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When Your Child's in Charge

10 Tips for Parents of Babysitters

By Gina Roberts-Grey, LCSW

Help your child learn the value of her time, as well as saving money. Determining the rate she'll charge for watching one child versus multiple children is something to arrange prior to beginning a job. You should also guide her to set up a fair and reasonable percentage to designate as spending money and how much to put into some type of bank account.

The best way to continually improve is to ask for things to improve upon. She'll dazzle new clients by providing a feedback survey that asks for suggestions and comments. Obviously, asking for feedback can yield some negative responses, so make sure your child is prepared to receive criticism on her performance.

There is a time and place to chat with friends and a time not to. There is nothing worse than returning home and learning your child's babysitter had friends stop by to visit or called on the phone to converse about the hottest new hairstyles. This creates uncertainty for the sitter's ability to provide safe child care and significantly lessens the chance for additional assignments.

Offering parental guidance and room to learn from every babysitting opportunity helps your child become a profitable and accomplished babysitter. She'll take pride as her business grows. You'll both have confidence in her babysitting abilities, and she'll develop skills that will be beneficial throughout the rest of her life.

For additional information or to learn about training seminars, please visit American Red Cross.