We have had our current babysitter for about a year now. My son adores her and she adores him. I know her family pretty well and they love my son too and treat him as if he were their grandchild. The situation seems perfect. We have her watching him on wednesdays and saturdays. Here's the problem, their have been several saturdays now were she will tell us wednesday night after we come home from work that she cant watch david on saturday. Which leaves me for the next 2 days running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find someone we know and trust to watch our son. Sometimes we've gotten lucky, others we havn't and my husband had to take the day off. I know that 2 days in advance is pretty resonable, but it is hard to find someone when most people already have plan for the weekend. I work only on commision so I have to go to work or else i dont get paid, so it's always my husband that has to take the day off. The tip of the iceberg was just this wednesday when I came home from work she had told me that might not be able to watch david because she might be going up north with some friends (she's 20) but it's not 100% yet and she'd call me by thursday night to let me know for sure. Did I hear from her? No. I left her a message and a text message and still nothing. Here I am again running around trying to find someone and it's now nearly 6 p.m on a friday night, and i still havn't heard from her. No call no nothing. I left her another message, and this time it wasn't no nice. Telling her that i'm pretty upset that she hasn't returned my calls. This also isnt' the first time that he not calling me back has happened. She has a younger sister who has watched david a couple of times now, and when she's not available i'll text her and ask if her sister can watch him for us and I still never hear back. I need someone who is reliable and dependable and who will actually take 2 seconds to call me back. Wednesdays have never ever been and issue, only the saturdays. I understand she's young and it's summer and she probably has a life, but this is a job, and I am paying her as well. I cant imagine she would do this if she had a job at a store. My husband is pretty upset, but I am just furious. As fellow parents I'm sure you can understand my frustration with this. Any advice??
I hate to say it because it sounds like your son likes the baby sitter a lot...but it's time to find someone who is more reliable...maybe a family member or daycare option maybe?
First of all, I can understand your frustration, I totally would be too!
If she gives you notice on a Wednesday, I think that is enough notice for Saturday. BUT, it sounds like the issue is more that she is taking off LOTS of Saturdays. In that case, then I think you have every right to give her an ultimatum. Talk to her. I would ask her to really think about this. Does she think of this of a JOB or just occasional babysitting. Because if this is truly a JOB for her, then she needs to think of it as if she worked at a retail place, restaurant, whatever. When I was her age, I worked in retail, and when I was hired I was told I had to work Saturdays. I didn't like it, but it was part of my job, and I had to make plans around that schedule. Yes, things come up I did request off Saturdays, but maybe once every 2-3 months. So if she is requesting off Saturdays more often than that, then I believe you should tell her, she either needs to think of this of a job and Saturdays are part of her work schedule, and if she doesn't like that, then you are going to have to look for another babysitter to work the schedule you need.
What I see, is you see her as having a job but she sees a chance to make a little money baby-sitting. And neither is "wrong". A 2 day/week job isn't going to sustain anyone, so you may be hard-pressed to find a constant solution, but its not impossible. I had a very reliable summer nanny that got flaky near the end, too. Some of it is youth. If I were you I'd (calmly) let her know your needs and see if she's willing to comply. And I'd advertise for some alternates, I would think an older woman may be a better bet. Regardless, you need to make it clear its a job. I hope you're paying for it as such, and by that I mean at least minimum wage/hour. Otherwise, its not going to be taken seriously. I would check your anger before you talk to her. I don't think "furious" is an appropriate response to being inconvenienced. Not that I don't sympathize, but if I was approached from fury I'd scram.
I think you have every right to be annoyed, particularly b/c this sounds like it happens a lot. On one hand, it's nice to have a babysitter that your son likes A LOT and that you like when she's not being irresponsible. On the other hand, it's unacceptable for her to leave you in the lurch with no call, no nothing. Maybe next time you talk to her (if there is a next time), you can tell her that you know she has a social life, but you would appreciate a little more advance notice if she's going out of town or has made other plans. The other mom mentioned that an employee doesn't give advance notice when calling in sick, but it sounds to me like this isn't that she's sick, she's just being irresponsible. Unfortunately, she's 20, and while some kids that age are very responsible, some are still kind of immature. If you are able, you might try to play up the fact that you're really thankful that you found someone you can trust your son with and that he likes so much, but mention that you might have to seek other help if she isn't going to answer your calls.
Sounds like your sitter has a great rapport with your son, and sometimes finding someone like that is difficult, but you need to decide if you can deal with the irresponsibility. If you can't deal with it, thank her for her time, but tell her you need to move on.
GOOD LUCK!
Nancy,
You may want to look at sittercity.com. They have 100's of sitters based on your zip code.
She may also be taking advantage of what you have let happen, tell her she has to give you x number of days of notice or you will have to find someone else permanently.
Good luck K. S.
The notice she gives you is enough. Do you give your work two or three days in advance when you call in sick, no you call that day. When you want a day off you give it ahead of time just like she did. Shes young your lucky she gives you the notice that she does give, her plans change from day to day and things come up unexpected in her life just like it does in a busy mothers life, As for her not calling you back I think maybe you should ask her why she doesn't return your phone calls, give her a chance to explain herself instead of firing the girl who adores your son.
I think you need to find something else to be upset about!!!!
Get over it and find someone else to watch David. I also think 2 days notice is enough.
