Monday

UPDATE ON BADLY BEHAVED KIDS

ORIGINAL POST...

So I have been working at a babysitter for over 2 years now. My normal family is Monday-Thursday, and I manage these kids mostly good, I and I feel that I provide an overall high level of care. I managed to pick up an extra shift with a second family, and it provides me with money that makes me significantly more comfortable. The only problem is the kids. No, I do not hate them or anything, but they behave so badly and do not listen to me at all. As I said before, I've been doing this for a while and don't consideri myself a bad babysitter, I consider these children really poorly behaved. I try and take away priviledges But i only watch them Fridays and I don't really think I can have a true impact on changing their behavior when I only see them once a week. They really are bad though. Really shocking. I feel very bad because I am not exactly proud of my ability to manage these kids, but really need the money. (obviously I am keeping them safe and all the important things. We're talking about like disrespect, damage to their home, and rough play ) I have spoken to the parents, and they have spoken to the kids, but i really do not expect improvements. I just think this is going to be a bad day I have once a week. I guess my main question is: Do people see me at fault of this situation? If I was a parent and the babysitter told me that their kids were being awful I would not assume they are bad at their jobs. I assume parents know their kids... Anyway where I am with this whole situation is to stay committed to doing ,my best, keeping them safe, and not really stressing about all the bullshit. I just feel guilty having kids I watch that i know are not a good fit, don't like me, whatever.



UPDATE:

So I have an update on the badly behaved kids. I just got let go.

Picked up the girl as usual and took her to the park to play and then we went home where there dad was walking around is underwear. He told me that since I only work Fridays and there are so many holidays that they wouldn't want to be paying me for they would not needing me anymore.

I am so upset because they gave me zero notice and because of how much I put with from their kids, (scratching, name calling, tantrums ect.) and from them (coming home hours late).

I am just so insulted I cannot even right now. Because obviously if you are only going to need someone for a certain amount of time you should let them know!


7 comments:

Leigh Raymer said...

It may not seem like it but you will come out better for this - they were smacking your self esteem and well being. The timing is not bad - the sky is the limit because of holiday work - you can get any kind of job while interviewing for another better fit - keep keeping us posted !

Taleia said...

I'm sorry for the hassle :( It sucks to lose expected income right before the holidays!

That said, if you were only working Fridays, they probably saw you more as a babysitter than a nanny, and may have felt like they didn't owe you as much notice as normal. That's why I hate very part time (or temp) jobs.

Anonymous said...

I think updates are better suited if they are connected somehow to the original post. Next time, you should include context. This is not useful without the backstory.

Lacy said...

They should have provided you with at least 2 weeks notice. Bring that up to them.

I once gave a family 1 month notice (2 day a week date night sitting). The next date night I showed up on time, after spending an hour in town-- because my other job shift ended and its not enough time to go home in traffic-- bought myself dinner and a coffee. When I showed up they said "oh you didn't get the e-mail?" the e-mail where they fired me... I looked right then and there in all my inboxes-- nothing, and showed them, trash and spam too. They looked 'oops forgot to hit send' I let it rip on them...." I gave you a proper month notice and waited for you to return from your vacation, as to be polite. We had a set end date. You know on Wednesday's I have to hang around town for 30-60 minutes before I start here and have to buy coffee or food during this time. SO I just spent 1 hour around town spent $15 on food and drink, arrive on time, and don't have a job.... Your real colors are showing" I didn't get to say good bye to the kid, had a good bye present too. 4 months later they were in a bind, I re-stated the events of what happened last time and that I would gladly do it for double rate with a guarantee of 4 hours. I was called selfish and greedy.

Leigh Raymer said...

thank you anon - very good suggestion - we will do that

SS4857 said...

Anonymous: Thank you for the suggestion, please forgive the error, We have added the original post to the update.

Kate said...

OP: I mean. Me me and the kids were definitely not clicking, and I can see them looking at a calendar and thinking "why pay her for the holidays, when we can get someone new in a few months and save a bunch of money"

I hadn't been working there a long time and I've never experienced such poorly behaved kids. It was really appalling.

I just think about how I wouldn't have just not shown up one week. I think there is this sexist notion around caregiving that it somehow transcends normal workplace obligations. If I want to quit I should give them a month, even though I am not protected or treated like the professional employee who is supposed to behave this way. I've had part time gigs that have ended, they told me when it was ending, and it was fine.

Its like just give me notice. Notice so I know how much money i'll have for rent. Notice so I am not standing in your living room with ur husband in his underwear telling me this isn't incredibly shitty and unnecesarry.