Hello,
I have a DD who is 2 years 3 months & goes to a full-time childcare center where I work. It's awesome & she is thriving, but the down side is that it's closed alot & it's expensive. We also have to pay for the full month even when the daycare is closed. It's closed over spring break, when the public schools are closed, so I began my search for a sitter during that week.
My next door neighbor has a nanny that comes & watch their 3 year old & 5 month old dd's. She is a wonderful nanny & I've talked with her in the past about being a back-up sitter for DD when her daycare is closed. She said "no problem." every time. So, I've been talking to her via email about watching DD the end of this month. She tells me she is not able to watch her on Monday, but can for the other days & then she tells me she will charge me $10.00 per hour for DD to come over to the neighbors & have her watch her along with the neighbors two girls.
Now, I really appreciate childcare workers & think they deserve to be paid VERY well, however, we simply cannot afford to pay her $320.00 for 4 days. So, right after I got her email I found one of our previous sitters to watch DD that week, so no problem on my end. I emailed her & was polite & said we just can't afford the rate, especially after already paying for childcare for that week that we aren't even using. After doing this, the nanny emails me & wants to negotiate a price. I explain back that I jumped the gun & found other childcare for dd & what the price was (almost half as much), but would like to keep her in mind if I needed someone for a day here & there. She replied & said "no big deal, glad you were able to find childcare."
So, all is well, but honestly was I being too cheap? I was just doing what I felt was best for our family & what we could afford. I always second-guess myself though & seem to think I should have handled things differently. I know I should have asked about her price up front & I mentioned this in one of the emails I sent her. Also, maybe I should have negotiated right away instead of finding alternate care right away, but she gave the rate & I guess it didn't sound negotiable to me.
Does anybody think I handled this ok? Also, if she is watching 2 other children, surely the family isn't paying her $10.00/hr per child? Maybe this price was just to do me a favor? I don't know. I'm confused.
I have a DD who is 2 years 3 months & goes to a full-time childcare center where I work. It's awesome & she is thriving, but the down side is that it's closed alot & it's expensive. We also have to pay for the full month even when the daycare is closed. It's closed over spring break, when the public schools are closed, so I began my search for a sitter during that week.
My next door neighbor has a nanny that comes & watch their 3 year old & 5 month old dd's. She is a wonderful nanny & I've talked with her in the past about being a back-up sitter for DD when her daycare is closed. She said "no problem." every time. So, I've been talking to her via email about watching DD the end of this month. She tells me she is not able to watch her on Monday, but can for the other days & then she tells me she will charge me $10.00 per hour for DD to come over to the neighbors & have her watch her along with the neighbors two girls.
Now, I really appreciate childcare workers & think they deserve to be paid VERY well, however, we simply cannot afford to pay her $320.00 for 4 days. So, right after I got her email I found one of our previous sitters to watch DD that week, so no problem on my end. I emailed her & was polite & said we just can't afford the rate, especially after already paying for childcare for that week that we aren't even using. After doing this, the nanny emails me & wants to negotiate a price. I explain back that I jumped the gun & found other childcare for dd & what the price was (almost half as much), but would like to keep her in mind if I needed someone for a day here & there. She replied & said "no big deal, glad you were able to find childcare."
So, all is well, but honestly was I being too cheap? I was just doing what I felt was best for our family & what we could afford. I always second-guess myself though & seem to think I should have handled things differently. I know I should have asked about her price up front & I mentioned this in one of the emails I sent her. Also, maybe I should have negotiated right away instead of finding alternate care right away, but she gave the rate & I guess it didn't sound negotiable to me.
Does anybody think I handled this ok? Also, if she is watching 2 other children, surely the family isn't paying her $10.00/hr per child? Maybe this price was just to do me a favor? I don't know. I'm confused.
