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Smart mom leaves babysitter a list of 'add-on' chores to make more money if she chooses

“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.”

via KIvanKC/TikTok and KIvanKC/TikTok. Images used with permission.

Katrina Ivan's list for her babysitter.

A mother in Missouri has found a way to maximize date night with her husband. She left a note for her babysitter, giving her options to make more side cash by completing small tasks around the home.

The goal was to have a night out and to return to a cleaner and better-organized home. It makes sense. Most of the time, babysitters just sit around while the kid sleeps, so why not make their time more productive and profitable?

Katrina Ivan, a science teacher, posted the list she sent her babysitter on TikTok and the video received over 1.5 million views.

​“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,” Katrina wrote to her babysitter, a senior in high school whom she’s known for 4 years.

babysitters, babysitter prices, katrina ivan

Katrina's list for the babysitter.

via KIvanKC/TikTok Used with permission.

When the babysitter saw the list, she was excited to get to work and started cleaning the windows 10 minutes after Katrina and her husband left the house. Katrina realized her plan was working when she saw her cleaning the windows through her Ring camera. “She was like, ‘Heck ya!' and got to work right away,” Katrina told Today.com. "I left all the supplies out for her so she didn't have to feel weird hunting around for things."

By the end of the night, the babysitter was able to clean the mirrors and windows, organize the toys, vacuum the couch and scrub and organize the silverware drawer.

"I think this is a great opportunity for your babysitter. You’re giving a choice, and I love that," Lisa B wrote in the comments on the video. "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," Del added.

Most commenters applauded Katrina’s idea, although some thought she could pay a little better.

"I think $10 is too cheap for some of these tasks considering the amount of work/size of the mess," Liz wrote. In a follow-up video, Katrina broke down the money she paid the babysitter that night.

@kivankc

Replying to @LISA B │✨ what i'm learning ✨ #greenscreen

Katrina agreed that the prices could go up a bit. "I’ll definitely be restructuring the prices to make this more fair in the future," she wrote. However, she added that she paid the babysitter $75 for the night just to watch her 2-year-old son, who was asleep most of the time.

All in all, the sitter made $28.75 an hour, tax-free. Not bad at all.

In another follow-up, Katrina interviewed the babysitter, who said she enjoyed making some extra money. “That sounds great,” she said.

What questions do you have for the newly famous babysitter? She’s along for the ride, and enjoys the spotlight. Loving the money, and crushing the jobs we leave for her. Sorry friends, but she’s not available to book-this kid is wayyy to busy between date night babysitting for us, earning perfect grades, being involved in a zillion after school activiites, and taking night time Fire/EMS classes at night so she can start her CAREER fresh out of high school. Do I sound a little proud?!?

@kivankc

What questions do you have for the newly famous babysitter? She’s along for the ride, and enjoys the spotlight. Loving the money, and crushing the jobs we leave for her. Sorry friends, but she’s not available to book-this kid is wayyy to busy between date night babysitting for us, earning perfect grades, being involved in a zillion after school activiites, and taking night time Fire/EMS classes at night so she can start her CAREER fresh out of high school. Do I sound a little proud?!? #sorrynotsorry #sillyinterview #babysitter #bestbabysitter #sidequests #meetmybabysitter #cheers #toddlermom #momlife

This article originally appeared on 2.6.24

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Family

Mom points out an unspoken, 'unfair' part of having kids who play travel ball

Families can spend thousands on travel sports leagues.

via Casey Kelley (used with permission) and Vince Fleming/Unsplash

Casey Kelley shares her thoughts on kids in travel sports.

Parents whose children participate in elite travel ball leagues can spend up to $12,000 annually on fees, equipment, hotel rooms and gas. One mother, Casey Kelley, from Alabama, has spoken out, saying that if parents spend all of that money and time, their children should get to play in games. Kelley's daughter plays on a club volleyball team.

The topic was inspired by a conversation she had with other volleyball parents who agreed that every kid should get a decent amount of playing time.

“I’ll tell you what I think. I think, if you’re paying to be there, so it's not like high school sports, I think everyone should have the opportunity to play because this is a developmental league ... and they’re there to develop and to learn,” she explained in a TikTok video.

“Especially if these parents are paying thousands of dollars for them to be in the league and then traveling, spending money on hotels for their kid to sit there and maybe play a minute or two the whole weekend. I think it’s unfair,” she continued.

@caseyjkelley

What do you think? #travelball #clubsport #athlete #kids #mom #question

It's reasonable for Kelley to believe that spending a lot of money and traveling all over the map only to watch your kid play for a few minutes feels pointless. However, a lot of parents disagreed with her in the comments.

"You pay for practice. Playing time is earned," Nathan Sullins wrote.

"Absolutely not. If you want fair playing time you play rec ball. Travel ball playing time is performance based," another user wrote.

But these parents haven’t changed Kelley’s mind.

“I’m not opposed to kids earning their spot or the best kids playing more, but I feel that every kid who makes the team should at least have some playing time,” she told Upworthy. “I know it’s not a popular opinion, but it’s how I currently see it.”

Kelley further explained the story in a follow-up video.

@caseyjkelley

Clarification post and the last one on this topic #travelball #athlete #travelballparents #clubsport #parenting

What do you think?

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Joy

Pregnant woman swaps her baby shower for a 'nesting party' and people are taking note

"Every pregnant mom needs a nesting party."

via NiaLui21/TikTok

Women clean Nia Lui's house at her nesting party.

A mother expecting her 3rd child decided to forget about having a baby shower and brought her friends together for something she needed even more: a nesting party. Instead of spending an afternoon watching her friends drink champagne and play games, Nia Lui put them to work to prepare her home for her new arrival.

Lui documented the event on TikTok, and after seeing the video, a lot of women said they’d much rather go to a nesting party than a baby shower.

The special day came courtesy of Lui’s friend, Bree. Lui gave her a list of everything she needed to do around the house before her daughter arrived and the women gave her home a deep cleaning, organized the kitchen and got the baby’s room together.

"Every pregnant mom needs a nesting party. If you’re pregnant and don’t want a baby shower, do this,” Lui captioned the video.

If you’re pregnant and don’t want a baby shower, do this. If you have a pregnant friend, do this for them! 

@nialui21

Replying to @Haley Sheppard Every pregnant mom needs a nesting party. If you’re pregnant and don’t want a baby shower, do this. If you have a pregnant friend, do this for them! #nestingparty #nestingmom #nestingmode #pregnantmom #pregnancy #babyshower #nestingmama #thirdtrimester #ittakesavillage #myvillage @Bri Welcker

In the post, Lui explained how the event came together. "So I had my nesting party last night instead of a baby shower and it was amazing,” she said. "My friend Bree organized it. I sent her a list of things that I wanted to get done before the baby came, and she made little cards for each person to take to take on a section of the house."

"I kind of took on more of a supervisory role, kind of telling people where I wanted things and what I wanted to do with things,” she added.

Even though it was a work day, the friends still took some time to enjoy each other's company. "We took a dinner break, ate some soup, some sourdough bread and treats, and just chatted about this baby and how it's going to be," Lui said.


Lui explained a big reason for the nesting party in a follow-up video. "I don't like baby showers. I don't like being the center of attention," she said. "I don't like playing dumb games. I just don't. I don't. And this is our third baby. So we have everything. We basically don't need a lot besides diapers and wipes."

@nialui21

Replying to @katiecusic Nesting party answers. #nestingparty #babyshower #nesting #nestingmom #womensupportingwomen #momlife #sahm #pregnantmom #nestingmode #nestingmama #thirdtrimester #pregnancy #ittakesavillage #bethevillage #greenscreen

In the end, after her friend’s help, Lui and her family were better prepared for the new arrival. "Everything was so clean and organized," she said. "I feel so much more ready for this baby."

The video was a hit with women on TikTok, too. Many of the most popular commenters noted that they would prefer to go to a nesting party than a baby shower. “Honestly, I’d prefer doing this to sitting for three hours watching someone open presents,” one user wrote. “I refuse to go to baby showers, but I would show up early for a nesting party," Dog Momma added.

Others thought that nesting parties were more helpful than bridal showers as well.

“This is a true village, and I love everything about it,” kTaylorFitness commented. “I’m sorry, but how has this not been a thing FOREVER? I would absolutely go help alllll my pregnant friends. And wish I could have had one,” Ashleigh wrote.

In American culture, many of our celebrations revolve around buying people gifts for their graduations, weddings, or new arrivals. But sometimes, what people really need can’t be purchased in a store. Lui and her friends did the world a service by showing them that sometimes, instead of giving someone a gift, what they really need is a hand.

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Mom wants to know when Halloween became 'an adult pub crawl'?

"Have parents always done this, and they're just being more public about it now?”

via Sam Beckwith/Pexels and UltimiteMomChallenge/Tiktok

Celeste Yvonne had a recent Halloween realization.

Celeste Yvonne, a certified recovery coach and a founding host of the Sober Mom Squad, had a Halloween realization and wanted to know if she was the only person who felt the same.

“This morning, I'm listening to parents at the school drop-off area talk about how they will be bringing a keg onto their golf carts when they do the trick-or-treating rounds with their kids this year,” Yvonne says in a viral TikTok video.

“I'm not shaming them, but my question is: when did trick-or-treating become a beer crawl or pub crawl for adults?” she asked. “This is a newer phenomenon, isn't it? Or have parents always done this, and they're just being more public about it now?”

“I mean, even now, you can go up to a house doorway, and they will have candy for the kids or adult drinks for the adults. I never saw that growing up trick-or-treating,” Yvonne added. “Is this a newer phenomenon as a result of mommy wine culture or just the normalization of alcohol in general?”

@theultimatemomchallenge

#mommywineculture #halloween

The answer could be that drinking is a lot more visible during the holiday because the number of adults who celebrate is on the rise. At the same time, there has been a rise in alcohol consumption among older adults, where we now drink about the same amount as we did in the pre-Civil War era.

Interestingly, at the same time, there has been a decline in drinking among younger people.

In the comments, many noted that we didn’t see parents drinking during trick-or-treating in the past because kids used to go out with their older friends or siblings. “In the ‘80s, our parents let us go on our own. They stayed home and did what they wanted or at least in my town,” Leigh Winchester Fle wrote. “Gen Xer here, my boomer parents just sent us out and stayed behind and boozed. Now I think our generation tags along and take roadies,” Uncle Rico added.

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