My cousin's getting married (out of state) and my husband won't be able to come to the wedding because he'll be at a training in a different state. So, I'm planning on taking the baby with me and leaving my 3 older kids with our sitter. Our typical rate for 3 kids is $20/hour, but that'd put our cost at nearly $800.
Do you think $300 would be fair? 7 am on a Friday til 7 pm on Saturday. The boys are 7, 5, and 3. Of course I plan to ask my sitter if that rate is ok with her, but I like to run things past the peanut gallery first ;-)
Thank you for the input. Unfortunately, it's a moot point now, since when I ran my plan by my husband he freaked out saying, "You're going to let a STRANGER watch our kids while you're 400 miles away for a weekend?!" Um, no, I was going to have the same woman who has been watching our kids for nearly 5 years watch our kids, for 36 hours. That did little to relieve his panic attack, so now I have to miss my cousin's wedding. BOOO!!!! I'm really disappointed, but glad to have a general idea of what is/isn't an acceptable rate.
ETA: yes, she's great. I have 27 first cousins on my mom's side, and there's 4 I would move heaven and earth to be with on their wedding days.
I know the point is moot now but I have to say that must be one great cousin to consider shelling out hundreds on day care alone.
I don't have one cousin I'd do that for!
That is more than fair!! I think it's great. I'm sure your sitter won't have any issue with that price.
I also think this sounds fair :).
Yes, I think that is more than fair.
I think babysitting rates fluctuate if there are overnights. Just like dog walking/sitting. If you got a dog walker for 1 hour a day they may charge $20 an hour (I really don't know the rate). Yet if you needed the dog watched for the weekend (36 hours) you would pay a flat rate of maybe $150 for a dog.
edit: I tend to lean to paying more for most things. Yes, this person would need to be available. Assuming she is, an opportunity to earn an extra $300 sounds wonderful.
I would do it for that. :)
As a Sitter, yes that's very fair. And Have Fun at the Wedding. Maybe leave some money for a movie or some small outing for Saturday.
I think that sounds good - and if you can afford it, give her a little extra as a surprise bonus. I don't know how people can afford to pay $20 / hour for 24 hours , ?? for 3 days? That is crazy.
When we had the occasional overnight sitter, I paid the hourly rate of $10-$12 and then for the night time during sleep, I paid a flat rate. I also left extra cash out for treats and I always gave a tip. I gave 1/2 of my fee in CASH up front for her then at the end, I gave the last 1/2 of the money plus any tips or extras.
I think $300 sounds fair and I tend to do more than less when it comes to things like that. Just run it by her first so you are both in agreement from the beginning and there are no surprises. 3 boys are going to be a handful.. I'd be more generous than not.
sounds perfect.
have fun!
:) khairete
S.
Generally, and it only happened twice that I needed overnight sitters, I paid the regular rate for awake hours because isn't that when they are babysitting and then an overnight fee.
Since I would be trusting of my babysitter and appreciative of the work she is putting in with my kids since I'm not taking them with me. I would be inclined to pay her her hourly rate and tack on a tip too. I spare no expense when it comes to caring for my kids and I don't ever try to short change my childcare providers. It's my way of saying to them with my actions that I appreciate all of the work they pour into my children.
If you can't afford to pay her what her fee is for your 3 children perhaps you should take them with you and find a sitter or family member to tend to them while you are away.
Perhaps your care taker can come up with a dollar amount you both can agree to without it being as low as $300.00 which is more than a little insulting to me when you usually pay her $20 per hour.
as a daycare provider my rate is lower then just a babysitter, but still that is 36 hours of care for 3 kids. My rate would be minimum $10 per hour which is $360, that's still only $3.33 per kid per hour, so really I would be charging $15 an hour, so that would be $540. Yes it's expensive. But that is my Friday night, all day Saturday and Saturday night as well.
Sounds fair to me. We have a similar situation coming up -- school reunion out of state, leaving early Fri morning, returning Sunday evening. My kids are 12, 10, and 7, so a little easier on the watching front. I asked our favorite sitter if she was open to doing this for a flat rate. I proposed $350 and she said yes.
I think that $300 would be unfair to your babysitter. That is a lot of time dedicated to children of that age for basically an entire weekend and $300 is not a lot of money in the big scheme of things.
Yes and then consider giving her a $25. tip as a surprise bonus.
This peanut says "what time do I start?" Lol
I'd ask her how much she would charge... given her normal hourly rate $300 seems low - I would probably plan around $450 and be hapoy if she says something lower.
