How do you find a babysitter?

[JenneinCA]

We moved to California in December and adjusting to a new place with out family is taking a while. I have been going to a weekly park day for homeschoolers but when I asked about one of the teenagers doing some babysitting, I was told "My child doesn't do that." It appears that babysitting is beneath these kids. I was never even asked about pay rates. So much for that idea.

 

We are not attending a church and are not going to either. So that isn't an option.

 

Do you have any ideas of where to find a babysitter? Or any of you who are local want to trade kids for an afternoon? We are in Santa Clara, near Valley Faire Mall. My kids are: daughter age 10, son age 8 and son age 5.

 

Thanks for any ideas.

[kewb]

Craigs List. I found some great college students to babysit that way. I did have to weed through a air amount of dreck to find the gems but it was worth it.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I haven't tried it yet but I've been thinking about looking at the AARP employment place.

 

I'm an interpreter and wouldn't mind taking a client once/week or so. My daughter is old enough to do much of her work on her own if I need her to but, who can blame her, when she has a sitter, she'd rather play! We tried a couple of teenagers but while they were both sweet and responsible and all that neither of them would make her get her work done. That was quite a while ago, though, so maybe I could give it a try again. My girl is quite a bit more mature now. Still, I think someone from the AARP agency would be better.

 

Otherwise, I don't know.

[Dirtroad]

I am not sure if it is "beneath the kids" or if it is dangerous in many peoples minds. I have heard parents lately express concerns over allowing their teenage daughter into someone else's home (sadly). Another issue is that so many teens are saturated in music, service projects, college classes, etc... the Moms are saying no to things b/c the calendars are ridiculously loaded (although work is better than social for building character).

 

Some kids have adults not paying the agreed rate too. That is bad... but it turns kids off to trusting the work. A fourth concern that I have heard expressed... how poorly behaved some kids are. Teenagers can't handle them. (not to say your kids are in this category... but to point out reasons some have stopped sitting).

 

Hopefully, they just aren't "above it all"... that is sad.

 

We only have gotten sitters through church. We know the families & they know us. We also don't use one very often b/c expensive. I would not trust a stranger from Craig's list or any agency to take care of my kids... heavens, I don't even trust TEACHERS to take proper care of them.

[Desert Rat]

I got most of my jobs through word of mouth, so ask around. I also insisted on sitting the first time with a parent in the other room so they could see what I was like and if they approved of the way I handled their children. I got many jobs through our church too.

We don't utilize babysitters because my folks live 2 blocks away. We are very, very lucky!

[MamaT]

We only have gotten sitters through church. We know the families & they know us. We also don't use one very often b/c expensive. I would not trust a stranger from Craig's list or any agency to take care of my kids... heavens, I don't even trust TEACHERS to take proper care of them.

 

:iagree:

[KrissiK]

We've gotten them through church. I'm a former jr. high teacher, so I've had some former students babysit for us and our neighbor girl down the street has been doing some babysitting. It is really hard to get good babysitting.

[snickelfritz]

We know our babysitter through a homeschool group and through church.

 

Barring that, I would have asked my neighbor who teaches English at the local high school.

[Carol in Cal.]

DD is 13, and she is babysitting a little now, but more doing mother's helper work. Don't know whether you would consider someone that young--my recollection is that when DD was younger her babysitters were at least 13 and sometimes high school age.

 

Which park day group are you with? I think that AWL and BASIC are the groups that have the most older children. A lot of the other groups seem to be mostly comprised of kids through about 6th grade. Maybe branching out a bit would be helpful.

[Mrs. Frankweiler]

Is there a local college or university near by? They usually have a job board available for the students. I think they usually fall under the "Human Resources" or "Career Planning" Departments. You can call or email them about getting an ad put in there for a babysitter.

 

I've done this a few times and I usually get several sitters who are interested. I feel like a college student is probably a little more mature than a high school student, and I need someone who can handle 4 young kids. I always ask for a few references and check them out. You don't want to take chances with your kids.

 

HTH

[JenneinCA]

Thanks for the ideas. I am going to have my husband ask at work to see if we can find someone that way.

 

If that doesn't work I think we are going to to one of his friends. I don't think I could do Craig's list. That is too... much.

 

I will update if when we get more information.

[LaxMom]

For what it's worth, when I was a teenager, I had a woman in our community who would call me monthly (for a couple of years) to schedule me to watch her kids. Every. Single. Time. I told her I didn't babysit (and that I didn't know who put my contact information in the community newsletter, but it was not correct), I would get the "what? Watching my kids is beneath you?" attitude.

 

It wasn't beneath me. I worked at a restaurant. Six days a week. Doubles (11 a.m. until midnight) four of those days (or just the two weekend days during the school year). I brought home $1000 in tips in a weekend. I had neither the time, nor the inclination to take a pay cut to watch her kids.

 

It could be that the kids you're asking about just have other commitments. ;)