Posted by Veronica on 19:55 Jun 28
In Reply to: How much would you charge an hour for watching a child for a couple of hours a day? posted by GaMom3
If you are only going to watch her for an hour on some days, you still have to take into consideration everything you'll have to do. You'll have to not go anywhere in the afternoons or be home in time for the bus, stop what you're doing and gather up your kids, go down there and wait for the bus, plus wait for her to pick her child up afterwards. All of that is a lot of time that you can't spend on other things, even though the idea of watching just one child for a short time each afternoon doesn't sound like an imposition, it will be something you have to stop and *do*.
I would also add an extra $5 or $6 an hour for anything more than 2 hours/day, because it can quickly turn into a situation where the mom needs to stop by the grocery, pick up drycleaning, etc., and the original agreed-upon 2 hours is extended.
I don't mean to put a negative twist on this - I think it's great when we can all help each other out, but when I used to do this, some of the kids ended up eating dinner with us 2-3 times a week because Mom was late. If you set your terms clearly from the beginning, it will save you a lot of grief.
If it was going to be 3 hours a day, I'd charge at least $75/week, but I wouldn't go any lower than $65 for 1-2 hours, just because of everything I listed above. I would also keep the weekly rate the same even if school is out one day that week. Also, think about if you'll be able to do this when school is a half-day.
Hope it works out for both of you.
~V