busymama7 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I have had this happen enough times that I am curious if my expectations are wrong. My daughter(13) gets called to babysit and the parents want me to drive her back and forth. We have always transported our babysitters and when I babysat, the parents always came for me. Now, I understand unusual circumstance, like a single parent and sleeping children. If it was like that, I would be happy to help as I remember situations like that from back when I had to hire babysitters, instead of having them built in. BUT, i always talked to the parents of the sitter and asked for a favor(my husband is out of town, the kids will be asleep when I get back, could you possibly come pick up your daughter for me?) That kind of thing. I am curious what is standard, because I admit to being annoyed that the parents want my daughter to babysit and also want me to drive her but I will get over it if I am the one who has weird expectations:D Poll coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 We actuallly drive our 13 year old b/c she would prefer we drive her..it can be awkward riding with an adult....I think as she matures and gets used to it, we would not mind them picking her up, in fact, one time they did want to pick her up (mainly to save us..very sweet)...but we really do not mind....we live 20 minutes out from anything so I would rather the family enjoy a nice night out and not have to worry about tacking a 40 minute round trip drive on top of that. When I was babysitting, the majority of parents picked me up and brought me home...but we lived within 5 miles of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Other: When I babysat, when I hired babysitters and now that my dds babysit, it is typical to sort of split driving duties. The parents of the babysitter drop off the baby-sitter and parents of the kids drive the babysitter home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 When I was a young teen, the parents of the child almost always did the driving. However, both of my babysitters' parents expect to be the ones to drive them. I didn't ask them to--they just assumed. If they babysit during the day, I offer to take them back and sometimes they take me up on it. If it's at night, it's nice to have their parents get them because DS needs me to put him to bed and DH would not want to drive alone with a 14-year-old girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I always got picked up and dropped off by the family I was sitting for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara in Colo Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I guess it should be something that is individual to each situation. I usually got myself there and back. As a parent of the babysat, I would prefer the sitter get to my house on her/her own, since I am still dressing, but I wouldn't mind taking said sitter home. As a parent of the sitter, I wouldn't want someone bringing my child home late at night, but then again, I wouldn't let my child sit for someone I didn't trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I don't think there's any hard and fast rules, usually, I negotiate pick up and drop off when I need a babysitter. Usually what ends up happening is that the babysitter's folks drop her off at our house, and I take her home. This works out well, because there's usually a set time we need the babysitter to be at the house, but there's not always an exact fixed time when we'll be back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 When I was a babysitting teen, the parents of the child I was watching always did all the driving. That was just how things were done. When my oldest was a toddler we had an awesome babysitter (the friend of a the COs daughter) and her mom always dropped her off, but that was because they lived in the middle of nowhere and the land the house sat on had lots of unmarked dirt roads, it wasn't easy to give directions to the house. We always took her home though which her mom was fine with because then the sitter could direct us where to drive to get to the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintedlady Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I'd drop off my daughter and expect them to drive her home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezrabean2005 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I voted "other". When we are just starting with a babysitter, the parents usually drive both there and back. After they know us more and we trust each other more, the parents usually drop her off and the I drive her home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlylocks Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 (edited) I always got picked up and dropped off by the family I was sitting for. :iagree: -- and anytime we've had a babysitter (which hasn't been very often), we have picked up the babysitter and taken her home. Edited February 24, 2012 by curlylocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celia Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I expect to pick up and drop off when I hire a babysitter. When I babysat when I was younger, this was always how it worked. However.... My name got passed around and once I sat for people I didn't know. The man who was to drive me home scared me, and he'd been drinking. At 13, I did not know how to handle the situation. I wanted to call my mom to pick me up, but was frightened to do so. So, I think if your dd is sitting for people you know, that's one thing. But if my dd ever babysits for a family I don't know, I'll be doing the pickup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2read Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 The mother of the children who are being watched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Combination When I babysat my parents or siblings dropped me off and the other family drove me home. My (few) babysitters either have their parents drop off and pick up or they drop off and I take them home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 when i was younger, the parents of the children i was babysitting always picked me up and dropped me off. as a parent now, we tend to use teens that can drive themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 My dc are well paid for babysitting and I happily drive them to make things easier for the other family. We live the wrong direction and I want my children to have as many opportunities as the kids in town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I have had this happen enough times that I am curious if my expectations are wrong. My daughter(13) gets called to babysit and the parents want me to drive her back and forth. We have always transported our babysitters and when I babysat, the parents always came for me. Now, I understand unusual circumstance, like a single parent and sleeping children. If it was like that, I would be happy to help as I remember situations like that from back when I had to hire babysitters, instead of having them built in. BUT, i always talked to the parents of the sitter and asked for a favor(my husband is out of town, the kids will be asleep when I get back, could you possibly come pick up your daughter for me?) That kind of thing. I am curious what is standard, because I admit to being annoyed that the parents want my daughter to babysit and also want me to drive her but I will get over it if I am the one who has weird expectations:D Poll coming. We usually drive her to the location and the parents for whom she is sitting return her after they get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 The sitter's parents drop her off, I take her home. She is old enough for a license, but has not gotten one yet, when she can drive, I expect her to get herself here and back. When I was a babysitter, my Dad dropped me and picked me up until I could drive myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 If I'm paying a sitter, she needs to have her own transportation. The only exception would be an emergency OR if I had called her for a job last minute. When one has any job outside of the home it is not the responsibility of the employer to provide transportation. TBH, I wouldn't hire a sitter I was required to transport all the time. I pay very well for sitting and would just as soon hire somebody older if it became an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I normally got myself to & from, but if it was the middle of the night, the parents of the kids I babysat would drive me home. I think things have changed since then. We also delivered our own newspapers on our paper routes and did our own homework in those days. At some point, the distinction between "my responsibility" and "my parents' responsibility" seems to have blurred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 The mother of the children who are being watched. :iagree: Always mom driving the teen girl home if they weren't of driving age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Other: When I babysat, when I hired babysitters and now that my dds babysit, it is typical to sort of split driving duties. The parents of the babysitter drop off the baby-sitter and parents of the kids drive the babysitter home. :iagree: This is how it was done when I was a kid too. The parents of the kids were getting ready to go somewhere, soot made sense for my parents to drop off, and there was no way to know the exact time they would return, so they drove me home when they returned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Apparently I'm in the minority because I'm more apt to think the parents of the babysitter. Any person should be responsible for getting themselves back and forth to a paid job, and that includes a babysitter. If they're not old enough to drive themselves, they can get their parents to drive them. That doesn't mean I'd never be willing to do it but for the most part I don't want to have to be expected to do it all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Apparently I'm in the minority because I'm more apt to think the parents of the babysitter. Any person should be responsible for getting themselves back and forth to a paid job, and that includes a babysitter. If they're not old enough to drive themselves, they can get their parents to drive them. That doesn't mean I'd never be willing to do it but for the most part I don't want to have to be expected to do it all the time. I agree completely. It's hard enough for a teen to find a job when any adult (with their own car) would be more than happy to take a $12 an hour job - and provide their own transportation. Requiring your child's employers to provide transportation may just solidify those parents giving the job to an older teen or an adult. It may even be worth the extra money one would pay to an adult, to not have to worry (after an evening out or an appointment) getting the children in the car and driving an employee home. Given, we do it for our sitter - but we LOVE her... and it isn't all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I always got picked up and dropped off by the family I was sitting for. Me too. When I get a sitter it is about 50/50 with regards to picking up and taking the sitter back home. I try my best to get a sitter who drives, but that has been really hard lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splinter Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I'm a single parent, so I've always made sure that the babysitter's parents can pick her up before I actually "hire" her. I do have a regular babysitter on Tuesdays who I pick up from the high school at 3pm, but her parents pick her up from my house at 11pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindyD Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I said "other" as well. When I had teens babysit, usually the parent would drop the sitter off, then I would take them home. Now I usually have college students babysit so it's a non-issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 (edited) When I babysat as a teen, the other parents drove me. I admit I felt uncomfortable at times - esp if the dad drove - but I couldn't have babysat otherwise because my parents would never have provided transportation. Our few sitters have been able to drive, so we haven't had to face this situation so far. Edited February 24, 2012 by kimmie38017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea1 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I said both. Our sitter's mother would bring her to our house and we would take her home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Tara~ Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 The duties are most often split here. They drop off, we bring them home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 We've done a combination of things, so I voted 'other'. Lots of times the parents drop the babysitter off. I almost always drive her home. There have been a few instances when I've picked her up or they've picked her up afterward, but not usually. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 The parents of the sitter, but I make that clear on hiring that I won't be able to do much transporting of the sitter. I have 4 kids ranging from 9 to 1. When I hire a sitter it is because DH cannot watch them for whatever it is so picking up or returning a sitter would require packing up all the kids also back and forth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaAkins Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I would have voted for "the parents of the children being babysat," but I voted "other" because we often split the transportation duties. We live in a rural area, so it's often a bit of a drive. If I'm already going to be going somewhere, I don't mind dropping dd off for a babysitting job. Also, if it's someone new, I'd prefer to see where they live, etc. I will also offer to pick DD up after a babysitting job if I have any suspicions that the parents might have had anything to drink while they were out. This has never happened to dd, but I remember, as a teenager, being driven home by folks that may have had a few drinks at dinner. It made me uncomfortable and is not a situation I want to put my children in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2denj Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I think it is up to the parents that need the babysitter to provide the ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 My kids aren't old enough to babysit and if they were I would probably prefer to drive them myself. But back when I babysat, my parents usually took me wherever it was that I was babysitting. Then one parent that I babysat for drove me home. I usually only babysat kids in my own neighborhood so I could walk between houses though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 When I was a teen, the ppl I worked for drove. When I was a single parent, the sitter's parents drove if the sitter wasn't in walking distance. I also pd for a cab upon occasion, if parents were ok w/that. Since being married, Wolf drives, and I've also had the parents of the sitter drop off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I voted other. I usually drop dd off, and the parents bring her home. When I was growing up, the parents always picked me up and brought me home until I could drive. My sitters have always been family, or the teenager across the street, but the one deviation from that, her mom brought her, we took her home. I would have picked her up and taken her home, but her mom wanted to see where we lived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I am totally surprised by the numbers. As a teen, it was always my responsibility to get myself to and from a job. I have never hired a non-family member to babysit for me but if I did I would expect them to provide their own transportation. The reason being, I am not always good to drive at night and I would not be comfortable with my hubby having to drive a teen girl somewhere alone at night (for his own protection and for the reassurance of the teen and her parents). This means if he was going to have to drive her home we would all have to load up to return her. That alone would make me cancel my plans or find someone who could provide their own transportation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 When I babysat as a teen, the child's parents always picked me up. I assumed it was the responsibility of the parents needing the sitter. I think the reasons you guys have listed for the parents of the sitter to do the driving are excellent. You've changed my mind! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma aimee Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I have had this happen enough times that I am curious if my expectations are wrong. My daughter(13) gets called to babysit and the parents want me to drive her back and forth. We have always transported our babysitters and when I babysat, the parents always came for me. Now, I understand unusual circumstance, like a single parent and sleeping children. If it was like that, I would be happy to help as I remember situations like that from back when I had to hire babysitters, instead of having them built in. BUT, i always talked to the parents of the sitter and asked for a favor(my husband is out of town, the kids will be asleep when I get back, could you possibly come pick up your daughter for me?) That kind of thing. I am curious what is standard, because I admit to being annoyed that the parents want my daughter to babysit and also want me to drive her but I will get over it if I am the one who has weird expectations:D Poll coming. my mom and dad always drove me. there was one family i sat for, worked with mom, that he or she would [pick me up on their way home and the dad drove me home later - but he had worked with my mom professionally for years. I think many (me included) would rather drive their own DD. Think about this -- DD babysat while the couple went out -- maybe the drank, maybe not, you do not know. i know i did not drink. Also -- let's face it; the mom needs to tend the kids, so that leaves the Dad to drive the teen babysitter home. Most adult men are not going to be OK with that. My hubby will not drive our sitters home unless we have 2 (sisters) -- i do it or their mom comes to get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I wouldn't let another man bring my child home alone. Also, my DH would not drive another child anywhere alone. That is something that would be worked out ahead of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashfern Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Other: When I babysat, when I hired babysitters and now that my dds babysit, it is typical to sort of split driving duties. The parents of the babysitter drop off the baby-sitter and parents of the kids drive the babysitter home. We do the same with our younger sitters who don't drive or don't have a vehicle available to them. When I babysat, I walked to the house & the parents drove me home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 We don't hire out very often because both my parents and my ILs live close, but when we do I'm always willing to pick up. In fact the girls I hire (sisters in the same family) live 20-25 minutes away, but the drive is worth it to me because I know my kids are safe and happy with them. Occasionally it works out that their parents are coming my way and they'll drop them off, and now the older of the two girls drives (but she also has a busier social life, so she's not always so available) which is nice. I do all the transporting if any is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma aimee Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 also babysitting is a job, if you work at Micky's D's the manager does not come get you -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I voted "other" because usually the babysitter gets dropped off or walks over (depends who it is), and we take her home. It's worked out this way partly because of who we hire, where they live, that we live near the middle/highschool so babysitter can walk from there, and sometimes we're going out with the babysitter's parents so we meet up here and they bring her. When I babysat as a teen, most of my jobs were within walking distance, so I'd walk there and one of the parents would drive me home if it was late, or I'd walk if it was daytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 When we used to get sitters (kids too old now), I usually picked up the sitter. If they could drive themselves, I paid them more. That was the norm in the area we lived in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 We've only ever had one non-family member babysit. She drove herself for the last couple years (my #1 choice!) but before that her parents dropped her off and generally we took her home (on occasion, her parents were still nearby and picked her up after sitting). It seemed like whichever adult was where she was drove her. She went to college this year and we really miss her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrn Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I remember babysitting as a kid and with what I know now I'm shocked at how many times I was driven home by a drunk driver. I will always pick up my kids when they become babysitters for that very reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Other: When I babysat, when I hired babysitters and now that my dds babysit, it is typical to sort of split driving duties. The parents of the babysitter drop off the baby-sitter and parents of the kids drive the babysitter home. This has been the "rule" since our girls started babysitting, and it's fine with us. If we can't drop them off, a parent from the family they will be working for will pick them up. When I was a kid, my parents always did both the picking up and dropping off of the sitter. This was also the case when I babysat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 The parents always drove me home after I watched their kids. ITA, I always felt more at easy when the mom drove me home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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