My wife, Carol, had the opportunity to baby-sit for our first granddaughter, Jenna, while I was working. The hours were from 8:30am to 3:30pm Monday thru Friday. Quite a long day. Daycare cost for that amount of time was about 0.00. Compared to what our daughter could make working it would not have been worth working, but her family needed the extra income.
The question that we wrestled with was do we charge our daughter for the babysitting or not? If we do how much? It would be a great bonding experience for Carol and Jenna, but Carol would not be able to work reducing our income.
We decided that Carol would baby-sit and to charge sixty dollars per week. This provided Carol spending money to buy things for the baby and for other necessities as they came up. Carol provided babysitting until Jenna turned two years old. At that time my daughter could afford putting Jenna in a day care center and Carol was able to work part time again.
A year and a half later, Haley, our second granddaughter, was to arrive and the question Carol and I knew would be coming was "would we baby-sit Haley?" I was unemployed at that time and Carol and I could live off my severance pay for a couple of years. I missed much of my children's early years because I was working all the time or going to night school for my Bachelor's Degree. I was looking forward to the possibility of baby-sitting for Haley. So I agreed to baby-sit, but the cost for my daughter would be one hundred dollars a week.
Once Haley was 6 weeks old I started baby-sitting from 8:30am to 5:30pm. During this time Carol was working part-time during the week. So it was just Haley and myself most of the time. It was one of the most precious times of my life. I watched and took care of Haley for about ten months. We deeply bonded. This is one of the most incredible experiences one can have.
My daughter now works in the evenings so Carol and I baby-sit between the time mom goes to work and dad comes by to pick up the girls.
The love that we all share for each other will be with us for a lifetime. I would do this again if I had the opportunity.
Carol and I both used the portable baby monitor. This allowed us to move around the house to do other things while the baby was sleeping. The BebeSound Easy to Hold Sound Monitor, Model M0142, has two lightweight receivers that fit comfortably in your hand. This monitor has two channels to select from that will reduce interference and provide clearer sound. The receivers also have sound lights so you can see your baby's sound level. If you want to go high tech check out their Portable Video and Sound Monitor, Model TV872.
| Price : $99.00
