Mother Arrives Home Later Than Agreed Upon But Refuses To Pay The Babysitter Extra For Her Time

Dec 30, 2021 by apost team

Every now and then, parents need a little extra help with taking care of their children. Some people ask their family members or close friends to watch over the kids while they are out at work, running errands, or simply just need the day or night off. Others opt for daycare centers or professional babysitters to make sure that their kids receive the best quality of care.

For one 31-year-old mother, she was over the moon with the fact that her 3-year-old son was so well-behaved. He typically went to a daycare, so the providers there knew him quite well. One day, the mother asked one of her son’s providers named B to watch the toddler for five hours. B was more than happy to help out, and even agreed to a lower charge, settling on $50 for the entire amount of agreed-upon time.

However, the mother got caught up at work, and ended up being 45 minutes late. When she arrived home, she relieved the babysitter and paid her the agreed amount, something that was an issue for B. The babysitter explained that since she had to babysit for extra time, she deserved extra money. The mother disagreed, insisting that she was clear that the $50 was for the babysitting job period, not the hours.

The mother then decided to make a Reddit post in August 2020, asking users for their thoughts and advice. However, she was blown away by the responses she received. Read on to find out more about what this mother has done since.

Starting off her Reddit post, the original poster (OP) described her son as “very sweet, calm, low-maintenance, and a great kid.” One day, she asked one of his daycare providers named B to watch him for five hours, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. while she was at work. 

“B knows he’s an easy kid and she knows him well, so she went with a lower charge, and we agreed on $50 for the whole time,” OP said. “It wasn’t discussed in terms of hours, rather we agreed that $50 for the time she was there was sufficient.”

Due to a situation at work, OP ended up getting home at 6:45 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. Since her husband usually works until 8 p.m., he couldn’t relieve the babysitter either. OP was upset when she noticed that B was in a rush to leave, but quickly paid her nonetheless.

OP explained, “I handed her a $50 bill and she thanked me, but asked for $7 more. I told her that she got the 50 she agreed on, but she said that since I was 45 mins late and I was paying her $10 an hour, she had earned $7 more for an extra 45 mins. I told her that’s not what we agreed on. We agreed on $50, and it shouldn’t matter that I was late because we didn’t discuss it in terms of hours. She argued that I agreed I would be home at 6 p.m. and didn’t adhere to that either, but it’s an entirely different story.”

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OP paid B $50 and ushered her out of her house. Once her husband found out, he told OP that she was wrong for not paying B more, and it was clear that Redditors agreed. One user commented, “You were late. People deserve to be paid for their time. If you were asked to work overtime at a job, wouldn’t you expect to be paid? It doesn’t matter what a little angel your son is. Pay people for their time.”

Another user said, “I hope OP thinks losing a great, trusted babysitter over $7 was worth it.” A third user pointed out that OP’s logic behind not paying the babysitter more didn’t seem valid. The Redditor said, “You agreed upon 1-6 p.m. YOU didn’t make you end of the deal so she’s well within her means to request compensation for the extra time she waited. She’s not doing you a favor watching your kid. It’s her job.”

Seemingly frustrated by the number of responses telling her she was wrong, OP posted an update, explaining that her husband paid B an extra $50 without telling OP first. However, she added another edit and agreed that she was in fact wrong in this situation. 

Since then, OP has apologized to B and offered to pay $20 an hour from now on with an additional agreed-upon late fee. OP added, “My son loves her, and she was great. I feel awful that I treated her that way. I’ve apologized profusely and she thanked me and agreed to babysit for us again.”

What do you think about this mother’s response to her babysitter asking for more money? What would you do if you were in this situation? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones, too.