HOW MUCH ARE YOUR KIDS WORTH? — by Steve Nadis
We’re going through one of the worst crises a family with small children can go through–a babysitter crisis, the problem being no babysitter whatsoever at present. We’ve met a few candidates who seemed like they’d be up for the job. The top one, unfortunately, charges $18 to $20 per hour, more than the combined earnings of my wife and I combined (blog revenues excepted). She seemed great, someone with a real flair for arts and crafts, and our children are enthusiastic. My wife is also anxious to hire her, but I’m balking at the steep asking price. “Think of it this way,” my wife said. “How much are our children worth?”
“Plenty,” I said. “But not $18 to 20 an hour.”
Posted by
at
19:57:25
tough spot ,, snake…… courage
Remember that idiot Jude Law Snake? He had a perfectly good nanny who was watching his kids the entire time he was on a movie shoot, and he had to go and sleep with her. Lost the nanny and his fiance. What kind of moron would trade in live-in child care for sex?
*gulp* I’m astonished. I didn’t realize baby-sitters made so much (a lot more than I do anyway - blog revenues included).
She sounds worth it, however, since she will sit with the kids AND keep them occupied in creative way (AND the kids like her already).
Yeah, maybe I’ll have to go ahead and do it–hire her, I mean, not do what Jude Law did…
SO… how do you firm up the rate? Do U get the $18 if U show her a senior discount card? (Or maybe it’s if lil’ Joey does- vs. doesn’t puke all over her as she shows him how to draw Mommy with crayons!) Welcome to big city rates.
Yeah, I guess I am in the big city; sticker shock has hit home.
Does she come equipped with a nanny cam? She should at those rates! I’m dumbfounded. You need a windfall. Badly. Here’s a thought - can you find a good personal injury lawyer for any of those aforementioned injuries? That’s the American way now. <sigh>
Now I know what they mean by “windfall”–it’s that rare fall with a payoff at the end.
Aren’t you in Cambridge, Mass? I hear Tufts University has a lot of students looking for babysitting gigs. I think they have some sort of web site where you can put an ad in. A friend of mine did it and got a lot of responses.
Thanks Gatemouth for that perfectly reasonable suggestion. Unfortunately, we seem to be committed to the poorhouse route. Our pain is her gain..
You know, this is one of the reasons why I stay friends with people who didn’t go to Ivy League schooling, because at this point, while I’m 26 and living it up, they are 23 and breeding. By the time I need a babysitter, their kids will be just about right… and I’ll be johnny-on-the-spot to remind them about “…all the times I was there for you…” …sigh, it’s a tenative plan.
It’s great that you’re planning so far in advance, though I’m surprised to hear that people in their early 20s are having kids these days.
more than you know… you’re a professor, I’m guessing and based on the blog title, would would wager the twenty-somethings that you are exposed to are, unfortunately, not the norm. The kids are calling it, “the practice marriage”. Usually comes with more baggage than just an ex.
It is surprising to me that a babysitter could make that much in an hour. An average babysitter in Beijing perhaps makes $1-2, as far as I know~~
Are you sure, Jeff, $1-2 an hour? If so, I’m moving to Beijing today.