For those of you who have teenagers who babysit for extra spending money or for those of you who once babysat as a teenager, I'm hoping to get your opinion on this....

My daughter has a part-time job, actually 2, plus babysits some on the weekends. Skye loves kids and wants to be a pediatric nurse, so any opportunity she can have with kids, she takes.

My problem is what some of these people pay her. First, she has her own transportation to get there, so they are not picking her up and bringing her home; 2nd - she's CPR certified and gets re-certified every year, plus she has taken babysitting classes at the local hospital; 3rd - she actually watches the kids and doesn't spend time on the computer, watching tv or on her cell phone. The majority of the families she watches, she has actually taken over for someone else due to the fact that the kids ask for Skye because she is so attentative to them.

The one lady she babysits for will call or text her last minute. She will be at one of her jobs and will be getting off work around 10 or 11 p.m and this girl will ask her to come over after work and watch her 2 kids. Most of the time, kids would be in bed by this time, but not the 7 year old girl. She waits up if she knows Skye's coming over so she can spend time with her. The mom tells my daughter that she will be home around 3 a.m. Not ONCE has this happened. It has been as late as 9:30 a.m. the next morning and Skye has had to call the kids' grandma to come and get them because she has pitching practice at 10:00. (The kicker is...the mom KNOWS that Skye has practice and what time she has to be home)

In the beginning, she was getting paid about $40 a night, but the last 2 times, she's only paid her $20 and also wrote her a check telling her to wait until a certain day to cash it!

I'm getting to the point where I feel I need to have a talk with this girl, but honestly I'm afraid I will say the wrong thing - I want to tell her she needs to stay home with her kids, but I'm even more peeved about how she's taking advantage of my daughter!

What would you do???

How old is your daughter?

I would absolutely have a talk with this Mother,and your daughter-there HAS to be a set price for her time,a reasonable time in advance to call her,and a SPECIFIC time she has to be back.The longer you don't intervene,the more she will take advantage.

My daughter is 16. She would give up plans with her friends to babysit these 2 kids, just because she knows that the time she spends with them is a whole lot more than what the mom does.

The sad thing is, Skye had to call the kids grandma this past Saturday morning and when she got there, she told Skye she was just thankful that she takes care of those 2 kids better than their mom does.

I've talked to Skye about it and told her that I'm going to have to talk to this girl, but Skye is afraid she won't call her anymore and she's afraid who she'll end up leaving these kids with.

my gfs pay around 10.00 an hr for sitters....reason they usually ask me to come to their house!...and for sure you should have a talk with this woman...shes taking advantage of your daughter big time and you can't expect your daughter to have the guts to talk to her

Hi lucky, to pay $40 dollars in the beginning, then down to $20 and not turn up until 9.30am is taking the p**s I think, Skye is only 16 and shouldn't be out all night like that. This woman is taking advantage of your daughters good nature and not appreciating what a fantastic babysitter she has in Skye. I am sure Skye would find other work, so I would have a word with this woman and see if you can come to some sort of agreement with her, so Sky can keep her job.

Wow! This is a complex situation you have here, lucky!

You trying to protect your daughter. Your daughter trying to protect those 2 children. The grandmother not really intervening with her own daughter. And that woman taking advantage of your daughter.

WOW!!!

I guess i would sit down with my daughter and ask her what she wants. Is she ok with the situation? Is it more of an act of love with her than a job? She is young being only 16 but at the same time her maturity level seems to be very high. My only concern is the "all nighters" and the fact that Skye has to find someone to relieve her when she needs to go to practice or another job because "mom" didn't come home.

Very complex situation.

Maybe there can be a happy medium or a negotiation.

Best of luck with this.

HUGSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Yeah, like everyone has said, i think i would have a word with the lady, but also... learn from it for the future - Skye knows now that pay can be kinda tricky from some people... so instead of it happening again in another place, let Skye go in there saying "I charge $10 an hour" or however much she sees as appropriate...

Thanks everyone!

Skyeler loves these two kids and I believe she's just afraid of what kind of sitter they will get if she's not available. I have talked to her over and over again and told her how I feel and she also sees that she's being taken advantage of. She wants to talk to the mom herself and if she needs me, then she said she'll let me go with her the next time they talk. I've agreed with her, for now. We'll see what happens.

Well, liking the kids notwithstanding, she is clearly being taken advantage of. She is obviously more than qualified to take care of these children. I would set an hourly rate and anything after the agreed return time should be payed a bonus (say time and a half). And NO post-dated cheques... or food stamps.

My 16 year old daughter gets paid $10 per hour minimum. Many of the families she babysits for pay her more.

I would suggest speaking to the mom, and telling her.....that as a mother, you need to have your daughter home at a reasonable hour. Expecting your daughter to spend all night there....without any forewarning is just taking advantage. Some single parents just need to get their priorities in order. Clearly she hasn't done that.