's babysitter for a date — it was an even greater faux-pas — he tried to hire her away.
"Doesn't he know how bad that is?" I hissed.
The rules around sitter-poaching vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, but typically it's a huge no-no to hire another family's sitter unless you've asked, begged, or somehow bribed them first.
Of course this season — filled with back-to-school nights and holiday parties — can bring out the worst in any parent. And having already asked everyone from grandparents to neighborhood teens to sit, some parents have been known to resort to extreme measures to lock in a reliable sitter.
Like Leslie, I'm not very good at letting someone in on a good sitter for fear of losing them. But I'm always happy to refer people to the source of our best babysitters — www.sittercity.com
Despite having helpful family around, we still encounter sitter shortages. But through Sitter City, I've found some terrific and reliable people. If sittercity.com doesn't service your area, you can place an advertisement to hire a sitter on another national Web site, like www.craigslist.com or www.care.com.
After doing this for a few years, I've come up with a few tips for screening and hiring the right person:
Now the next time someone's eyeing your sitter, you can smile sweetly and deflect their advances by sharing your online resources. It's much nicer than saying, "Get your own!"
Member Comments On…
Babysitter Battles
the down side of sitter city: finding out that your babysitter advertises on the site. i just learned my sitter gets jobs that way and i feel somehow cheated on.
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I'm glad that me and my family live in N.H. My wife and would never hire a stranger to watch our children from the internet.
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It's amazing how many tools there are to help parents nowadays! I used to worry about finding sitters . . . but now my oldest is a sitter herself, so I worry about where she goes when she's babysitting. I imagine someday I'll worry about where she finds a babysitter for my future grandkids! :o) Technology is great. I use my cell phone to check on my daughter when she's babysitting all the time. A quick text, "How are things going?" puts my mind at ease, and I think it helps my daughter to know that she has backup if she nees it.
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Finding a babysitter can be one of the most difficult decisions for parents. Definitely talking to friends and getting recommendations makes it easier. However, it's not always that easy. Check with a high school in your area. Usually in the morning, annoucements are made;you could ask the secretary to add to the morning list of news you're looking for a sitter. You could have a form to fill out and report to the office. Ask the secretary, of who shows interest, who would she recommend?! Another idea; Go to a basketball game, with the kids, and see if any of the high schoolers pay attention to your kids. Let your kids do the interviewing! Kids are great judges of character! You can't fool a child!
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We are blessed. We have both sets of grdparents and a 19 yr old daugh. I really feel for those of you who have to find someone reliable to stay w/your children. I know that I wouldn't enjoy the outing if I was concerned about their well being. Another idea is to swap sitting duties with another family. If you are a church goer check with the girls in the nursery they tend to be really great home sitters too.
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As a former Nanny, now a Mom of 1, I was very loyal to my families as long as thye treated me right.
RESPECT means more than money to a great caregiver.
And you can take THAT to the bank!
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All my sitter are in the family my sister and my cousin that dont get out much like baby sitting. So they just come over for the weekend to help me out if I going out with with my hubby our just to get thing done. I really dont trust alot of people so I keep it in in the family.
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I read about another site in Oprah's magazine -- www.babysitters.com. All the sitters are approved by real moms.
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Be VERY, VERY careful advertising for a sitteron Craigslist.com..there are some very freaky people out there. We advertised a few weeks ago that we were looking for used pinball machines and boy I tell you we've had some very strange people call us in regards to the advertisement. So be VERY careful.
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Thanks for the tips! I was the youngest of four kids growing up, so my mom never had to hire a babysitter other than my older siblings. It's scary to think of letting strangers care for kids, but I'm glad there are resources out there to help make the decision a little easier!
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