A working mom has sparked debate online after sharing a note she left for her babysitter before a date night. After a long week of work and a messy house, Katrina Ivan decided to hire a babysitter and go out with her husband instead of spending the night cleaning and organizing.
Knowing that the messy home would be waiting for her that evening, she left a little note for her babysitting, offering extra cash for chores.
“You are more than welcome to hang out and watch TV all night, but if you want to make some extra $, these jobs are up for grabs,” Katrina wrote to her babysitter, a senior in high school whom she’s known for 4 years.
“$10 — organize island, $10 — organize toys $10 — clean glass mirrors, front and back doors, living room mirror, living room windows, $3 vacuum couch, $10 — scrub a re-organize silverware drawer, $15 — Scrub out inside of fridge + reorganize food, wipe off front, $10 — sweep/ mop kitchen floor,” the list reads.
She added: “Just let me know if you decide to do any of these and the grand total I owe you on top of the babysitting money. Thanks for being here!”
According to Today.com, when Katrina’s babysitter saw the list, she got to work almost immediately after Katrina and her husband left the house. Katrina was excited to see her note idea had worked, realized, seeing her babysitter clean the windows through her Ring camera.
“She was like, ‘Heck ya!’ and got to work right away,” Katrina told Today. “I left all the supplies out for her so she didn’t have to feel weird hunting around for things.”
By the end of the night, the babysitter went ahead and cleaned the mirrors and windows, organized the toys, vacuumed the couch and scrubbed and organized the silverware drawer.
While most applauded Katrina for her note, others thought that pricing was a bit off.
“I think $10 is too cheap for some of these tasks considering the amount of work/size of the mess,” one user wrote.
In a follow-up video, Katrina broke down the money she paid the babysitter that night while also acknowledging that her prices are too low.
“I’ll definitely be restructuring the prices to make this more fair in the future,” she wrote. However, she added that she paid the babysitter $75 for the night just to watch her 2-year-old son, who was asleep most of the time.
All in all, the sitter made $28.75 an hour, tax-free. Not bad for a high schooler!
In another follow-up, Katrina interviewed the babysitter, who said she explained that making extra money while babysitting is no issue for her. It also appears the two have a friendly report which also contributes to this dynamic between parent and babysitter. Katrina feels more comfortable offering up some other tasks to do because they are friendly. Things might get a little awkward if this was a first-time babysitting job.
In the caption on the video, Katrina gushed about her babysitter, writing, “She’s along for the ride, and enjoys the spotlight. Loving the money, and crushing the jobs we leave for her. Sorry friends, but she’s not available to book. this kid is wayyy to busy between date night babysitting for us, earning perfect grades, being involved in a zillion after school activities, and taking night time Fire/EMS classes at night so she can start her CAREER fresh out of high school. Do I sound a little proud?!?”
It sounds like they’ve found a system that works for both of them, and there’s nothing better than that.
