If a relative asks you to babysit for them, would you charge money for it? Okay, but what if it's regular babysitting? In fact, many people do believe that any work in this world should be paid for - even when it comes to your siblings.
Well, the user u/Meeky_Geeky, the narrator of our story today, has recently been preferring to charge their older sister for babysitting her five kids - and thinks it's a fairly reasonable fee. However, as it recently turned out, the sister actually has a completely different point of view...
More info: Reddit
Having voluntarily involved relatives is a true blessing from above for any parent - but for regular babysitting, one should definitely expect to pay them
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author of the post has an elder sister, a mom of 5, and babysits for her regularly but usually charges her something for this
Image credits: Meeky_Geeky
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The kids usually come to the author's home, since their parents throw a huge, loud party with buds at home, so it's an additional load on the electric bills and food
Image credits: Meeky_Geeky
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Recently, the sis asked the sibling to babysit once more and offered around $160 overall - but then said she can't afford it
Image credits: Meeky_Geeky
When the author said they wouldn't babysit for free, the sister attempted to guilt trip them into free babysitting - and got mad as she didn't succeed
The Original poster (OP) says their older sister has five kids, and from time to time, she brings them to her sibling for babysitting. They charge money, because having extra guests with all their tablets and consoles increases their electric bills dramatically. The sis can't invite the author to her place, because any evening without kids for them actually results in a noisy party with booze and loud friends.
This time, the sister offered the OP and their partner £120 (~$160), which they readily accepted. Then, a few days later, she called again and said the offer was rescinded because they couldn't afford that amount of money. However, on the day she was supposed to go partying with her husband, the sis reached out to the author again and literally demanded they babysit for free.
The original poster declined the idea because they and their partner already had other plans for the day - and because they knew perfectly well that if they gave in to the persuasion once, it would become their "immediate responsibility" in the sister's eyes. The sis, however, declared that "they're all family," and that relatives should support each other.
The author frankly explained that if the sister really needed babysitting that day, she should try to hire a professional babysitter and compare their rates. These arguments had no effect on the outraged woman, and the original poster simply decided to take this online seeking support from netizens.
Image credits: bearfotos / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The question of whether babysitting for relatives should be free is actually as old as time, and many people have different answers here. However, experts today note that it’s in fact highly acceptable to demand money for regular babysitting, especially if you're truly strapped for cash.
"Providing relief by taking care of someone's children for free can be monumental for young families, but the reality is that some people can't afford it," Scary Mommy quotes Lizzie Post, co-president at the Emily Post Institute. "It's fine to negotiate and talk about it." But if we're actually talking about negotiating, how low or high is the price the OP is asking?
Well, according to Childcare.co.uk, the average babysitting rate in the UK today is between £6 and £10 per hour ($8-$13). So, even if we ignore the fact that the original poster was asking for 4 kids to be babysat and fed, that's at least twice the daily rate the sister originally offered. In other words, the author is 100% right. Period.
According to the overwhelming majority of commenters, the OP did everything correctly, and if their sis truly wanted to have some free time with her spouse, she should’ve either forked out for a professional babysitter or changed her weekend plans completely. Manipulating relatives is completely unacceptable, the responders are pretty much sure. So do you, our dear readers, also agree with this?
Most commenters also claimed that the author did everything right - and urged them to not give in to any sister's manipulations
