Shopping for a Sitter :)

Today was a busy day for us. It has been a really long time since someone other than my husband and I have watched our children and we are coming to a point that we are going to have a sitter at least 2 days a week for a little while. I was fortunate to reconnect with a friend from high school that is currently a stay at home mom, who is willing to take them on two days a week for me until I can make other arrangements. I took the kids to visit and meet her and her family today, for a couple of hours, so that they wouldn’t be too shocked when I dropped them off and didn’t come back for like 9-10 hours. All of the children really seemed to enjoy themselves at her house. She was very good with them and even got to see me reach my limit and put Aiden in time out for being too rough. Even though he was put in the naughty chair he was having so much fun he just wanted to stay forever. I hope my permanent sitter has her patience and love of children.

My idea of the perfect situation, would be to have someone come into my home and watch my children here, that way I don't have to worry about waking them and getting them ready while I try to get ready for work, the only thing to forget is going to the store occasionally, and they have all their toys and germs here. I have talked to several different people and it seems that everyone does things a little different. Some people will charge by the day and some by the hour. In my case it wouldn’t be worth working if I had to pay hourly. One sitter I consulted said that $35 was reasonable per day, but I shouldn’t pay more than that. Considering I have 3 kids and two are under a year old, I feel like maybe I should pay more like $40 a day instead, but that is around ½ my pay before taxes, so I really don’t know. I don’t want to feel like I am taking advantage of someone, but at the same time, I don’t want to end up working just to pay a sitter. So to my babysitter friends, do you think $35 a day is reasonable for a 6-7 hour day twice a week?

I have found a few people through the local classifieds that I have reached out to, in hopes that one of them will be able to provide the support that I need. I want to make sure that I am treating them fairly and that I am paying enough to get quality care for my children.