erik123

I fully agree - but I think au pair rules can provide a good guidline to compensating baby sitters who travel with you - as au pairs are likely in the same age range (17-26 years old IIRC).

baccarat_king

roflol

If analise won't divulge that info... I'll be more than happy to --- I have tons of NYC food opinions... as I lived most of my life in that area..

though, I rather give opinions on Dice and Baccarat... wonder if analise has any opinions on those games of chance.... hmmmm.....

skofarrell

I disagree. Any neigborhood babysitter would be thrilled at getting an all expense paid trip to a vacation destination. Compensation and time off on top of that is way too generous.

Going on a vacation is not like asking them to provide after school care or winter recess care at home.

Analise

No deal, if you can find better bagels, nova (not lox), hot dogs, chinese or seafood, I would gladly appreciate it.

skofarrell

OK, then after you have a kid or three, give me a call 'on the babysitter on vacation' topic.

erik123

I can't even find a babysitter excited by $10 an hour anymore - so I wouldn't take my chances with one on an unpaid trip.

skofarrell

Maybe you need to upgrade your vacation destinations?

JS

In the hypothetical situation where I take my wife and kids on vacation, while it would be nice to have a night or two alone with my wife, the fact of the matter is that I am not on vacation 95% of the year where getting a babysitter is far easier, so settling for keeping the kids entertained every night of a vacation doesn't seem all that bad.

I don't particuarly like two hour meals (I eat to stay alive, not to pass the time), but if I can keep my kids entertained on a four hour flight, I'm sure a two hour meal would be a walk in the park.

But back to the original topic question, let's say one insists on bringing someone else along on vacation to entertain/feed/bathe/etc. your children. I totally agree with offering an all-expenses paid trip but no salary on top of that. The only people who would turn it down are those who don't like to travel, and those are not the type of people you would want to bring on vacation anyway. Criminy, I'm a finance professional, and I'll be happy to watch your kids for you on an all-expenses-paid vacation with no salary!

erik123

That would be very hard. I've considered space travel but the flight would be to long for my kids to handle.

coleson

When my sister had her first baby and we flew home to see the family .... there was no question about my taking the same flight. Yeah, babysitters or nanny's may cost you a little but in the end they are a tremendous help. Whether you have a baby or a very active toddler, in a airport with all the new sights and sounds or the fact that they have to be couped up for a few hours .... they can help when you've had enough and they can entertain your kids when you need a few minutes of sleep to recuporate!
In the end you have to ask yourself if adding one more to your list for tickets is going to be worth it?? Sure you can do it on your own, but why should you when you can get someone who is willing to give you a hand?!?
After all ... a mom's job is never done so why not take some help so you can have some of that vacation too!

skofarrell

Too short. You're up and back so fast there's no need for a babysitter.

Think any Caribbean island, Hawaii, Cancun. I'm sure you'll have no shortage of teenage volunteers.

skofarrell

I'm tellin ya, we've had no shortage of volunteers. Now that our kids are older there's no need. Lots of disappointment.

drbond

In the past I have taken a niece on my trips. I have also taken a HS student on the trip with us. Paid for everything. That is what they wanted to be able to travel, eat and go to fun places. Did not ask for any additional pay. I did buy desired souveneirs. I did not have to have a babysitter, but it did make it more convenient.

onedog

We have had an au pair now for almost six years now so I can only give my $.02 on traveling with an au pair.

I confirmed with our regional au pair coordinator (AuPair Care) and if you have an aupair from an agency designated by the United States Department of State to legally sponsor au pairs to come to the United States, they are officially only allowed to work 45 hours per week. PERIOD. Officially, they are not allowed to work any additional hours, either additional hours beyond 45/week caring for your children, or any work outside of your family regardless of how many hours they have worked caring for your children (babysitting for neighbors, barista at Starbucks, etc.). If your au pair cares for your children less than 45 hours one week, you are not allowed to "carry over" the unused hours to a future week. The stipend you pay directly to your au pair is $139.05/week. There are additional fees you must pay to the agency, as well as $500/year you must contribute towards the au pair's attending an accredited school while they are here in the US, which we have found when all is said and done, is about $1,100 per month. Au pairs do not have holidays off, but they are allowed two weeks of vacation time per year. Not too shabby when you consider the cost of day care.

We have taken our au pair with us on vacation all over the world. Some people ask why take the au pair? Well, while we would never consider going on vacation without the kids, at the same time, we would also like to have some fun time to ourselves doing things that are not conducive to having the youngin's around such as scuba diving, river rafting, quiet dinners, sleeping in late, etc. Since we have the au pair to help out at home, there is no reason to not have her help out when we are on vacation. The youngin's are familiar with her and we feel safe and secure knowing that the youngin's are with someone who is familiar with their needs, habits and preferences.

When we go on vacation, as when she is at home with us, our au pair is considered a part of our family. We pay for her air fare, lodging (she shares a room with the youngin's), all meals with the family. We pay her her weekly stipend since she is working 45 hours/week. Any personal incidentals, snacks or separate meals when she is not with the family or on duty watching the kids she is expected to pay on her own, just as when we are back home.

What we have found works best for us is that during vacation, we keep the hours she will work flexible. Depending on what we have planned, she may work early in the morning (if we are going scuba diving) or late in the evening (quiet dinner for just me and the Mrs.) or whatever is needed depending on how the day works out.

Since our au pair is working during our vacation, but at the same time we want her to enjoy the vacation as much as possible, we tell her to give us as much advance notice if she wants to do somethind different on her own (maybe she wants to go horseback riding, souvenir shopping, lounge around the pool). If possible, we try and accomodate her so that if she wants to go horseback riding in the afternoon, then maybe at that time we will plan on touring the local museum with the kids.

We have yet to have an au pair comment that they didn't like the vacation work arrangement. We've given them the option of using thier vacation time if they don't want to come with us at all (maybe the are from Europe and so would rather go on a long road trip in the US with some other au pair friends rather than visit England with us), or they could use their vacation time if they don't want to work during the vacation, but then they would have to pay for their own air fare and any marginal costs we would incur because they wante to come along (we had one au pair choose this when we went on a cruise so she paid for her own cruise fare. In exchange for us paying for her air fare, she worked part only during part of the cruise).

We've had lots of relatives (nieces, younger cousins, etc.), friends, coworkers, neighbors and other au pairs (they would use their vacation time to come with us and watch our kids on our vacation) volunteer to watch our kids during our vacations in exchange for the vacation package that our au pair gets. The key is to be flexible and to give as much advance notice if you want to do something.

childwatch

Just wanted to voice my experience as a Traveling nanny for a couple very involved with Amway. I was their full-time live in for several years and as I was a single parent, it worked out great for me. I traveled everywhere with their two children and my daughter. At every hotel the children and I had our own suite (as the parents would often entertain). My food, Lodging AND salary was still paid the same as if I was at home with them. I simply paid for my daughters portion of meals when necessary. I often ended up having several additional children from other families attending the event. I didn't have "time off" however and was on-call 24/7.

I was asked to babysit during one of their island getaways and because I was not on call, we negotiated my salary at half price because I was doing half of the work. They paid for both myself and my daughters flight, lodging and food. After so much time spent with those children however, they did prefer time with me over their parents, which happens quite often. So was it a deal? Yes, I still was able to visit the islands, spend beach time with my daughter and I loved those two children dearly....

Just my experience.....

P.S. Never, ever did I recieve any extra money for gifts or souveniers......

Ginger