Need Advice

[nun69]

so here is the deal..I drop Ben{4th grader} off at a girls house around 610 am and he gets on the bus around 0815....she does not feed him, just kinda makes sure he gets up, gets his shoes on and out to the bus..he is allowed to come home by himself, so there is no worries there...so I told them to let me know what they wanted me to pay them and they said this morning $150 a month...I can put him in the YMCA for $112 a month and they will feed him breakfast...I also I had him in a before school program the last 3 years and it was only $52 every 2 weeks....so they are young and she works at a daycare center part time, but I think she is asking too much and I am not sure how to approach them and tell them in a nice way that is too much...problem is, I don't really have a backup so do I pay it and just live with it or how do I approch them with this? I was thinking around $100 a month/$50 every 2 weeks.....so help me out girls...now I also pay $472 every 2 weeks for Abby and Peyton, so it's not like I haven't been paying daycare for the last 8 years, so this is not new to me....I just want to be nice about it, but also don't want to loose them as our before school folks

[Sasha]

she really is asking alot for only 2 hrs and not feeding him...

how about telling her $100 and you take his breakfast?

[Gabbina]

I did something like that (sorta...) for a couple of years, while still in college. I had to go get the kid at home (he was like 5 minutes by car from me) and take him to school (other 10 minutes...). Sometimes I stopped at his house earlier (like 7 am) and gave him breakfast and made sure he was ready for school... and then drop him. I had to use my car, of course. They never gave me more than 100 euro per month... So yeah, that's a lot of money to ask!

[jocelinsmommy]

I do this for a mom locally in the area...BUT the situation is a bit different (he's 13--he's an only child and she doesn't like him left home alone to be a usual 13yo boy--) she puts him on he bus etc in the morning and i pick him up after school & football practice and can keep him anywhere from lets see 6pm-8pm or like 6pm to almost midnight depending on her schedule....we have a set 400.00 a month no matter how many hours are a month because there are some weeks I have off the entire week because she gets off early and can get him after practice and then there are some nights its midnight and I feed him dinner....the only thing I regret is not asking her for gas because sometimes it gets expensive....Though in short I do also keep him on weekends when she works which is usually a 12 hour day, so in the end for both of us it works out, though luckly she works at lowes and we're remodeling our house---she's offered to help with it physically AND she gets a discount so really it's a good give and take situation. Me being a not so morning person 150 a month...I guess I would consider it a cheap price.....I used to work for a nanny agency and worked across town and honestly the lady wanted me there at 5am--u include morning traffic and travel I was on the band of 22 an hour because her children were TERRIBLE...just my opinion....it also depends alot on where u live and price of what usual childcare runs around there....and how easy it is for both u are her....in the situation. If she's already a morning person and has children to deal with plus ur child I would say 100 a month...because she already has a reason to be up...but if not i would say 150...and ask her to feed him a simple breakfast of cereal etc. Had to add my .50 cents worth --

[MommaTrish]

My mom did (and still does) that for years for tons of the kids around us, and she fed them for free, so I'm still kinda in shock that you'd have to pay her... I mean what does she need the money for? What exactly is she doing worth paying??? She's watching him two hours in the morning where I imagine he's either sleeping, or not yet fully up and going. She's not feeding him. She's not picking him up from your house or dropping him off at school. (You said bus right?) So I'm kinda lost. Ask her what exactly it is that she does, cause I say if you have to pay her any thing maybe $50/week. (That's what my mom charges for 7 year olds and up in the afternoons for a few hours of watching them. But she also feeds them snack and gets them started onhhomework)

[BrattyMeg]

does the school he's at now offer morning care? If so I'd just stick with that. He'd be around other kids his age, for a minimal fee they would feed him (it's 75 cents here for breakfast), and you know he's already at school so he woudln't have to deal with that morning bus (they can get rowdy!)

I think $150/month is way too much for what she's doing

[MamaBee]

Yikes... I guess I would ask her how she came up with her number and if there is room for discussion. I can't imagine that Ben is high maintenance... it's not like he is a 3 year old where he has to be entertained those 2 hours. Sorry, I'm no much help... good luck!

[SmallFry73]

You have to pay her? I watch two boys ages 8 and 9 for 1 hour before school and I don't expect money for that. Hmmm...I'd say something for sure.

[nun69]

thanks for the advice girls...I know that when you break it down to a dialy or hourly rate it is not alot, but really, if it were me and somebody else's kid I think $100 a month would be more than sufficient. I think I am just going to go over there and let them know and see how it works out..Ben is not really a breakfast person, never has been so I am not too concerned about his breakfast, but i just wanted to make sure somebody would get him out the door and on the bus...he is a very hard sleeper like his dad and I know that if we got him up and dressed before we left, he would fall asleep again before it was time to catch the bus and miss it I think I will just let them know that the comaprison is between $104 -$112 a month with breakfast and transportation. If you have anymore advice, please let me know

[LenaGardner]

I used to watch a child like this...I was paid $50 a week for similar hours. I had to walk him to the bus stop, he did not eat breakfast because he didn't like to eat breakfast, and he was 10 years old and Autistic. Regardless of what I was doing, I was still caring for him 10 hours a week and I was basically being paid $5 an hour. I don't think $5 an hour is too much to ask/pay.

[jessica31876]

well when I babysat a child full time I charged his mom only 60 dollars a week for about 40-45 hours. Granted that was back in 92-93 but still. I probably wouldnt charge for an hour or so a day if I had kids that also had to get up for the same bus. I would talk to them and let them know what you came up with.