How much do you pay for babysitting?

[Levin]

$20 an hour. I sh$! you not. That is the going rate where we live. And we always have our kids in bed and so they earn that much to just sit and read in a pleasant, quiet, and clean home. We have three kids.

It maddens me. Babysitting is always the most expensive thing about our outings.

Even the ward girls charge that much.

It's b/c everyone has nannies and that's how much they charge.

[LiveCoug]

$20 an hour. I sh$! you not. That is the going rate where we live. And we always have our kids in bed and so they earn that much to just sit and read in a pleasant, quiet, and clean home. We have three kids.

It maddens me. Babysitting is always the most expensive thing about our outings.

Even the ward girls charge that much.

It's b/c everyone has nannies and that's how much they charge.

Wowza. I would never be able to leave the house.

[TripletDaddy]

Seriously, how old are the babysitters?

It is common for Mos to fish from the Young Women pond in each ward or stake. The gals are broken into groups, much like the little dudes. 12-14 are called Beehives. 14-16 are called Mia Maids (don't ask...horrible name) and 16-18 are Laurels.

I would say that the sweet spot is the Mia Maids (again, don't ask...horrible name). Beehives are hit and miss, but not uncommon. Laurels are preferred but by that age they are often disinterested in babysitting. Another benefit of having Laurels babysit is that when we get home and it is late, I can play the jail bait card and ask MMM to drive the girl home while I relax and watch TV!

[Levin]

We're going to see Cate Blanchett in Uncle Vanya by Chekhov at the Kennedy Center on Friday. My wife and I would like to dinner beforehand, but we won't. B/c that would add at least another $20 bucks to the babysitting charge. With a 3 hour play, with 10 minutes there and back, plus a little make-out time, we're looking at 4 hours and $80 bucks just for babysitting.

When my wife babysat, she'd watch families of five, feed the little shits dinner, clean up the sticky, grody mess of a house, all as a 12 year old, tirelessly chase toddlers for hours at a time, and get paid like $2 bucks an hour.

She's the most outraged of all.

We have friends who we swap babysitting nights with. Only rarely do we get babysitters b/c of the high rates.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

[Babs]

$20 an hour. I sh$! you not. That is the going rate where we live. And we always have our kids in bed and so they earn that much to just sit and read post to facebook from their iphones.

FTFY.

[ERCougar]

You've GOT to be kidding me. How old is she? This must be a Utah thing.

Since pellegrino and DNF aren't from Utah and we paid less in Michigan and Indiana, you're probably right!

14 or 15 usually.

[Babs]

Since pellegrino and DNF aren't from Utah and we paid less in Michigan and Indiana, you're probably right!

I changed my mind awhile back. It's clearly indicative of the culture, not the geography.

[ERCougar]

I changed my mind awhile back. It's clearly indicative of the culture, not the geography.

See Moliere's comment. I agree--Mo's are more expensive.

[TripletDaddy]

I changed my mind awhile back. It's clearly indicative of the culture, not the geography.

I think they all have roots in Utah. So cheapskatedness was learned here and taken to other lands.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I think we pay about $10 an hour when we had 3 kids. We haven't hired a babysitter with 4 kids yet, I'm guessing more than that.

[FN Phat]

$5/hr for 3 kids for the neighbor girl who is 13. Sometimes we use my bosses kid and we normally kick her a few dollars more an hour because she cleans up the mess from the kids, does the dishes and is my bosses daughter.

[Babs]

I think they all have roots in Utah. So cheapskatedness was learned here and taken to other lands.

That's not what I meant. What's the going rate to have a young priest mow a lawn these days? 10 dollars?

[Surfah]

We're going to see Cate Blanchett in Uncle Vanya by Chekhov at the Kennedy Center on Friday. My wife and I would like to dinner beforehand, but we won't. B/c that would add at least another $20 bucks to the babysitting charge. With a 3 hour play, with 10 minutes there and back, plus a little make-out time, we're looking at 4 hours and $80 bucks just for babysitting.

When my wife babysat, she'd watch families of five, feed the little shits dinner, clean up the sticky, grody mess of a house, all as a 12 year old, tirelessly chase toddlers for hours at a time, and get paid like $2 bucks an hour.

She's the most outraged of all.

We have friends who we swap babysitting nights with. Only rarely do we get babysitters b/c of the high rates.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

Well no wonder they charge $20 an hour if that's your hood. I am surprised the kids there babysit at all.

[LiveCoug]

That's not what I meant. What's the going rate to have a young priest mow a lawn these days? 10 dollars?

10 bucks??? What, does money grow on trees out there in Austin or something?

[Jacob]

You've GOT to be kidding me. How old is she? This must be a Utah thing.

12, 13, 14 year olds on the high end. Sometimes 11. $4/hr to watch 3 small kids. You'd have to be pretty dumb to pay a girl under 15 years old $10 or more per hour to watch your kids, except for in special cases.