Need Advice on How to Ask for A Raise

     I have been a nanny for my current family for just about 5 months now. It is more of a mothers helper position then a nanny. For the most part, either the M or DB are home when I am with the kids. They are 2 boys, the youngest just turned 1 and the older boy just turned 4. The older boy has mild to moderate autism, but will grow out of it if we continue to help him develop. I make 9 dollars per hour, in the Fort Worth, Texas area. I fold all laundry and put it away, and clean all baby bottles on a daily basis. I clean up after baby and 4 year old, and do all other things related to children mostly by myself, unless the older child is being particularly difficult. The only assistance I often require is getting him to eat, since they prefer to bribe the child rather then discipline him. I am not willing to force feed him. My parenting philosophy is different from theirs in this way. I work about 35 hours a week, and am going up to 50 the end of this month. I work 7 days a week. I have no set day with an entire day off, and my schedule is not very consistent, but I always get plenty of hours. My question is, how do I go about asking for a raise? I currently make 9 per hour, and would like to make 10. This is the lowest wage I have ever accepted, but when I initially took this job it was extra income, not my main supply. I don't want to leave this family, but I will have to without a higher wage. I am starting my second year of college the end of August, and the extra money to put away in savings would make me feel much more secure. I have 3 years of experience and the going rate in my area is 13.50 for 2 children with 2-5 years of experience. I am currently renewing my CPR/First aid certification since 1 year old is getting more curious. In addition, it will give me an advanced child care certification as well. Any advice would be much appreciated!!

Stop. Just Stop.

      I think I have seen this on here before, but can you maybe do a PSA? I have a lot of staff I use on as needed basis and not many full time staff. We have a nice home and nice things. But it seems people are coming at me from every direction to ask for things or get "dibs" on things.  My four year old daughter just got a really deluxe motorized vehicle to ride in the yard. We hadn't even used it once before one of my occasional sitters who was helping for the party said, "When she outgrows that, I get dibs on that." It would be funny if she was joking, but she was dead serious.My son played t-ball last year and this year moved to little league. He no longer needs his tee or bat, so the housekeeper tells me that her nephew wants to play t-ball, could she have the t-ball stuff? In the beginning it was very easy for me to say yes, but now all of these requests make me angry. In response to this, I said, "what about '4 YO daughter'?" and she looked at me and said, "no, you buy her pretty pink stuff." My daughter isn't even playing t-ball. Is it so wrong that we would want to keep a t and t-ball bat around so she could play with it? This is getting ridiculous and I am afraid it is making me very bitter. Yes, we have a comfortable life, that is not the issue. When we are done using things, I always pass on clothes and toys, I just don't like having a waiting list or the people around my children eyeing up our possessions with such salacious greed. I use a car service to go the city for a regular appointment and have a regular driver. The appointments ease up in the summer, so I don't use him as much. Last weekend, the doorbell rang and there is the driver on the doorstep. He brought me a jar of jam and wanted to introduce me to his children. I was as gracious as I could be, although I was getting ready to head out. It wasn't just the jam either. He said, "see my children are big, like adults, when you clean out your winter closet, we will take jackets and coats." Is there an underground network of pilfering domestics? What is this madness? Don't people understand that this wears away at my natural desire to look for people close to me who could use the things we no longer can? I wonder how other employers handle this?