If a babysitter offered to take less money than you offered, would you? She's costing me time, but I don't want to take advantage.
I think she realizes that she's costing me time, as I've frequently had to help her with the baby, and as a result haven't been able to get as much work done in the same number of hours as with a different sitter. Plus, instead of working in a focused way, she distracts me with a lot of questions and advice, and I've helped her to learn a bit.
The thing is, she seems like a good girl and I'm thus willing to let it take even a few weeks or more to have her be more independent with the baby.
The budget I have set for the hours I need to get my work done and pay a sitter was about twice what she was making before for working double the hours (I need her 20 hours a week if I can focus, more with her though), although once she had a job paying about what I would pay and worked 60+ hours for it. By comparison, this is probably easy work for her. The baby slept and she surfed the net a while today and read a magazine, and I taught her a bit about baby care and the computer, plus myself took over with the baby a lot when she couldn't handle him.
I enjoy her company, but since she needs a lot more help and guidance than the other sitter, I can't get my work done in the hours planned. She realized this and thus offered to take less money than I gave her.
On one hand, I don't want to take advantage as I think her last jobs did. On the other, to keep her as a sitter paying the hourly wage I planned, I couldn't get the work done within budget, which was already more than a third of my salary to pay her 20 hours, and really can't afford to pay her half of my salary if I would need her for more hours to do the same work.
She's a nice girl, I know as is it's a lot of money for her and she wants to keep the job. Plus, socially/psychologicall y it's probably better for her to be with me than in her current living situation, her live in boyfriend seems controlling and abusive. Our place is honestly nice to be in to, we have an ocean/mountain view and a nice garden she goes to sit in a comfy swing.
What would you do in my situation? Each time I pay her, she says it's too much. I would be afraid that giving less would be wrong. It's hard to gauge, as I'm in a different country. My salary isn't even 1/4 of what it is in the states, in the end I make half of what a doctor makes, as much as a lawyer but still only $12 an hour which is a good salary here, I've been giving her $10. - Asked by milla, A Cool Mom, Female, 29-35 |