What to Know
Gone are the days when parents used to get away with paying their 16-year-old babysitter $7 per hour to hang out with their kids for a couple of hours and hopefully clean up in the kitchen after they’ve served pizza to everyone. Times have certainly changed, and the days of poor wages and expecting babysitters to do absolutely everything at home, especially for astronomically low pay, are gone.
A nanny named Paige recently took to TikTok to share a text conversation she made into a #MusicTok song that showed some grievances from a previous employer. Basically, the individual who hired Paige was annoyed that she didn’t do any cleaning throughout the day while she was at home with their son. Very quickly, Paige tells her previous employer that she wasn’t hired to be a house cleaner. This whole exchange immediately sparked a debate about whether parents are expecting entirely too much out of those who sign on to provide childcare.
This nanny is dying to know if she was in the wrong here.
A creator on TikTok with the handle @paige_.music recently shared a Suno song that depicted a text conversation she had with a previous employer she used to nanny for that she titled “Turning another nightmare nanny experience into a song.”
The text convo starts out with Paige’s previous employer telling her that she appreciates her watching her son Nick, but there’s something she needs to get off her chest. She proceeds to tell Paige that they were disappointed with her “overall service.”
The conversation moves forward with Paige being told that the house was a “complete disaster” with no dishes done and their “kitty litter was still full.” Paige promptly stands up for herself. She shares that she was hired to take care of their child and she actually didn’t cause any of the mess around the house as it was like that when she got there.
The person who hired Paige to babysit their child then proceeded to tell her that she was “paid” to be “at the house all day” and she “didn’t do a single thing.” But if she was hired to solely provide childcare and she more than met the expectations there, is it really fair to expect more from her?
Is it expecting way too much for a babysitter to clean your house and do extra work while on the clock?
The conversation proceeds with Paige asserting herself by saying that she was hired to take care of their child, not as a house cleaner, so “why would [she] do all of that?” Her previous employer then turns things around on her and states, “We believe somebody worth watching [their] child should go above and beyond.”
The comments section of this TikTok is an interesting place to be, especially when looking at how people ultimately feel about expecting your babysitter or nanny to pitch in with other house chores while they also take care of a small child.
One person commented, “expecting a nanny to scoop cat litter is WILD.” Another individual in the comments decided to take a sarcastic stance on the matter. They wrote, “I just don’t understand why you didn’t paint the house while you were there. I mean you did have six or seven hours. You could’ve painted the whole house and started on the kitchen remodel😁.” Too funny.
Another person clarified their thoughts by stating, “Nanny ≠ Housekeeper (And so many people do not understand that).” Another shared that the family could have hired a nanny who does both, but things need to be plainly stated and agreed upon before any work begins. They wrote, “You could definitely have a nanny who does both things, a housekeeper and childcare, but you better have discussed those expectations during the interview and pay should be worth it.” That is a completely valid point.
Sadly, in part 2 of this nanny horror story, Paige shares how things escalated even further.
Paige shared a part two in this series that depicted a further conversation that led to a fairly uncomfortable discussion about pay. She asked her previous employer if she was going to get paid “what [they] agreed on,” to which she was told that it only seemed fair to have some pay deducted due to her “poor job.”
It’s then divulged that Paige was receiving $70 per day for six hours of work, which is just over $10 per hour. Paige is then told that she’s only going to receive $30 to which she replies that if she isn’t paid what they agreed upon, she will have to reach out to the police. She’s then told that she’ll be “wasting [her] time.”
There are several people in the comments who were shocked to learn what Paige was being paid because it seemed awfully low if you really break things down. One person shared, “Lost me at 70 for the day. For childcare? No. Not even close.”
Another individual in the TikTok comments noted how they made more for babysitting in the 1990s. “I got more than that babysitting in 1993 as a 12 year old. No cleaning required and as many snacks as I could eat,” they wrote.
We can’t help but think that this all comes back to what was previously agreed upon by both parties. If Paige had worked things out beforehand with her employer to clean the house and change the cat litter while also being financially compensated for watching their child, that would be fair, but that’s not what went down.
Families can’t really go into these types of situations with unclear guidelines and then get upset or withhold pay when your babysitter does exactly what they were hired to do!
