Stay-at-home parents may feel like they are caught in the middle between needing to find time to clean the house and caring for small children. Every time mom gets on a roll with the housecleaning, the children need a snack or the baby’s diaper needs to be changed. She may not need a housekeeper, but she does need an extra pair of hands. That is where hiring a tween to work as a mother’s helper can fill the gap.
Advantages of Hiring a Tween
There are many advantages to hiring a tween as a mother’s helper. In the first place, many tweens are considered to be too young to be left alone as traditional babysitters for small children. These tweens want to earn money and learn babysitting skills, but they cannot take babysitting jobs without having some experience. Tweens benefit from getting experience watching children in a supervised setting and parents benefit from being able to remain focused on a task without interruption from the children.
Another advantage to hiring tweens is that they are often available in the evening or weekends, when traditional babysitters may be in short supply. Tweens are often too young for high school sports and regular babysitting jobs so they may have a few hours after school to earn a little money. Tweens who are considered mature enough to stay home alone during the summer may be looking for ways to fill the hours. Perhaps the best reason to hire a tween as a mother’s helper is that by the time he or she is old enough to work as a traditional babysitter, the family with have built a rapport and relationship with the tween.
Finding a Tween for Light Babysitting
When possible, the best arrangement is to find a tween in the same neighborhood to work as a mother’s helper. This is ideal because there is no need to arrange transportation with the tween’s parents. Other options include tweens who can ride the same school bus home with the family’s children or tweens who use the same after-school care program and can be picked up and brought to the house to work.
Another way to find a tween who wants to work is to ask around at church or at school. Contacting a local Girl Scout or Boy Scout troop is an option, especially if the troop members are looking for service hours for a badge. No matter how a tween is found, it is important to make contact with his or her parents to ensure that the conditions, expectations and pay are permissible.
Learning How to Use a Mother’s Helper
Setting clear expectations is the best way to have a good experience using a mother’s helper. Parents should communicate any house rules they want followed. They should be clear about when they expect to be interrupted, such as if a child is injured, and when they expect the mother’s helper to handle the situation. Children in the home should understand that the mother’s helper is an authority figure and not solely a playmate. The mother’s helper should understand that while he or she is not being paid to be a housekeeper, it is her job to keep the play area orderly.
In the beginning, expect both a honeymoon period where the kids are completely enamored with the tween and behave like angels and an adjustment period where the tween learns where to find things in the home and how to handle light discipline. The first two or three sessions may have several interruptions while the tween learns the ropes. Parents who use these interruptions to explain how best to handle the situation and help build the tween’s confidence will benefit in the long run from a helper who is secure in making decisions and supervising the children without interruption.
Stay-at-home parents who need an extra pair of hands to help with childcare can hire a mother’s helper. Tweens make great mother’s helpers because they are often willing to work, available when needed and eager to learn babysitting skills. Setting clear expectations is the best way to get the most benefit from hiring a mother’s helper.
For more articles about how stay-at home parents can make the household run smoothly, read How to Hire a Mother’s Helper, Stay-at-Home Parents Need to Schedule Time Off and Stay-at-Home Moms can Get Control of Crazy Days.
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