babysitting hell - advice

Dave!

She's taking advantage of you OP. Just get out of there. Make an excuse. There are a million babysitters in Ireland, she will have no trouble finding another one -- she just doesn't want to.

mikemac

milk.coffee wrote: »

I'm 25 and I work part time as a childcare worker caring for a child with a disability (which i absolutely love doing). Due to start full time soon within the next few weeks.

Well, that makes you a professional at this. I realy hope you are getting paid a proper rate, certainly more than a teenage babysitter gets.

Like the others, you need to quit this job 100%. You can always find another local couple and do the odd night for them if you need cash.

And if you don't want to quit, treple your rates and ask them to register you for tax since they want you permantly every weekend. They definitly won't ask you again.

Edit: If you are going to working in childcare as your full-time job maybe you need a break from that at weekends. Consider a job in a pub if want more cash, it's good to have a change

The Hill Billy

milk.coffee - You are 25 & never get to go out on a Saturday night! Even if this woman wasn't taking advantage of your good nature I would strongly advise you to quit baby-sitting & get the hell out there & have a social life before it passes you by.

Get your glad-rags on & have yourself a good time!

Garda_boss

I would actually love to be able to become you for a night OP as it would be so satisfying leaving this parent in the lurch on one of her nights off. Pick any one of Tallesin's lines there and you can't go too far wrong.

More worryingly though why does a 25 year old need to come on here for advice about this sort of thing.

Dizzyblonde

Hill Billy wrote: »

milk.coffee - You are 25 & never get to go out on a Saturday night! Even if this woman wasn't taking advantage of your good nature I would strongly advise you to quit baby-sitting & get the hell out there & have a social life before it passes you by.

Get your glad-rags on & have yourself a good time!

PLEASE take this advice - get out and enjoy yourself. This woman is lucky to have had such a reliable babysitter for 4 years, but nothing lasts forever. Tell her you can't do it any more - and don't let her guilt you into keeping it up. She sounds extremely selfish to me.

LegacyUser

Uhmm...tell her no?

masterK

You have the perfect excuse to get out of it permanently while still being diplomatic, you are starting work full time. Tell her you won't be able to do it anymore when you start work full time as the weekends are the only time you'll have for yourself.

Toots

OP, I agree with the other posts, you need to tell this woman that you're no longer prepared to babysit for her. A friend of mine used to babysit every saturday night overnight, but she was very well paid for it, and if she needed to take a saturday night off there were no problems. I'd phone this woman and tell her you're not going to babysit for her any more, and tell her exactly why. If you really want to continue working for her, arrange that she is home at an agreed time, and if she's not, your hourly rate goes up.

tulipandthistle

Definitely tell her where to go! After all they had the kids not you...

talking_walnut

Don't bother being diplomatic. Just tell her she needs to find a new babysitter cause you're not doin it anymore. End of discussion.

If you tell her you can't do it cause you're starting to work full-time she'll start laying on the guilt trip. You've nothing to feel guilty about. It's not your kid

KyussBishop

If you have to put up with that kind of abuse regularly, then I think it would be best to stop babysitting there entirely, otherwise it could have a really bad impact your self-esteem/confidence.

You just need to be assertive in this case (sometimes easier said than done, I know); tell her you can't do it (word for word if you like, the simpler the better as that's pretty hard to misunderstand), without saying why, as you don't have to justify your reasons to her, and she has no right to demand an answer.

If she tries to put you on another guilt trip, just end the discussion and leave.

MementoMori

Op tell her you quit.

She's basically trying to blackmail you into babysitting for her so she can go out and enjoy herself.

She clearly doesnt give a damm about you and is exploiting you.

You clearly don't desperately need the money - if you need to in the future I'm sure you'll be able to find another babysitting job.

She's clearly a nasty piece of work

bronte

Definitely just say you aren't available any more. She's taking advantage of your good nature.
I sincerely hope she paid you decent money for what you've already done.
She'll be someone else's problem if you get out now.
Talk about taking the piss! :rolleyes:

BobTheBeat

I wouldnt be long telling her to fcuk off. Seriously, you have to stand up for yourself and your own life. Grand we all need a night out, but if she wants time out on a permanent basis, let her get a nanny!Jeez

twanda

How do you book someone 'permanently' for Saturday nights? What a nerve she has to even suggest it!
I feel sorry for you OP. You sound to me like one of the really nice people who always gets taken for granted. I really hope that you do stand up for yourself here, and tell her you can't continue to babysit for her. She'll probably b*tch for a while, and then she'll find someone else..

Racing Flat

Hand in your notice. Full stop. She's taken advantage of you. Do it nicely if you wish to end on good terms - can you say you have to study or something? Not that you have to. But you must leave this job. Guilt/emotional blackmail/bullying does not make for a healthy environment.

JBoyle4eva

This had happened to me a year or 2 ago. My neighbour got me to babysit a few times, I didn't mind. But then, the nites ended later and later til one time it was 7 AM!

I completely refused to abysit for her and I never have since. We got over it, so my advice to you is gradually pull out, or stop babysitting altogether. Your not enjoying it, and it isn't worth making your life a misery.

Racing Flat

I don't have kids so maybe don't know what I'm talking about, but staying out until 3 every Saturday, and I'm sure probably lying in then on Sunday can't be very healthy for family life. As well as doing yourself a favour, maybe you'd be doing her and her family a favour by leaving as well.

WindSock

You said when she booked you in permanantly at first, you weren't happy but did it anyway. I think for your own benefit you really should stop letting her take advantage and assert yourself, otherwise this kind of thing will keep happening to you in future and you will only have yourself to blame. People will always try to take advantage to suit them, if they can get away with it.

bronte

So true, I'm a soft touch by nature, and have learned to stand up for myself.
Don't let her take advantage.