Back To School: The Babysitter Conundrum

Fall is a time for back to school for your children. Your kids are at school for several hours, leaving your babysitter wondering what to do with their time while still needing to be paid. You cannot just let them go for the school year as they need to be on call for emergencies, snow days, sick days, and other situations that may arise. Luckily, there is no shortage of tasks your babysitter can be doing while waiting to care for your children once the school day is over so they can continue working for you.

Coursework

Whether your babysitter is going to college for a degree or is taking training to improve their childcare skills, you can have your babysitter work on various types of coursework while your kids are at school. This is especially true if your babysitter needs any CPR or first aid recertifications. Do some research into various trainings offered online and have your babysitter do those courses if they are not enrolled in a degree program or do not have a formal childcare education. If you know your babysitter is in college, be flexible with them during the day, even if they are doing online classes.

Activity preparation

Although your kids may have homework to get done when they get home from school, there will likely still be time for them to do various activities with your babysitter. It is likely that your babysitter is constantly trying to find new and fun things to have your kids do to help reduce boredom after school. Allow them some time in their day to brainstorm ideas for the upcoming weeks. Have them leave you plans so you can ensure that you have the supplies on hand, or give them the money needed to cover the materials they need.

Household chores

While your babysitter’s primary responsibility is taking care of your kids, they may also be responsible for various chores around your house. Having them around your house throughout the day gives them an opportunity to do things such as cleaning, laundry, dishes, and grocery shopping for you without having to worry about your kids as much. If you want specific things done, leave them a task list with deadlines for when they need to be done. You may even have them get a head start on cooking dinner for the kids and your family. Again, make sure all supplies are on hand or give them enough money to be able to grab what they need at the store.

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School runs

Your babysitter will likely be responsible for taking your kids to school, picking them up after, and taking them to any afterschool activities. Be sure to have your children’s schedules written out and let your babysitter know of any policies regarding drop-off and pick-up for your children. Even if you are able to take kids to certain practices, your other kids may have activities to do. Having a babysitter. there to assist you with running your kids to and from activities and assisting with homework and dinner can help you out big time.

Assistant-type tasks

There are several tasks that can be difficult to fit into your day with your schedule. Things like scheduling appointments, reading emails, and aiding in meal prep can seem overwhelming, so you may opt to have your babysitter help you with these tasks. Your babysitter may even be really talented at making and managing schedules, so they may be able to create schedules for you and your children. Make sure your babysitter is okay with doing these sorts of tasks as these may be outside of normal babysitter tasks. These tasks may seem minor, but they do tend to pile up. Having your babysitter help to reduce the number of these tasks you will have to worry about will help ease your mind.

General tips

The back-to-school season can seem overwhelming as new schedules are in place and things are becoming more routine and structured again. Keep communication with your babysitter open so that you both can know what the plans are for what the babysitter is working on. Be sure to have a specific schedule that allows your babysitter to know where to be and when so that your kids know what they are doing. Even if the children they are responsible for are not directly in their care, it does not mean that the babysitter is not thinking of and doing things for your kids. Consider switching your babysitter’s hours so that your babysitter can help fill in if you want a date night or to hit up the gym after work. You may even have your babysitter shift their schedule to start working a few weekend hours so you, or they, can help you run some errands.

Having a babysitter, even during school hours, can help you with tasks related to (and some not related to) caring for your kids.