Babysitter Poaching originally published October 20, 2008, on DC Metro Moms.
I made my way through high school babysitting for one family. They paid me extremely well and were willing to work around my schedule. I committed one evening each weekend to them but got to choose whether that would be Friday or Saturday night. They were more than happy to accommodate since they trusted me and I was able to handle their four children.
Once, the mother mentioned that her friend had asked for my phone number.
I quickly told her I appreciated that they wanted to hire me, but my schedule wouldn’t allow me to sit for another family. Upon hearing this, the mother smiled wryly and told me that she wouldn’t give her friend my phone number anyway—there was no way she would allow someone to steal away her good babysitter.
I didn’t fully understand it at the time…but now that I am a mom myself, I totally get it.
Recently, The Husband I have made going out on regular dates a priority. So we found a good sitter who is available regularly. Margaret is someone we know from our church. Perfect! We love her. Margaret is completely trustworthy and she’s great with the kids (it might have something to do with the fact that she bakes sweets with them). I have no worries when The Husband and I go out and leave the three darlings with her.
Now I’ve gotten all protective of our awesome sitter. I was purposefully vague when a friend asked who our babysitter is when The Husband and I go out. I don’t want some other family to discover how wonderful Margaret is and hire her away. Then who will watch my kids?
The thing is, yes, I want to keep my excellent sitter to myself, but should I be keeping her best interests in mind as well? If Margaret can make more money with another family, that would be to her benefit. This is the heart of the free-market economy after all. I wonder if that applies to babysitting?
Then again, I guess I shouldn’t be afraid of losing Margaret. There will always be someone else who would do just as well. I just don’t want to have to search for another that I trust and who is as capable. Breaking in a new sitter would be a pain. And most importantly, my kids have already bonded to Margaret. I don’t want to lose that, even if it is because I pay her!
I am trying to adopt the attitude of, “If it happens, it happens.” After all, Margaret is an excellent babysitter and it’d be foolish to think no one else would want to hire her. In the meantime, I’ll be trying to keep her under wraps for as long as possible. And, uh, anyone willing to share their babysitter’s phone number with me just in case?
Original DC Metro Moms post.
When she’s not worried about having her babysitter stolen, Michelle blogs about her family over at Wife and Mommy.
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Note: This post is re-posted here with permission from Silicon Valley Moms Group upon the announcement of their dissolution.
