In article .com, fgoodwin
says...

David Hare-Scott wrote:
"fgoodwin" wrote in message
ups.com...
Why Don't Kids Do Chores Anymore?

They do round here

There are kids in your neighborhood who still offer to mow yards?

I've lived in Dallas, Austin, Denton, San Antonio, Dallas again, Austin
again, Washington, DC, and San Antonio again, and I've never seen any
kids offering to mow lawns, tho I have seen a few cases of kids mowing
their own lawns.


There are kids in the neighborhood who offer to mow yards (for pay, of course).
As there are who offer to shovel driveways in the winter.

The difference I see from when I was younger is that, I'd take on a chore like
that as a committment. That is, I have x customers counting on me to shovel
their driveway when it snows. So I'd be out the door when the snow stops, with
three driveways to do.

As a homeowner, though, I find that it was more, my driveway will get shovelled
OK, but only if there aren't a bunch of kids putting together a ski trip that
day. In the latter case, the driveway stays snow-covered. Not good. So I have
a contractor with a truck who picks up a lot of cash on snowy days do it - it
gets plowed every time. But then I'd have to turn away the kid that does come
to my door.

Except now my son has enough muscle to do it - so, yes, some chores do get done
by kids.

I ran into similar things getting babysitting. I arrange babysitting for my
bowling night. Back when I was babysitting, such an arrangement meant that
Thursday nights are spoken for, period. As a parent, I found that I'd get calls
from my regular babysitter if there was a club meeting or something that night.

So anymore, before my son got big, I'd hire kids for one-off chores or single
babysitting nights, only. Can't make any continuing arrangement.
Disappointing.

And, yes, it was coming from the parents. I've had all of three conversations
with parents about this pattern, and the response is along the lines of "you
don't expect them to give up THAT ...". So I'd go elsewhere to make
arrangements I could count on. But then the kid's parent would be disappointed.
Oh well.

Banty


--

"Banty" wrote in message
I ran into similar things getting babysitting. I arrange babysitting for
my
bowling night. Back when I was babysitting, such an arrangement meant
that
Thursday nights are spoken for, period. As a parent, I found that I'd get
calls
from my regular babysitter if there was a club meeting or something that
night.

So anymore, before my son got big, I'd hire kids for one-off chores or
single
babysitting nights, only. Can't make any continuing arrangement.
Disappointing.

My oldest daughter would love to babysit, but today's mommies don't tend to
leave the baby's side for a minute. So finding customers has been rather
hard for her. She has a news paper route though.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Sue" wrote in message
...
My oldest daughter would love to babysit, but today's mommies don't tend
to
leave the baby's side for a minute. So finding customers has been rather
hard for her. She has a news paper route though.

I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I
prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do.

"toypup" wrote:


"Sue" wrote in message
My oldest daughter would love to babysit, but today's mommies don't tend
to leave the baby's side for a minute. So finding customers has been rather
hard for her. She has a news paper route though.

I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I
prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do.

My sister babysat a lot in hs - I didn't do as much. Mostly New Years
Eve as a last resort kind of thing.

I didn't use babysitters much as most of the time I would take the
children to the base nursery instead of getting sitters. I didn't much
care for the older ladies because I wasn't sure they would do things
as I wanted, because things changed since they had their children.
Also they cost more.

DD#1 was babysitting by the time she was 11 - at least with her own
siblings for short periods (half an hour) and a little later for the
lady down the street. So after that I almost never had sitters.


grandma Rosalie

"Sue" wrote in message
...
My oldest daughter would love to babysit, but today's mommies don't tend
to
leave the baby's side for a minute. So finding customers has been rather
hard for her. She has a news paper route though.

My oldest daughter turns down babysitting jobs constantly, and only
occasionally babysits for one family down the street. She started sitting
for the when she was 14, and is now 16. They are now 7 and 12. Her friends
who like babysitting are overwhelmed with offers. However, these aren't
diaper aged kids, they are 4 and up.

"toypup" wrote in message
I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I
prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do.

My preferable age for a sitter was 13-16. Any older than that and they are
interested in boys, being on the phone, and/or having more of a social life
than sitting. I have had great experiences with sitters of this age group,
as they love to sit and play with the kids and will do stuff with them,
rather than sitting them in front of the TV. Then if you go any older, then
it costs an arm and a leg to have a sitter come in.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Cathy Kearns" wrote in message
My oldest daughter turns down babysitting jobs constantly, and only
occasionally babysits for one family down the street. She started sitting
for the when she was 14, and is now 16. They are now 7 and 12. Her
friends
who like babysitting are overwhelmed with offers. However, these aren't
diaper aged kids, they are 4 and up.

Too bad you couldn't give some sitting jobs DD1's way. She is getting
frustrated. She did have one family that had her sit, but they moved away.
There are some new families moving in the sub behind our house, so maybe
there is hope. It certainly isn't like it used to be. I was very much in
demand in my babysitting days.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Sue" wrote in message
news:15OdnVWV0stWHMrZnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...
"toypup" wrote in message
I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I
prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do.

My preferable age for a sitter was 13-16. Any older than that and they are
interested in boys, being on the phone, and/or having more of a social
life
than sitting. I have had great experiences with sitters of this age group,
as they love to sit and play with the kids and will do stuff with them,
rather than sitting them in front of the TV. Then if you go any older,
then
it costs an arm and a leg to have a sitter come in.

I don't know if I have a preferred age other than I want an adult. We have
a college age sitter who is great with the kids. She's not as you describe.
She gets down on their level and plays with them. They totally love her and
they beg to see her. She charges $10/hr whether for one or both of my kids.
We often give a little more. I think she's very much worth it.

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
I didn't use babysitters much as most of the time I would take the
children to the base nursery instead of getting sitters. I didn't much
care for the older ladies because I wasn't sure they would do things
as I wanted, because things changed since they had their children.
Also they cost more.


We don't use sitters much, either, just one college age one who fills in.
We do have a dcp who is a mother with grown children, but being that she is
professional, she does respect our wishes WRT the kids.

Sue wrote:
"toypup" wrote in message
I don't tend to want highschoolers. I'm sure some are very mature, but I
prefer older babysitters, as I know many other moms do.

My preferable age for a sitter was 13-16. Any older than that and they are
interested in boys, being on the phone, and/or having more of a social life
than sitting. I have had great experiences with sitters of this age group,
as they love to sit and play with the kids and will do stuff with them,
rather than sitting them in front of the TV. Then if you go any older, then
it costs an arm and a leg to have a sitter come in.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

I think it's a combination of age, interests, and temperament. You are
probably most likely to get that mix in the 13-16 age, however! I
remember when I was growing up. We had a favorite babysitter would
always play with us. When she got too old (I forget how old - probably
when she went away to college), her younger sister starting babysitting
for us. She was probably the same age - but wasn't as interested in
playing with us, and preferred to watch tv and/or do her homework.

My problem finding a babysitter is that the girls I wanted to babysit
were also active on the basketball team, and didn't sit during the
season. I'm really looking forward to when the two girls down the
block turn 12 - they are planning to team-sit together. One of them is
better with kids than the other (she has already shown aptitude - one
day last summer she had 4 3-4 year olds practicing Stop Drop and Roll
by rolling down the hill next to her house, for instance) while the
other I think mainly wants to hang out with her friend.

Irene

In article ,
"Sue" wrote:

"Cathy Kearns" wrote in message
My oldest daughter turns down babysitting jobs constantly, and only
occasionally babysits for one family down the street. She started sitting
for the when she was 14, and is now 16. They are now 7 and 12. Her
friends
who like babysitting are overwhelmed with offers. However, these aren't
diaper aged kids, they are 4 and up.

Too bad you couldn't give some sitting jobs DD1's way. She is getting
frustrated. She did have one family that had her sit, but they moved away.
There are some new families moving in the sub behind our house, so maybe
there is hope. It certainly isn't like it used to be. I was very much in
demand in my babysitting days.

When my kids were in high school and babysitting, they got most of their
jobs through church -- after they volunteered to help in the nursery or
preschool classes. The kids liked them, and the parents got to know
them a bit, so THEN they'd ask if they did any babysitting. (The youth
group also sposored a babysitting class, which they took together over
several Saturdays, so that helped, too.) It worked out pretty well --
for a time, there were people who would call here to ask which of the
three was available; they might have a preference, but would accept any
of them.
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

"Irene" wrote in message
I think it's a combination of age, interests, and temperament. You are
probably most likely to get that mix in the 13-16 age, however!

That's very true. I was generalizing too much with just my experience.

My problem finding a babysitter is that the girls I wanted to babysit
were also active on the basketball team, and didn't sit during the
season.

That is a problem too. Kids are very busy these days. DD1 is not able to
play any sports, so she isn't as busy as most kids, but she still has choir.

I'm really looking forward to when the two girls down the block turn 12 -
they are planning to team-sit together.

You can do what I did, if your interested. You can have them start coming
over now and just be a mother's helper to you. I trained my friends daughter
this way. When she was 13 or so, she came in the summer while I was working
at home and play with the kids and then as she got older, I was able to
leave her here on her own and then gradually worked up to more hours, when I
needed her.

One of them is better with kids than the other (she has already shown
aptitude - one day last summer she had 4 3-4 year olds practicing Stop Drop
and Roll
by rolling down the hill next to her house, for instance) while the
other I think mainly wants to hang out with her friend.

Yes, temperment of the person definitely the key.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)