Babysitting etiquette...WWYD?

[Zana]

I am completely clueless about babysitting matters so would appreciate any input. We used a babysitter for the first time last week (DSs teacher from daycare). She arrived at 5.45pm and left at 9.15pm. Honestly, since we were leaving DS at home for the first time, and since I had to get ready to leave for a formal party that started at 6.30 (I got off work at 4.30), had to feed and bathe DS etc., I was totally not thinking about the babysitter's dinner! She came with a snack (soda and chips). DH and I both had no clue what to do and eventually we asked her to help herself to whatever was in the fridge (which was not much) and out of sheer guilt gave her $10 more than her babysitting charge.

I guess I want to know for the future, what the etiquette is regarding providing food for your babysitter. For us its someone we know and I know she was coming from work too and we want to keep her happy! I have to make it clear that she was in no way upset and did not make any comments about food or anything...this is all my own issue!!

[Corie]

I usually order a pizza while I am getting ready. The pizza
gets delivered around the same time the babysitter is arriving.
Then, the babysitter and my daughter can eat and we can leave.

Plus, I always have lots of drinks in the refrigerator and plenty
of snacks in the pantry.

[Marisa6826]

Unless I have food in the fridge, I leave money and delivery menus for the sitter. I also tell the sitter to help herself to whatever she finds in the pantry, etc.

-m

[DebbieJ]

In my babysitting days, ordering pizza for me and the kids was often the norm.

~ deb
DS 12/03
And a niece or nephew arriving in early August!

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[kijip]

I just make sure that there are lots of snacks available that most people like, incuding enough to make a decent sandwich. Also any salad or whatnot in the fridge is up for grabs. The pizza idea is good as well.

[Wife_and_mommy]

I was always fed as a teenager. Seemed so easy but now the few times I've had a babysitter it's too much for me to think about! Go figure. I think if it were an older child the sitter had to feed then she could eat with the child. Since it's a baby it becomes more of an issue. I hope someone with older-child experience chimes in. I would have done the same thing you did so don't feel too badly. :)


Elizabeth

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Our second morsel due early February 2006!

[lmintzer]

Wow--you guys go all out. We don't feed our babysitter(s). I was rarely fed as a babysitter when I did this as well. Of course, we always say "help yourself to what's in the fridge".

Then again, our sitters are usually not around during meal times. The one we have now comes after Joshua is in bed (7:30) and puts Jack to bed for us. She doesn't feed them dinner.

Our nanny (who we used to have half-time) rarely ate our food even though she fed the kids breakfast and lunch. She was a decent cook and was probably pretty uninterested in what was in our pantry and fridge. She sometimes would have a snack of ours but would often bring her own home-cooked food.

ETA: wow--post number 1500 for me! : )

And: Also, we pay a lot for babysitting--$10/hour, even for night sitting when the kids are in bed for a lot of it. So I don't feel that badly about not providing food.

[bostonsmama]

When I babysat as a teenager, I did it for good friends of my dad, so I didn't charge much more than $1 or $2/hour....so they definitely fed me. Usually I'd come over while they were still there (paid, of course) and they'd make dinner, I'd eat with the kids as the parents got ready, then I'd cleanup as the walked out the door. Often, they handed me a twenty as they walked out the door to pay the pizza delivery guy who was on the way. Then, they told me to help myself to the fridge...and the older girls and I would raid the pantry and have snack time (golly, how I could eat back then)...then dessert, then bed.

So, to mirror a PP, depends on what you pay him/her. I've showed up plenty a time without being fed, but mainly if I started after 7pm (and I was paid very well)...but I still raided the fridge for snacks. I don't know if I'd go back if there wasn't ANYTHING to eat.

L

[saschalicks]

In junior high I regularly babysat for one couple every Saturday night. They paid me well and usually had a fully stocked refrigerator/pantry. I was told to eat whatever. I would raid their fridge and pantry regularly and ALWAYS cleaned up after myself. It was always understood that I hadn't eaten when I came so they knew I'd be eating there. I say if you don't have something in the fridge for her then I'd do the pizza think like PP said.

Also, since you know her you could just say to her the next time she is baby-sitting "you know I wasn't sure if you were hungry last time, but is pizza OK for Saturday?" Or something like that?

[jamsmu]

I keep frozen dinners in the freezer. Seems like the sitters (who I pay $7/hour) like frozen pizza best. But I also have lean cuisines, hot pockets, and other things in there. Oh! and there is always mac and cheese, etc on the shelf.

I've thought about the pizza delivery, and will rely on that if I ever don't have food in the freezer... but the sitters don't seem to mind the frozens.

Usually, I pick up the sitter after feeding DS. We like to get him ready for bed before they come. I'm sure there will be a time when he'll eat with the sitter, though.

[Sarah1]

I do the same thing as Julie--keep a few frozen dinners/pizzas in the freezer, and have snacks like microwave popcorn on hand...and tell the sitter to help herself to anything. I have only had one sitter who really pigged out--most of them hardly eat anything, it seems. If the sitter comes earlier, though, I make sure there is enough of whatever Audrey is eating (i.e. mac and cheese) for the sitter to eat too.

[Mommy_Again]

I used to eat frozen dinners when I babysat in high school. We don't eat those, or really keep much snack food in the house, so this is also something I've been thinking about.

Does anyone get nervous about letting the babysitter open the door to a delivery person, or am I just being paranoid? (also, if someone were to pose as a delivery person - worse case scenario, I know...)

[jamsmu]

Oh great, Ashley, now you're giving me something else to worry about! :) Nah... I'm not too worried. Chances are the sitter has opened the door to a pizza guy before. But I haven't done it yet, so now I'll envision this post if I ever resort to it. :P

As for frozen dinners, we don't eat them either... except for the occasional, last minute Ellios. They are there primarily for the sitter. And, like Sarah, they usually don't eat too much. But its there incase they get hungry.

[Zana]

Thanks everyone,

Never thought of frozen food! Now that I think about it too, maybe delivery isnt such a good idea ;)

This was a formal dinner and we didnt have much choice about timings. Hopefully next time, it will be a little later and my fridge will be well stocked!!

On the plus side it went really well for a first time - you know that when your DS throws himself into the babysitters arms!!

[slknight]

No regular pizza delivery here in my small town and our babysitter is a vegetarian, so that makes it hard to have stuff here that she will eat. What I do is buy that refrigerated pasta, like the Butoni (I think?) 3-cheese tortellini. It cooks really quickly and easily and DS loves it. My babysitter often eats on the way here (she comes straight from work and packs some extra food), but if she doesn't, I know she will eat the pasta. I always buy some to have on hand for babysitting nights.

[Mommy to a sweet baby boy]

Well i am now having to deal with this on my own with my little boy and babysitters. When i used to babysit i would either eat with the children, or if they were not eating i would look in the pantry if i was really hungry or did not have a chance to finish eating. I also babysat for another family at least 1x per week and i often took the children with me out to dinner, and was later reimbursed, or if i was coming over and was feeding the children the parents would order me something as well from the restauraunt. I must say that i babysat for these children for almost 3 years straight so it was not a one time thing.