Parents: Help me out..?

Question

I'm going to be keeping two kids in addition to my own two year old. The kids are two and six months. It will be from 2pm till 12am mon-fri. First, how much should I charge? Second, what questions do I need to ask the parents? I've thought about safety and punishments and such, but what else? How would we do the food thing? (My son and I have to eat) What about baths and things? (I guess some people are weird about that). What things do I need to look out for and what things to I need to make sure I talk to them about?

Answer 1

You are looking at Mon. - Fri. 10 hour days.

Unless they are going to pack a dinner and snacks and drinks and soap for baths these are all things you need to factor into how much you charge. Do not underestimate the price. It will be at your house but this is 50 hours a week. That is more then a full time job. First you need to look into insurance. There is insurance out there for this kind of work and you need to factor that into your price also. Taxes are another thing. Are they going to claim the money they spend a month. If so you need to take out money for taxes. This is normally 20% per total monthly. Even if they provide food and soap it is still a big responsibilty. I would charge anywhere between 400.00 to 500.00 weekly. Remenber to take out 20% for taxes. That will be more then a few hundred off the 1600.00 total. Food and soap will start to add up also. The times are not ideal making more money per week nesisary so it is worth it to you. Taking care of children is a big job and responsibilty and you desirve to get paid at least 400.00+ a Week! Good luck!

Answer 2

You need to ask what other people who provide daycare in your area charge.   You are providing care during late hours so that may be an additional fee.  I don't know what state you are in, but in California if you are caring for children from more than one household, you need to obtain a license, which is actually a good thing because lots of helpful information come with that.

You need to set your own rules.  For example if bedtime at your house is 7 pm but these kids have a 9 pm bed time, their parents need to understand that.  You providing the food may be a better thing than having them bring your own.  Just make sure the parents give you written information about allergies.  As far as discipline, when I used to do it, it was stressed that one should not spank, or threaten to spank any child, even your own during your day care hours.   So if the parents expect you to do that let them know that you won't be doing it.  You may want to get a few books.  Call your local licensing agency and see if they have any pamphlets for you to read.  Good luck.  It won't be easy at first, just remember to keep consistent with whatever you decide.  

Do expect your child to have a little hard time at first.  He won't be so willing to share you.

Answer 3

The parents will probably already have some idea of what they expect of you, and how much they're going to charge you...so ask!

They'll probably sent food with for the 6 month old, and then it would likely be easy enough for the 2 year old to eat what you and your son eat.

Ask about allergies and health conditions (I babysat for months once before finding out the girl had such severe allergies that she carried an Epi pen...), how much they eat and when, what time they go to sleep...

Make sure there's a number you can reach them in case you need to...and have fun! Good luck!