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Expectations of babysitter?
Curious about what others expectations are of their babysitter. Is it okay for them for them to have telephone conversations (say, for 1/2 hour or so) or search the Internet while they are watching your child(ren). Do you expect them to be engaging and/or playing with your children while they are in her care 100% of the time?
Thoughts?
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Re: Expectations of babysitter?
We only use evening sitters - so no, if the kid(s) are awake, the sitter shouldn't have a 30 min phone conversation or be surfing the net, imo. She/he is being paid to take care of my kids (bathe, play, feed, whatever should be done) - not take care of their own personal stuff. However, if the kids are asleep, they can do those activities and I wouldn't care.
We've only used our nanny or sitter's from the nanny service but I would not be ok with someone making a 30 minute call or 30 min of surfing the web while my children are awake. I do expect a sitter to be engaged with my children while they are awake. Maybe not 100% of the time, maybe they are making lunch or cleaning up after breakfast... And after say a crazy-non-stop morning, I would be ok with a sitter taking a little break while the kids are safe & happy (say checking email on their phone for a few minutes for a mental break). But not 30 min, that IMO should wait until the kids are napping or asleep.
Since my LO isn't here yet, I'll speak from my teenage/early adult experiences. Keep in mind that I took babysitting very seriously and I don't think I was the norm with regards to teenage babysitters. I was, however, very popular with the parents and always had a babysitting job.
I spent many years babysitting, and I rarely used the phone while the kids were awake. I mostly played/interacted with them. It just never occurred to me to get on the phone or do my own thing when I was being paid to watch the kids.
With the exception of spanking (yes, I had parents tell me to spank their kids and I would not do it), I tried to do what the parents wanted. If Mom and Dad wanted no TV/videos, we kept the TV off. However, most of the families I babysat for had no problem with their kids watching videos and TV (sometimes a whole lot of it). I would sit with the kids and look at a magazine or read a book while they watched The Little Mermaid for the 382nd time. Or straighten up the kitchen or prepare a meal. I would generally be in eyesight of the kids unless they were much older and could play alone safely in their rooms.
A lot of this depended on the age of the child. An 8 and 10 year-old can be pretty self-entertaining whereas a toddler and an infant need much more intense hands-on care.
Once the kids were asleep (nap/bedtime), I would read a book, do homework, or watch TV. Occasionally, I might call a friend after bedtime and straightening up the kitchen and/or house messes that the kids and I made.
If the parents were out very late (past 1 or 2 am), I would sometimes go to sleep on the couch or a recliner. If the parents were home by 10pm, then, no, I wouldn't have gone to sleep.
For my own child, I would expect that a babysitter would not have long phone conversations and would stay off the internet unless the kids were asleep.
Speaking from the nanny side (not the parent side), I would never engage in a 30 minute phone conversation (or internet usage) while I was responsible for someone else's child(ren). No way! That just seems crazy. I am not being paid to maintain my social life. I will take calls from my husband to check in on him and my daughter, but those are usually just a couple minutes. I have also called to set up dr's appts while "on the clock" but again, a couple minutes only and those calls can't wait until the end of the day. If I am watching a child that will either nap or go to bed while I am there, I usually bring a book or a magazine to entertain myself while they are asleep.
As far as my feelings from the parent side, I would be really upset to learn that a sitter is spending that much time on the phone/internet instead of monitoring and engaging my child as they are paid to do. I would be finding new care for DD right away, honestly.
The O'Baby Blog
I pretty much expect that while DS is awake, our babysitter is to be actively engaged with him. But since we usually have evening sitters and he tuckers out early (around 7:30), once he's in bed, she's free to do what she wants (obviously, charging a million pay-per-view movies or looking at porn on my laptop are frowned upon.)
We usually have DS fed, bathed, and ready for bed before the sitter comes, so there's not much for her to do except play and change his diaper if he needs it before bed.