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Is babysitting 5 days a week work?

934 views 24 replies 19 participants last post by  Boss 
#1 ·
Just curious what others think.
 
#4 ·
this may seem harsh, but I don't. maybe for teenage girls or in a day care.
fun bags nannys, and it drives me crazy when i need her to do something and she says she can't cause she has the kids and i'm like
THAT'S NOT A JOB!!! I HIRED YOU!!
or she'll bring the kids with her....grrrrr!! kids have no place in a tattoo parlor.

sorry if that's harsh. but man does that bug me.
 
#6 ·
Initially, my thoughts were "work generates a paycheck and is how you earn you living" but, according to webster, that is "employment"

so, yes, babysitting for sure is work!

Main Entry: 1work
Pronunciation: 'w&rk
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English werk, work, from Old English werc, weorc; akin to Old High German werc work, Greek ergon, Avestan var&zem activity
Date: before 12th century
1 : activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something: a : sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective or result b : the labor, task, or duty that is one's accustomed means of livelihood c : a specific task, duty, function, or assignment often being a part or phase of some larger activity
2 a : energy expended by natural phenomena b : the result of such energy <sand dunes are the work of sea and wind> c : the transference of energy that is produced by the motion of the point of application of a force and is measured by multiplying the force and the displacement of its point of application in the line of action
7 a : something produced or accomplished by effort, exertion, or exercise of skill <this book is the work of many hands> b : something produced by the exercise of creative talent or expenditure of creative effort : artistic production
8 plural : performance of moral or religious acts <salvation by works>
9 a : effective operation : EFFECT, RESULT <wait for time to do its healing work> b : manner of working : WORKMANSHIP, EXECUTION
-synonyms WORK, EMPLOYMENT, OCCUPATION, CALLING, PURSUIT, Métier, BUSINESS mean a specific sustained activity engaged in especially in earning one's living. WORK may apply to any purposeful activity whether remunerative or not <her work as a hospital volunteer>. EMPLOYMENT implies work for which one has been engaged and is being paid by an employer <your employment with this firm is hereby terminated>. OCCUPATION implies work in which one engages regularly especially as a result of training <his occupation as a trained auto mechanic>. CALLING applies to an occupation viewed as a vocation or profession <the ministry seemed my true calling>. PURSUIT suggests a trade, profession, or avocation followed with zeal or steady interest <her family considered medicine the only proper pursuit>. Métier implies a calling or pursuit for which one believes oneself to be especially fitted <acting was my one and only métier>. BUSINESS suggests activity in commerce or the management of money and affairs <the business of managing a hotel>.
 
#8 ·
Babysitting "5 days a week", whether watching children for pay all day all week or at night when Mom & Dad go out, is obviously work if done correctly and responsibly. It should pay well, which it doesn't.

You could ask the same question about other domestic work that is hired out because folks are too busy with their jobs to do it, including washing clothes, cleaning houses, and cutting grass. I don't think anyone would say those aren't work.

Now defacing peoples' bodies with ink, that's questionable.
 
#9 ·
QUOTE(boatmonkey @ Sep 25 2003, 08:16 AM)Babysitting "5 days a week", whether watching children for pay all day all week or at night when Mom & Dad go out, is obviously work if done correctly and responsibly. It should pay well, which it doesn't.

You could ask the same question about other domestic work that is hired out because folks are too busy with their jobs to do it, including washing clothes, cleaning houses, and cutting grass. I don't think anyone would say those aren't work.

Now defacing peoples' bodies with ink, that's questionable.
Well said
 
#11 ·
hey... i didn't say she was tattooing. i said a tatoo place is no place to bring kids.
 
#12 ·
QUOTE(fit chick @ Sep 25 2003, 08:10 AM)Heck yeah its a job!!!
I was a nanny for 1 baby for almost 2 years. Its not easy , expecially when shes 4 months old and collicy.
I give anyone credit for watching kids all day long.
So yes Its a job!!!
agreed!

I was a nanny for two years and boy did I work my butt off!

Children will keep you RUNNING!

Also agree that it is underpaid, but what are ya gonna do about it, there is only so much to go around sometimes.
 
#15 ·
It sure is work and probably more inportant than any of our jobs here. Is the program I make for the machine shop going to affect(sp) how a child sees the world; i dont think so, is coming up with an ad slogan going to influance a childs development...nope. It does not matter weather the child is your own or if you are providing day care, you are helping mold a personality thus you are shaping the person themselvs. Bottom line is most of us are making a living, people who take care of children are helping to make a person.
 
#16 ·
QUOTE(fatcat660 @ Sep 25 2003, 09:35 AM)It sure is work and probably more inportant than any of our jobs here. Is the program I make for the machine shop going to affect(sp) how a child sees the world; i dont think so, is coming up with an ad slogan going to influance a childs development...nope. It does not matter weather the child is your own or if you are providing day care, you are helping mold a personality thus you are shaping the person themselvs. Bottom line is most of us are making a living, people who take care of children are helping to make a person.

So true
 
#18 ·
I am sure most of you have heard this but I thought after what Fatcat said it was appropriate.

"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove~
But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child." ~~Anonymous
 
#19 ·
This is definately one for Jenn to answer. She is nannying for three boys on ritalin (sp) for two solid weeks and ALSO her usual two or three days a week for two bratty girls. (I called it double dipping) She then goes to another families house for four days. I talked to her the other day and could barely hear her with all the kids screaming in the background. She says the boys are good kids but the girls...............

They are all Birmingham families and she gets paid VERY well, but remember its around the clock work.
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
Its work ... more for some than others, but it's work. Very much underestimated and and most often under appreciated.... and when staying home with your children, because you feel its best for them, it becomes even that much more frustrating when others:

1. do not understand how difficult a job it truly is
2. or are jealous because they feel its a luxury to stay at home
3. look down on you because its not a "real job"

I know financially its extrememly difficult in this day and age to thrive on one income ... and in many cases, it isn't for everyone... however if one can somehow manage to do so, or wishes to do so... to me, they too deserve much admiration and resect.
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
would take someone with a lot of patience, i watched brothers kids for a day and was like scheew , glad i dont have to do this full time.. yepp its a job id say.
 
#23 ·
QUOTE(Goose @ Sep 25 2003, 08:13 AM)You don't need tight-fitting pants to complain about these kids nowadays.

Dr. Phil
if you have a corndog and a butcher knife, the clown isn't gonna want to dance...therefor your baby will crawl

Dr Phil Nonesense
 
#24 ·
I take care of 3 children in addition to my own, 6-10 hours a day, 5 days a week!!!!!! I challenge anyone who doesn't think that is real work to spend just a few hours with us. It's a lot of fun to feed 4 children at once when they all want something different. I think anyone who has children can appreciate the hard work that goes into it. Mom's have a hard time trying to make the choice to work or stay home. You don't know the hell it is to have to think of leaving your child while you work. Just today the mom that I sit for thanked me again, because a co-worker of hers just found out that child are being abused at the day care her child go to. I could not ask for a better job...I have our son with me and I get paid. I'm also a home based travel agent. By the way Aiden was 4 months old when I got my second tattoo, my mom held him in the room and he slept the entire time. Sorry if I sound harsh but this subject is important to me.
 
#25 ·
Definately work! I was a nanny awhile back for teenagers. One had A.D.D and the other one kept on skipping out of school and no one could find him until the cop brought him to the front door


Needless to say I gave my notice after six months.

Those who stay home and take care of your children deserve more than one can say. Every once in awhile I do get envious of my sister that she stays home and doesn't work. However, that quickly dissolves when I call her and she is screaming at the kids the whole time and it sounds like there are twenty kids in the room and not just three.

For me to say that it is not a job would be disgracing everything my mother did for me while she raised four of her own children.

By the way, watching someone elses kids is the best birth control, no offense meant....
 
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