Embarassing???????????

Question

I am 18 years old and in college my first year and i often baby sit for my younger cousins ages 10, 8, 6 months and 5. That would be 3 boys and a girl. I often am not geting paid either and with all of them at once it can be rather tiering. It is not all the time all 4 cousins at once but alot of the time it is. It can also be embarrasing to be seen with all of them in public To movies or something people tend to stare or ask if the one of them is mine. Plus they do not listen sometimes and fight alot amongst each other. How do i politley tell my aunts who i love and who used to babysit me that this is getting to be a bit much?I feel like they are kind of taking advantage of me.

I am taking 13 credits in college right now and need a job to help pay for things so is it wrong that i ask for some kind of payment for babysitting my cousins at least for 4 days a week for them?

I really love my family

At one point i had to take the 8 year old too class because my aunt was stuck in traffic and i could not leave him alone!

Answer 1

This is what I would do:

Tell them that you're looking for a job and will have to quit babysitting soon because you need the money. If they don't offer to pay you on their own (instead of you having to get a job), then a few days later, subtly suggest it yourself. Ask them if maybe they could pay you .... and remind them... that otherwise, they'll have to pay somebody else, probably much more.

Sometimes it takes "losing" something to appreciate it. :) And you aren't playing games, you're serious about needing money.

Answer 2

Your right, you are being taken advantage of...you need to tell them that your time is worth something or your not going to babysit. After all, you are 18... with all the free babysitting that your doing in your spare time you could actually get a part time job instead thats going to pay you. Not too mention, that when your a student in college your spare time needs to be devoted to studying and if your family won't be considerate enough of you to think about that than you can thank them for flushing your future and education away when your grades suffer from all of this.

Answer 3

I feel for you, and you are being a tremendous help whether they tell you on a regular basis or not... but you have to look out for you.... your education is very important, and you are paying a lot of money probably for this education.

There is no doubt you love your family and it is sooo nice you are doing this for her, however, you need to get your education, and you should be compensated some how... you really should have a talk with her, try and have her out for coffee where she can give you all of her attention and none of the kids will be around to take her attention away from you.

I wish you the best of luck =)

PS) as for being embarrassed about haning people think they are yours.. i have a short story for you.......hopefully it will give you a laugh.

I was 17 when my sister was born (this was 11 years ago) and when she was a few years old, i needed something silly from walmart for halloween and i was babysitting her, and had to take her with me... i had a woman call me a sinner and tell me how horrible i was to have had a child so young, and she went on LOUDLY for a few mins, i finally had enoguh and said, look lady she is my sister... and you know what the womans response was? That the little girl looked too much like me to be my sister... i just shook my head and said geez lady we have the same parents..... it was horrible.... and I KNOW EXACTLY how you are feeling =)

Answer 4

Sit down with them and tell them that you're very, very sorry, but you need to get a job because you need helping paying for you college, so unless they're able to start paying you some, then you can no longer babysit their children, because you can't babysit, go to school and go to a real job all at the same time.

This way you don't have to explain how you're embarrased to be seen with them and how they're sometimes brats, lol.

Answer 5

It's hard to ask your family for money when they have helped to support you and been there since day one!!!
But in your situation, you are trying to build a life of your own and if they are going to have you watching those kids that much...that takes a lot of time out of your schedule, i would say they should pay for it. Either that or get a part-time job and start making money of your own. Every little penny you earn right now (no matter how it's earned) will help you. So i would just let them know that and see what's said.

Answer 6

Honey, You are being taken advantage of. You need to get paid for sitting for your relatives, or do not sit for them. To heck with telling them gently. They know that they are taking advantage of you. You said they used to watch you?! Well, that does not obligate YOU, that was a favor they did for your folks. You're 18, in college and have personal obligations as a young adult. Just say no. Let them get mad. They will get over it. Or a reasonable pay per hour...4 kids, $20 per hour. Get a T-shirt printed that says"Babysitter $20/hour".

Answer 7

Yes it is wrong of them to impose on you this way. Tell them you need to get paid so you can continue your education or else you have to get a real job to pay for your expenses. It's not right that just because you are family they feel you should babysit for free.

Answer 8

Babes, you are totally being taken advantage of here.... THey are not your children, you are not ultimately responsible.

You need to be enjoying life, being young and doing college, not worrying about your couzins behavior.

Why not suggest you can only Babysit on a particular afternoon, to free up more time for your self.

As for payment.. yes you should be paid at least £5.00 per hour.

Answer 9

This sounds like a part time job!! Try to sit down and talk with your aunt. I hope you can work this out. 4 kids is a lot for one person to care for. My niece has 4 children and she has help all the time.

Answer 10

It's not wrong at all to ask for payment but is tough. Just lay some ground rules when it comes to babysitting. Just say that you love taking care of them but that doesn't mean it's easy. Just say "Ya know, I bet it's hard for two parents to take care of four kids---can you imagine how one person feels taking care of all four?" Maybe that will throw some sense into them.