For parents, child care can be a huge pain point in terms of stress and finances. Finding the right child care provider — whether it's day care, a babysitter, a nanny, or family members — can be overwhelming. However, it's worth noting there are key differences between babysitters and nannies — mainly in how much they're involved in the kids' lives and consequently, how much they're paid.
Sophia Pagliuca has been nannying for seven years in South Carolina. On TikTok, she shares tips and information about her industry and recently, one of her videos attracted more than 3.6 million views. The slideshow featured the absolute worst text messages she has received from parents seeking her services, and TikTok users were left in utter disbelief.
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The nanny dished on the unbelievable texts she received from parents seeking her services.
A TikTok video Sophia posted on April 8 has gone viral, and it is easy to see why. In one cold text from a parent, they asked the nanny about her rate before providing details of their situation.
"Need help with 4 kids like 60 hours a week – but some weeks will be like 10-15 hours," they wrote. "We've had trouble finding people who don't want to be paid 60 hours even if we don't work that …lmk."
In a response in the text overlay on the screenshot, Sophia wrote, "I wonder why they had trouble …"
Another parent wanted to pay her less than $4 per hour.
Another parent messaged Sophia to let her know they have between $150 and $200 budgeted and would "prefer to not have other kids there or combine like a nanny share or something." They would need her Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Additionally, they noted, "I call off a lot so we won't need you sometimes but we don't do guaranteed hours if that's something ur looking for."
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Meanwhile, someone else made her choose between legal pay or PTO.
"We've always paid under the table bc we just use the tax money to do benefits," a parent texted her. "So if you're wanting the W-2, we won't be able to do any health insurance, or paid days off."
Sophia's commentary pointed out, "Do you think her boss told her that she has to choose between legal pay or PTO? What a joke!"
Yet another parent wanted to wildly underpay her for overnight nannying because the kids 'won't even be awake.'
Another parent who messaged Sophia was looking for a full-time babysitter.
"I work 3rd so they won't even be awake so you won't even be working lol," they wrote. "I don't have an extra bed but if u want to wash my sheets you can use my bed or I have a recliner or couch but recliner is comfier. Thinking $30 for 4/nights week hours are 7:30pm to 5am."
"Omg. This mightt be the one to top it all," Sophia noted in the slide. "I should post her response when I said my overnight fees start at $150 PER NIGHT and I don't sleep on couches or people's personal beds."
TikTok users responded in the comments, with plenty of folks showing support.
In the comments of her TikTok video, the vast majority of people supported Sophia. One person pointed out, "I think people are getting babysitter confused with nanny."
Another TikTok user commented: "As someone who has a full time nanny… these are wild. I've never ever paid her less than her rate. If I'm home early, she gets to leave and gets paid for her hours. NO MATTER WHAT. I pay all gas, food."
Meanwhile, another person wrote, "Y'all a nanny is a LUXURY. This pay is normal."
