Reflective of the zeitgeist of our era, babysitting fees have increased way ahead of inflation since I was doing it so many years ago. Not that it's a bad thing. I used to feel so ripped off, having given up my weekend night for a child care job only to be paid a pitiful dollar per hour or one-fifty--if I was lucky--on a good night.
It seriously stunk.
Now that my kids are of babysitting age, and frequently do it, I always ask them what they made after a job is complete. The amount of money they get usually astounds me. And it could or could not be due to the fact that we live in a fairly upper middle class neighborhood with a lot of our distant friends hiring our girls. They do very well. Once my daughter babysat for an attorney one neighborhood over. At the end of her 6 hour run with his kids, he arrived home and stated that he only had a $20 bill or a $100 dollar bill and so he pulled out the Franklin and handed it to her. That's better than minimum wage flipping burgers at a greasy spoon.
It wasn't always like this.
But I was excited for her and that isn't the first time she was paid over ten bucks per hour; she certainly is reliable and kind and probably entertained her watch beyond duty. It's a different era today and I'm glad to see it. I'm happy that people acknowledge the real value in having someone conscientious and honest taking care of their most precious possession (if a child can be called such a thing).
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