Holiday Monday

[mishkaroni]

Jan 20, 2015 1:19:32 GMT -5 hobbitwife said:

I close every single night till Saturday This part time barista work is starting to loose it's fun part time job aspect.

DH and I were talking this past weekend and we are thinking about me going back to school to become a nurse. Part of me is excited and the other part is terrified. Ack. So many things to do and have figured out if I want to start in the Fall.

That first step is the hardest. Once you name the decision, you'll be like oh yah!

[hobbitwife]

DH loves to take Ella place alone and by places I mean locations with a drive thru. He did once go to a brewery for dinner with the in laws and took her. I stayed home in favor of zero in laws and zero pants.

[kamakaziartist]

Cherhorowitz that is ridiculously cheap. Even for 4 children!

[finnaroo]

Jan 20, 2015 1:30:31 GMT -5 hobbitwife said:

Cherhorowitz It was when I was in college post HS, but in California the nursing school situation is so saturated that it felt like it was taking forever. I switched majors and ended up with a BA in Art History, which I'm not exactly using. One of us has to/wants to get into a career that will be better for our family and since DH has no idea about a career, I'm taking the reins.

As a fellow art history major (BA Art History and French...because one useless degree wasn't enough), I completely understand. It's why I switched gears to hospital administration.

I say go for it.

[Guster]

Jan 19, 2015 23:46:35 GMT -5 Cherhorowitz said:

So, I am in a NYC moms group. They just posted about this service:

Hi moms - My sister works at ----- and I wanted to let you know about a great new service that they just launched called Date Night Now. My husband and I tried it this past Saturday night and it was amazing! It's incredibly easy - you pick a night for a date and they give you 3 sitters who live near you. Each of the sitters has a profile that includes a video and the sitter is guaranteed to be available that night. The sitters have been interviewed personally by ----- and have had background checks run. Your credit card information is in the system so no money exchanges hands. If you like the sitter, you can book her again. We - and most importantly - our 20 month old twins - loved the sitter who came on Saturday night. ------ is offering a free date night - just enter my code, ------, and you'll get the free night. Their website is ---------.

Pricing:
One child: Flat rate of $70 for up to 4 hours of babysitting*

Two children: Flat rate of $75 for up to 4 hours of babysitting*

Three children: Flat rate of $80 for up to 4 hours of babysitting*

More than three children? Contact us at _____ for pricing.

All time over four hours is charged at $18/hour.

*Gratuity is automatically added for your sitter and this amount is editable online until Monday morning at 9:00am ET (for New York)




Uh how amazing is this? I need this service in my town now! I could just randomly have date nights with my H. I am very jealous that I don't have this.

This could be a game changer-- they wont service the 'burbs? We should start one for our county!

[kimmycup]

Jan 19, 2015 16:52:46 GMT -5 LizInFL said:

We are supposed to be painting our hallways since B is napping. Instead, we're watching Pitch Perfect. I think this is one of my all-time favorite movies, oddly enough. I wonder if deep down I'm a frustrated wanna-be a cappella singer?

This is one of my favorites too. I can't wait for the second one. 

[trtlcrzy]

Good luck with whatever you decide hobbitwife. You'll do great!

[LizInFL]

So Foxy's post about the sitter service got me thinking. Do y'all tip your babysitters? I'm assuming a service like the one she referenced takes a cut of the sitter's fee, so the gratuity would bump up their take-home a little bit.

If I had a regular sitter (someone we used consistently), i'm sure I would give them a holiday gift ($$) of some sort, but not a tip each and every time they worked. Am I wrong?

[Cherhorowitz]

I get drunk and vastly overpay. I assume that's her tip?

[LizInFL]

We pay $10-12/hr here for 1 kid (depending on age/experience of sitter) That seems about standard, maybe a bit high for the area but that's ok. I have friends in high COL areas (DC, San Diego) who pay more. So $70 for 4 hours for one kid in NYC doesn't strike me as outrageous...I'm glad I don't live there and have to pay it, though!

[LizInFL]

Ignore...somehow I double-posted. 

[ggandlee]

ladystrat I could never medically care for my family. I know that my judgement is compromised and I am not objective. One of my greatest fears while I was pregnant and is still that something will happen to M while I am at work and I will have to care for her. I have had horrible nightmares of being in just about every possible situation with her, everything from splinting a fracture and suturing a laceration to incubating and resuscitating her and other unimaginable things that I can't even bring myself to type. There is usually at least one other pediatric emergency medicine trained physician around that would be able to care for her should that situation ever arise, except for a 2-3 window of time in the wee hours of the morning during an overnight shift.
All that to say, I'm glad your friend dropped her family from her practice. It's definitely in everyone's best interest.

[ggandlee]

LizInFL and @sing2phins I use a nanny service occasionally, primarily just when M is sick and can't go to daycare. We pay $10/hr and then I always tip about 20% to help cover their gas expense and because I figure the service takes a cut of their pay. I think if I used a nanny regularly through the service I would probably still tip, but maybe not if I found one on care.com, other than a monetary holiday gift.

[ggandlee]

ladystrat I have a lot of feels on who should be delivering babies that I imagine may be a very unpopular opinion for some people here. Let's just leave it at this- I think it's probably for the best that as a GP she retired from delivering babies.

[Cherhorowitz]

Going rate here is $15-25. I pay my babysitter $17, but we always tip (read: get drunk and can't do math). Saturday we were out for 4 hours and gave her $100.

I don't think tipping is necessary but I think it's like a cleaning lady situation. If they are from a service, they're not making 100% of what you pay them.

[Cherhorowitz]

My 15yo niece charges $25. And is in high demand.

I can't afford her.

[Cherhorowitz]

I asked my babysitter her rate, she said $15-20. So I meet her in the middle. Then I get drunk and it goes out the window. She's in her late 20's, she has a mortgage and an upcoming wedding. When I was a babysitter, I think I charged peanuts but I had no bills and no social life.

[Cherhorowitz]

I know. My babysitter bought a brand new Mercedes this weekend. They are making a killing.

[Cherhorowitz]

Jan 20, 2015 12:25:04 GMT -5 @mx2 said:

Confession: I've never used a babysitter...

I don't think that's a confession. We just don't have anyone nearby who can watch the boy. I pretty much refused to do anything without him for as long as possible but eventually mh wanted his wife back. I will be honest, doing regular date nights and making an effort to go out again is doing wonders for our relationship.

[Cherhorowitz]

Jan 20, 2015 12:35:40 GMT -5 lfigge said:

Jan 20, 2015 12:14:12 GMT -5 @mothereffer said:

I am in the wrong business.

I think I need to move to NY and start babysitting!

I feel embarrassed to even type this but the sitter we had last summer on weekends when we worked charged us $20 a day. This was for 8 and a half hours. She had just graduated HS. She came to our house. This is the norm where I live which is a very low COL area. She often asked when she would be able to come babysit again.

That's amazing! But also, her age. Like I said, my babysitter is an adult. I think age is a huge thing $20 to a high school girl is completely different than $20 to an almost 30-something. And of course, col.

[ggandlee]

Jan 20, 2015 12:05:17 GMT -5 ladystrat said:

ggandlee Share the feels. My pcp delivered our first, but even if she'd been certified with baby girl, she'd have handed me off. She never did complications.

The babysitting rates you guys have to pay are crazy! We paid $5 an hour for two kids. I never had trouble getting one, and no joke, every sitter we've had has asked us when we were going out again. So I never felt like we were being unfair. Also, I told them up front what we were willing pay and what we expected from them. Never got turned down but accepted that it could happen.

Should I save it for UO Thursday? I have very strong feels about who should be delivering babies and where babies should be delivered but have never shared it before because I am afraid it may stir up trouble and I know that my view on the subject is biased.

[mishkaroni]

Jan 20, 2015 13:05:12 GMT -5 ggandlee said:

Jan 20, 2015 12:05:17 GMT -5 ladystrat said:

ggandlee Share the feels. My pcp delivered our first, but even if she'd been certified with baby girl, she'd have handed me off. She never did complications.

The babysitting rates you guys have to pay are crazy! We paid $5 an hour for two kids. I never had trouble getting one, and no joke, every sitter we've had has asked us when we were going out again. So I never felt like we were being unfair. Also, I told them up front what we were willing pay and what we expected from them. Never got turned down but accepted that it could happen.

Should I save it for UO Thursday? I have very strong feels about who should be delivering babies and where babies should be delivered but have never shared it before because I am afraid it may stir up trouble and I know that my view on the subject is biased.

Go for it on Thursday. I am genuinely interested.

[ggandlee]

Jan 20, 2015 13:38:15 GMT -5 mishkaroni said:

Jan 20, 2015 13:05:12 GMT -5 ggandlee said:

Should I save it for UO Thursday? I have very strong feels about who should be delivering babies and where babies should be delivered but have never shared it before because I am afraid it may stir up trouble and I know that my view on the subject is biased.

Go for it on Thursday. I am genuinely interested.

Okay, I'll share it on Thursday. I'm sure it won't come as any surprise to anyone though.

[Guster]

Jan 20, 2015 12:25:04 GMT -5 @mx2 said:

Confession: I've never used a babysitter...

I haven't either, but it's not because we use family. We just hadn't been out alone, yet. I miss those dates.

[Guster]

klongoria11
lfigge
kellykinns

I totally forgot to tell you three that my orthopedist also prescribed a topical anti-inflammatory called Voltaren. It's super helpful.