Question
I’m currently 20 and getting back into babysitting as i work at a daycare part time and am working towards an education career. While I don’t need babysitting jobs to survive I use the money as extra cash. I mainly want to babysit to have a chance to be one on one with kids and become a close support for a family and their little ones. I work at a daycare and I love my kids, but babysitting is a nice opportunity to build more deeper connections. I’m sure you guys understand as this is common in the childcare industry. Babysitting is simply an enjoyment and extra cash opportunity for me. However, it is newer. I used to babysit early highschool/middle school so I’m just now getting back into it.
Recently I met up with a family I found on Facebook who was looking for help on Saturday mornings 8/9am-1/2pm. When I met with the mom she wasn’t sure how frequent she would need the help. At our meeting we agreed that I’d babysit their 2 year old and 1 year old on Mother’s Day (Sunday) for a couple hours so they can go to lunch. They ended up cancelling the Friday before. This didn’t strike me as odd. The mom ended up setting up another date for me to come, tomorrow Sunday May 17th. However I told her that she could let me know specific times closer to then since she had originally asked about that date on May 8th. After her also trying to see if I’m free a couple other dates didn’t work I send her a calendar of my availability from May 12th to the end of June. On this I was only unavailable for 3 Saturdays and one partial Saturday (I told her I could still come over early till 11am). She never responded to these texts and when I reached out today to see if she had specific times for tomorrow she didn’t answer. At this point I had other obligations come up and without a set time/confirmation from the mom I didn’t feel that I could still commit to it. So I reached out saying so and that I need more communication. I’ve included the texts.
This is where my question comes up. Personally, I think the lack of communication was a red flag. But as I’m newer to the more professional babysitting/nannying field I don’t really know the signs. Whenever I saw the mom’s posts on Facebook I noted that she had posted babysitting ads multiple times throughout the last year. It did strike me as odd that since they were so spread out that she might go through babysitter frequently.
My question is would it be odd if I let the family know I think I may not be a good fit for their family. Again, I just want to be babysitting for the families where the parents see me as a team member rather than a replaceable role. The mom’s response saying that she didn’t respond to me due to the lack of Saturdays in my schedule felt like she was switching the blame of her lack of communication onto me. I could be taking it the wrong way. Part of me just feels guilty for ending this relationship over something so small and so early on. Thank you for your time for reading this and for your advice.
Okay I actually can’t add photos so here’s the text I sent her:
“Hi (mom’s name)!
Since I hadn’t heard back regarding the time/confirmation for tomorrow, I wanted to let you know that I can no longer commit to making it work, as I've had to open up my schedule for other commitments.
I've really enjoyed connecting with you and would love to continue helping out your family moving forward! However, because my schedule gets packed quickly with school, it’s a bit tough for me to hold tentative dates. To make sure I can prioritize your family and officially reserve the time for you, I'll need us to confirm specific dates and times in advance.
Let me know if you’d like to look at the calendar and lock in some upcoming days for June! Have a wonderful weekend.”
Her response:
“Hi (my name). When I had originally posted, I needed help for Saturdays and when you sent me your availability, there was almost no Saturday availability.
This is why I never really followed up with you.
We can set up a day in June, preferably a Saturday”