Parents divided as mum asks babysitter to clean 'messy' house and leaves long list of chores

The mum took to social media after providing her babysitter with optional cleaning chores alongside a price list – while some saw it as a 'great opportunity', others were shocked

A mum has sparked a heated debate after she left her babysitter a long list of chores to do while looking after her children.

Katrina offered to pay the sitter varying amounts for each job, depending on the size of each task, additional to the babysitter fee.

Her video – which she's shared on social media – instigated a discussion, with some parents loving the idea and others not so sure.

'Good idea or not?' the mum asked her TikTok followers in the video.

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Katrina asked her babysitter to tidy up mess

'These jobs are up for grabs'

In her video, Katrina, who goes by @kivankc on TikTok, explained that as a working mum, she had a few odds and ends that needed doing around the house and so left a note for the babysitter asking to do some chores – but promising to pay for each job she carried out.

In the caption to her TikTok Katrina said: 'I am a teacher and I have a small business that is in the busy season.

'Little things have been let go for too long. If my sitter decides to do this, I’ll be forever grateful. If not, I’ll get to it later like I already had planned.'

She then explained in the video: 'The clutter is making all of us feel stressed. I was going to stay home to clean but I could use a date night.

'Seems like a good compromise.'

Her video showed the letter she was leaving the babysitter which read: 'You are more than welcome to hang out and watch TV all night but if you want to make some extra $, these jobs are up for grabs.'

Her list included organising the kitchen island, organising toys, vacuuming the sofa and cleaning glass, among others.

'Just let me know if you decided to do any of these and the grand total I owe you on top of the babysitting money. Thanks for being here,' she said.

Over £100 up for grabs

On top of the $75 (£60) she was paying her babysitter, Katrina offered some of the following prices for extra chores:

• Organise 'island' – $10 (£8)
• Organise toys – $10 (£8)
• Clean the following glass and mirrors: two bathroom mirrors, front and back doors, living room mirror, living room windows – for $10 (£8)
• Vacuum couch – $3 (£2.39)
• Scrub and reorganise silverware drawer – $10 (£8)
• Scrub out inside of the fridge and reorganise food, wipe down the front – $15 (£11)
• Sweep and mop kitchen floor $10 (£8)

For a total of £54, or £114 including the babysitting.

Katrina stressed that it was completely up to the sitter as to whether she wanted to actually do any of the jobs.

'A great opportunity'

Parents were divided in the comments.

Some supported the idea with comments such as: 'I think this is a great opportunity for your babysitter. You’re giving a choice, and I love that.'

And: 'This is a great idea!! Sometimes it’s boring to just to sit and watch tv, this makes time go by quicker and sometimes it’s things I would do to help.'

'You’d better double those amounts'

Others argued that the prices should be upped.

A comment read: 'With how messy your house is you’d better double those amounts….'

A second said: 'I think $10 is too cheap for some of these tasks considering the amount of work/size of the mess.'

Another criticised: 'Those are 1990 prices. 😂'

To which Katrina replied: 'I’m paying her $75 to babysit when my son is already asleep plus any of this on top of it. What do you think would be a more fair price?'

A viewer said: 'Depends on how many hours. At minimum it needs to be hourly minimum wage.'

While another argued: 'I think it’s fair. Except the vacuuming the couch. Maybe 5 😂 also depends on how old is. If she keeps babysitting for you she’s not mad about the $.'

Others wanted more clarification from Katrina: 'I think just communicating in person like “hey seriously no obligation to do any of it, but I will compensate you if you do”'

Katrina replied: 'Oh, I absolutely will. I always leave her a little note with where we will be and what time, the health insurance card, and the number for poison control. That’s in a separate sheet.'

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