Babysitting New Years Eve?

emylou

I have been asked to babysit on New Years Eve for a nice family I've babysat for about 3 times recently. It's just one 2yr old boy who is usually quite good (lack of toys doesnt help tho but will take some of my nephews in case he gets bored), anyway my nan is thinking of arranging a family party on NYE but it'll prob be quite a small affair & I'm not a big drinker AND the father has said he'll "PAY DOUBLE/WHATEVER I WANT" so I'm wondering if I should forgo the party in favour of earning money to pay off debts & go out celebrating another day instead? Then I could drive family home from the party-if it's still going on-so I can see everyone & make sure they get home safely.
Opinions/ideas gratefully received.

Also, if I do babysit how much is "reasonable" but at same time worthwhile to charge? (When I babysit usually the rate is £5/hr but he's paid £10/hr in the past for a normal weekend job).:D

dlb

New years eve you can charge what ever you want.
You are missing out on a party for it.

When i was younger before i had kids myself i could make £50 easy on nye, and if you have somewhere to have the kids at your house you can babysit more than 1 and make over £100, spend some on your debts and have a good night out a few weeks later, when it wont take you 20 minutes to get to the bar!!

But at the end of the day if you want to do the party do the party only do the babysitting if its worth while money wise and for you.

princess_moomoo

If you are not going to offend any family members and you are not fussed yourself i would do the babysitting. Like you said you can always catch up with the family afterwards if they are all still baout.

I would charge em a good amount. I know my sister paid £20 an hour one xmas eve!! I would charge at least £10 to £15 an hour at the end of the day if you sont another sitter will so you may as earn some extra and pay off some of your debts.

Good luck whatever you decide x

newcook

You mentioned it was a small and quiet affair – would the parents mind if you took him with you? He would be able to play with your nephews (assuming they will be there) and you get to go to the party! If he gets tired let him lie down in a spare room (take the baby monitor with you) and just charge your normal babysitting rates for the compromise. I did this a couple of years back and the parents (they knew some of my family already) were happy to let their daughter come to the party - she was 3 at the time and OH son was 5 so they played together and later watched a dvd in the spare room while they fell asleep. We took OH’s sons old stair gate with us and put it on the door for that bit of extra security/peace of mind and clipped the monitor on OH’s trousers!

Queen_B_3

newcook wrote:

You mentioned it was a small and quiet affair – would the parents mind if you took him with you? He would be able to play with your nephews (assuming they will be there) and you get to go to the party! If he gets tired let him lie down in a spare room (take the baby monitor with you) and just charge your normal babysitting rates for the compromise. I did this a couple of years back and the parents (they knew some of my family already) were happy to let their daughter come to the party - she was 3 at the time and OH son was 5 so they played together and later watched a dvd in the spare room while they fell asleep. We took OH’s sons old stair gate with us and put it on the door for that bit of extra security/peace of mind and clipped the monitor on OH’s trousers!

That sounds like a brillient idea.

I'd say £20 an hour for NYE isn't unreasonable.

Queen.Bess

I made a real error once when I agreed to babysit on NYE. We're going back 12 years now when I was 17, but I used to babysit every Friday night for this family and so I asked for £5 an hour as I was missing out on going to a party with friends. This was turned down and I got £3 an hour instead. Whilst sitting on my own toasting myself at midnight I really was regretting not being more forceful!

So I reackon that a minimum of £10 is perfectly reasonable!

crazyscientist

I remember babysitting on NYE about 10 years ago instead of going to a family party. I think i got paid about £20 which was a lot of money to me at 13yo!

I would definatly take the job - and i reckon £15/hour is reasonable. I would definatly go for the 'hourly' rate rather than agreeing a flat fee though - then if the parents get carried away til 4am you can fall asleep on the sofa and continue earning money hehe