Today I quit my babysitting job. I felt kind of bad about it, because no one wants to go through the trouble of hiring someone, especially someone as AWESOME as I am, and then hear that she wants to leave. I had wanted to do this in person, but the mom is always working late and I haven't seen her in weeks. So today when she called the house, I had to buckle down and tell her over the phone.
Her reaction was what I expected. She was REALLY ANNOYED.
I told her that I had been offered a full-time job. Okay. That's not true, but I didn't have the guts to come out and say, "You're boyfriend really creeps me out and I don't like his energy or his naked afternoon parades."
I told her that I would give her until the second week in January because I wanted to give her four weeks notice. Between you and me, internet, this is something I didn't want to do, but I thought that the extra few weeks would be appreciated. In an exasperated tone, she said that it really wasn't enough time since she couldn't start to look until after the holidays. I did see her point and I felt really bad about it. I felt bad about it for about an hour until I realized something: This wasn't the job I had signed up for!
The job I signed up for was taking care of her son, which was pretty easy work. He's a nice kid who doesn't trouble me at all. I like the mom and the dad, who both seem like nice people.
However, I did NOT sign up for the boyfriend. And since he's home ALL THE TIME, I don't see why she can't just get him to pick the kid up after school until they find someone better.
If the job had continued to be the same job I had the first month I had started, then I would have been more than happy to keep working there.
Also, whenever she doesn't need me, she only gives me about a day's notice, which had irked me because I do plan my life around having to be around for those hours. I felt that I gave her more of a courtesy than she had shown me. Let this be a tip to all you moms out there.
If you want to keep a babysitter happy (and working with you for a LONG time), you can't be taking away hours all the time. In the future, when I hire a babysitter, I will definitely pay her a set amount each week whether I use her or not. I don't think it's worth the extra $30 you save here and there because that babysitter, if she's a good one, will find a better situation.
2 comments:
that's a really good idea - paying a babysitter a minimum each week, whether or not you use him/her. that would definitely save moms time and energy later on looking for someone good.
good for you for quitting! it's so weird that the boyfriend is home all the time (half-naked). is he a deadbeat? is she his sugar mama?
I know that the boyfriend is homeless for some reason, but I think it's because they have decided to buy another house together soon. I'm not really sure. When he had first moved in, the mom assured me that it was a temporary situation. Temporary means under a month. When it goes on three months, it's no longer temporary.
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