How to handle it????

Question

I babysit a family for $7 an hour. One 7 year old boy and the other one 5. They say if they ever do anything wrong put them in their room for 5-10 minutes depending on what they did. I've tried this and it doesn't work! I told the parents that and they said thats the only discipline they agree with... Any ideas to help? Also, don't say don't babysit for them... I get good money from them :)

Answer 1

You could probably try something different for punishment.  Instead of sending them to their rooms, have them sit on a kitchen chair for 7 or 5 minutes (depending on kid).  Timeouts are harmless, but effective.  Seriously, if you are having to punish these kids over and over again, it's probably not worth the $7 an hour they are paying you.  It sounds like the parents would rather shut them in their rooms than deal with the circumstances at hand.

Best of luck.

Answer 2

Parenting *is* hard, so is taking care of kids and it sometimes includes listening to some screaming.  That's why you're getting paid so well.  If it was easy, you probably wouldn't earn as much money for the job.  

You work for the parents.  They are your bosses.  You need to follow their rules regarding discipline.

The children might be more likely to behave while you're there, though, if you create a good relationship with them - one where they trust you, respect you, want to please you.  Are you confident & friendly with them?  

You might also try to think of ways to distract them or keep them out of situations where you know they are likely to misbehave.  Keep them busy with games & activities & they won't have time to get into trouble while you're there.  

Answer 3

If you babysit regularly, could you reward them at the end of each week for good behavior with a small reward such as a piece of candy or cheap toy (if you only watch them like once a week, do the reward once a month).  You may want to ask the parents if their time-out could be done somewhere other than there room since you find that it does nothing, ask if  they could sit on the stairs.  Also ask if you are allowed to take away toys while you are there that are causing the boys to misbehave.  Putting a child in their room to play doesn't really seem like a punishment, especially not at their ages.  Record the bad behavior, every time, maybe seeing how often (and what gets repeated) they are misbehaving will encourage the parents to give you a little bit more help or leeway, like allowing you to take away privileges/toys and stuff, or even ask if you can separate the boys when they are fighting or grouping together to misbehave.  Good luck, redirection or time-out has always worked for me.

Answer 4

What horrible parents. Seriously, either don't babysit for them, or don't care. If the parents don't care, why should you?!

Answer 5

Well if the money's that great then just deal with it. Utilmately its the parents who make the discipling rules.

Answer 6

Take an mp3 player with you and have the volume LOUD!!! ;-}

Answer 7

Why are they screaming for five hours?  Take time to talk to the parents about the specific problems you are having with their children, and let them know that the kids do not respect you.  Hopefully mom and dad will tell the kids that you are the boss when they are away. Tell the kids in no uncertain terms that their screaming (or other bad behaviors) will not be tolerated and be persistent with putting them in time out whenever you threaten to do it.

Consistency is the only thing that works.