So, awhile back, I wrote a post on Why Moms Need a Time Out. Some of you loved the post, but others of you said something like, “I want to love this post, but I just don’t think it’s possible for me to find quiet in my day.”
And I want you moms to know this: I hear you. The last thing I wanted to do with that post was to burden or discourage you. Instead, I’d hoped to inspire you to make filling up yourself more of a priority so that you could be more energized to pour into your families.
Because here’s the thing: if we just give and give and give and give and we never take time to replenish our supply, we’re going to end up completely drained and exhausted.
One of my favorite times of each day is in the quiet morning hour before the house is awake. I spend time in God’s Word, I write in my Blessings Journal, and I often read a chapter or two from the current devotional/spiritually encouraging book I’m reading. This is my fuel and foundation for the day.
However, one of the reasons I’m able to get up before my family wakes up is because I’m not waking up multiple times in the night with babies and toddlers. I’m in a season of life where my three kids still go to bed fairly early and they (for the most part) sleep through the night.
A few years ago when I only had babies and toddlers, I was pretty much always behind on sleep and it wasn’t wise or healthy for me to wake up an hour before everyone else got up — because I needed every minute of sleep I could get.
So I get it that there are seasons of life when quiet is hard to come by and sleep is a premium. And I wanted to write a post for moms who are in this kind of season to give you some practical ideas and suggestions on how you can find time to refuel your soul — even when life is very, very full.
1. Make it a Priority.
It has well been said, “If something’s important to you, you’ll make it happen. If it’s not, you’ll make an excuse.”
We moms are really good and taking care of everyone else long before we’d ever consider investing in ourselves. I wholeheartedly believe that motherhood is supposed to be a selfless act, but not to the point of breakdown and burnout.
The first step in actually finding time to have quiet in your day is to understand why it’s a priority and how it can make a difference for you and your family. Once you get this, then you can guilt-lessly commit to finding a way to make it happen — even if it’s just five minutes every other day.
2. Keep it Simple
This is important to understand. Making time for quiet doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to find an hour-ling block of time in your day. If you wait for an open hour block, you’ll probably be waiting a very long time.
Instead, find ways to just soak up the little bits of quiet you have in the season you’re in. Pray while you’re cooking or nursing or changing diapers, listen to the Bible and uplifting music on your phone throughout the day, listen to podcasts while you’re cleaning, turn on music during your commute… sneak in moments here and there to refresh and encourage your heart!
“Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.”
3. Streamline Your Life.
Take inventory of your current time usage. Are you wasting pockets of time watching TV, surfing Facebook, blog-hopping for no purpose, or volunteering for things that are just draining you?
Are you cramming your day full of things you don’t really enjoy just because you feel obligated or because you think staying busy will make you more fulfilled?
What are you spending time on that you don’t love right now? What’s taking a lot of your energy and effort and not bringing you any fulfillment? Is there a way you could eliminate, streamline, or delegate any of that to make more room for quiet?
4. Get Up a Little Earlier or Stay Up a Little Later.
Okay, so I hesitate to put this one on this list, but hear me out: Maybe you could get up 5-10 minutes before your family does so you could have just a tiny bit of time for quiet before the three-ring circus of the day begins?
Or maybe you could stay up 15-30 minutes after everyone goes to bed and invest some intentional time into doing something that fills you up? {Just promise not to get sidetracked onto something and then stay up way past your bedtime and end up completely dragging the next day! I’d recommend setting a timer and maybe telling your spouse or your friend in order to help you stay accountable and focused.}
If you’re not getting enough sleep at all, please go to bed early and stay in bed as long as possible. But if you feel like you might be able to spare 5-15 minutes of sleep without a problem, experiment with getting up early for a few weeks and then experiment with staying up late for a few weeks to see which end of the spectrum fuels you more and which allows you the best quiet.
5. Swap Babysitting With a Friend.
Perhaps you have another mom friend who’d love some kid-free quiet once a week. Ask her about the possibility of swapping babysitting once a week — where she’d watch your kids for an hour or two so you could have some quiet and then you’d watch her kids so that she could have some quiet.
This means a little bit more work while you’re babysitting, but it might be worth it for the quiet it buys you — free of charge.
6. Institute a Household Quiet Time.
If your kids are old enough to be in a pack-n-play or their room, you could institute an afternoon quiet time for everyone that lasts 30 minutes to an hour.
This will look differently for different families. It might mean that everyone takes a nap or rest time. It could mean that the kids watch a DVD for 30 minutes. It could mean that the kids get to play quietly in their rooms with a special basket of toys or a Busy Bag.
One thing that we’ve done sometimes is to have a Reading Time, where everyone reads quietly in the same room. This allows me to get some reading done and soak up a little bit of quiet, too.
7. Leave the Kids With Dad.
When our girls were little and Jesse was working really long hours and we had no family or babysitters nearby, I knew I needed to get out of the house by myself for at least an hour or two every week. So Jesse decided that Saturday mornings were Mom’s Mornings Out.
I’d go to Panera down the street and enjoy a bagel and a cup of tea and just read, plan my week, and get some blogging done. This one or two-hour block of time made all the difference in the world for me — and it gave Jesse some focused time with the girls in the middle of a very busy work schedule.
8. Hire a Sitter or Mother’s Helper.
This option might not be financially feasible, but I still wanted to mention it. Consider if there’s wiggle room in your budget to have a sitter or mother’s helper come over for an hour or two ever week.
Oftentimes, a young teen girl will only charge around $10-$12 per hour (or even less!) and paying her to help out so you can run to the store, work on an organizing project, or even take a shower, can feel almost life-changing and every bit worth the extra expense.
9. Get Creative.
There are so many other outside the box ideas to consider such as:
- Putting your kids in a double stroller and going for a walk (it might not be completely quiet, but it could be a refreshing change of pace).
- Taking your kids to the park and watching them play while you sit on a swing or park bench.
- Reading aloud with your kids while they play with LEGOs or Play-doh (again, not completely quiet, but it’s still quieting to my soul to read aloud).
- Popping in a DVD for 20 minutes while you sit in the other room and read and savor a cup of coffee.
Remember, even 5 or 15 minutes can make a big difference. Don’t keep living life barely surviving. Take time to nourish and feed your soul and refresh your spirit and body.
What ideas do YOU have for making time for quiet even when life is really full? I’d love to hear!
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Thank you Crystal!! Its crazy how so many of your email updates that I get from you, and the things you say, apply to exactly what I am going through. I really appreciate your emails, and your encouragement Crystal. I am a highly sensitive introvert too and its so nice to hear you speak so openly about it. You make me feel so much better about myself and my life, like its ok to be me. It is so freeing to just say no and schedule my much needed, daily, me time. 🙂
You are not alone! 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind encouragement!
I wholeheartedly agree with the message that when a mom takes time to pursue her passions, goals and dreams, it makes her a better mom, not a selfish one.
For me early mornings work. I get up a couple of hours before the household to do my writing, blogging and planning. This makes my entire day go well, and I’m far more present with my kids because I’m not worrying about those things not getting done. 🙂
Hear, hear. Taking time to nourish ourselves, to pursue our own passions and goals, doesn’t make us selfish – it makes us better at our various roles.
I carve out time for what I love by getting up before 5 every day, 7 days a week. I write/blog, update my Bullet Journal and plan.
We also do a daily quiet time – since we’re homeschooling, the kids need a break from each other!
What is that Peter book at the top? It’s so pretty.
That’s from She Reads Truth — a study that they had awhile back.
I didn’t read all of the comments, but I thought this was such and encouraging post to follow for moms of the young.
One more idea, if all else fails and you want time with the Lord bring out a bible story book for your little ones and read it to them…..let it soak in your heart and be surprised at how the Lord can feed you while you are training them!!! I can’t tell you how many times in that stage the Lord did just that.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE this post!!!! Love the idea of just taking 5 to 15 minutes. Also, recently I read somewhere about “me time” and how it shouldn’t be selfish, time wasting, brain numbing time (aka TV time or mindlessly on your smartphone), but me time should be a time that refuels and refreshes your soul. Everything you said! I love it. Thanks. I don’t have Facebook or I would share this. I will be pinning it!!!
Thanks for continuing to encourage Moms, Crystal! Since reading “Fringe Hours”, I’ve deliberately chosen to use my 13 month old’s naptime as my time to work – or read – or do what I want to do. The chores will still be there but having that bit of time to do exactly what I want to do is SO important. I’m a much happier Mama the rest of the day with that bit of time to claim as my own.
Had to smile at your book pictures as I just finished Lizzy and Jane and LOVED it. Stepping Heavenward is one that I read again about every other year as it is always a blessing to see how some of the issues I struggle with were the same as women struggled with 200 years ago! When I had three kiddos three and under I stayed up 10 minutes after everyone went to bed and read my Bible. It wasn’t much, but I knew I needed that 10 minutes even more than the extra sleep that I so craved. It really helped me make it through that first year with all three. I now have five and get up early so I have some quiet before everyone is up. I’ve just learned that I am so much more effective if I get some time alone rather than constantly being in the thick of motherhood without time to think, read and pray. Great post!
I love that these are so practical. I often hear advice or read blogs that say moms need to take time for themselves without giving any ideas as to how! I have a 1 year old and 3 year old right now and a growing blog, so I’m short on sleep, and actual *quiet* quiet time is hard to come by. However, I have built time into our morning routine to snuggle up with my kiddos and read the Bible aloud to them. They are usually happy for the extra cuddles and will sit quietly for at least a few minutes, and I get some much needed time off my feet in the Word.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I really need it!
When DS was a preschooler, I’d let him watch educational videos on YouTube (Nat’l Geog. animal vids and the like) for an hour or so. It was my only out during the day, since he gave up naps younger than most.
I want to throw out what we’ve paid for babysitting: We paid a 6th grader $5/hr for playing with our two-and-a-half-year old while I was home at our old house in the Seattle area. Best money we ever spent! We occasionally had a college girl come for $10/hr but our daughter was usually already asleep when she was there. If we had more kids or she was awake, we would have paid $12.
Now, we pay $15/hr for an adult (late 20s) certified teacher who is a friend of friends to babysit in the Portland, OR area. We can’t hire her often because it’s cost-prohibitive but worth it to us for someone we trust in a new area.
Our daughter is starting to give up her nap and I leave in her in her room to play on the days she doesn’t fall alseep. When/if we’re able to have another child, I will continue to have “quiet” play time in her room during that child’s nap time. Sometimes I feel guilty about it, but I realize it’s good for her to have some alone time given her personality and it’s good for her to entertain herself.
Last, the YMCA we plan to join has 2 hours of free childcare while the parents are on-site exercising. It’s about $80/mo. We haven’t figured out our new budget yet, but plan to make this work even if we have to cut back in other areas so I get exercise and a break, and our daughter gets an opportunity to have some additional active play time and a chance to play with other kids.
Thank you for sharing. I was actually really encouraged. Being a mom of three children 4 and under I always look for ways to find moments to be refreshed. Reading this list I realized I do several of these things and it just encouraged me to realize that I am having small successes in each day.
Yay!! This comment made me so happy!
I rotate toys and books. When my toddler gets a small bin of toys or books he hasn’t seen in awhile, I usually get at least a half hour of quiet time sometimes closer to an hour!
We do a family quiet time after lunch for one hour. This 100% saves my sanity. The littles nap, and the bigs do quiet things in their room (play, read, etc.) Though they share rooms by night, I spread everyone to a separate corner of the house for rest time to keep the peace. There are days that this doesn’t happen, especially in the spring/summer when its so nice that they are outside all day and we forgo naps/rest time. But I sure do enjoy the break!
I love that you mentioned going on a walk with kids in the stroller! That has been my sanity saver many times when the toddler wasn’t realizing how much Mommy needs quiet time and insists on continually coming out of his room asking to get up. 🙂 I’ve even gone on walks through cold drizzling rain (well-bundled, of course) to get a little quiet. Sometimes even just going outside for a change of pace is helpful.
My 3 year old rarely naps any more, but when he started skipping naps, I kept having him go in his room for an hour anyway. He has toys in there and he loves to look at books, etc. It actually seems to recharge him too, to have a little time away from Mommy 🙂 I remember when he first started skipping naps, even the constant babbling to himself wore me down–I was used to quietness for an hour. But I’ve adjusted to that and at least I get some time where I’m not constantly watching. And I try to line his ‘nap’ up with the baby’s nap, whenever the baby’s nap happens to be. 🙂
Thanks for these tips! They were really encouraging, that it is possible and important to have some refreshment in the long days.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have three little ones, 2 and under and this post was written just for me. I’ve recently come to peace with the fact that my quiet times have to look very different in this season. Your words completely validate how I’m feeling abs encourage me…thank you!
I am a work outside the home mom of three children (6, 2, and 1), so I am in the littles stage right now. I do a few things to refresh myself:
1. Weekend quiet/nap time. From 12-2 every Saturday and Sunday my little ones nap and my six year old reads on his bed.
2. Outside play time. All of the kids go outside to play and I sit on the porch with a book and a glass of iced tea. Lovely.
3. Insist on early bed times. I am a stickler about bedtimes. My two youngest are in bed by 6:15 and my 6 year old reads on his bed from 6:30-7:00 and then goes to sleep. Because we all have to be out the door by 6:45 each morning, evening quiet times are more feasible than morning ones for me.
I’m in the baby/ kids age 6 and under phase and I almost always rest and/ or nap during their nap/ quiet time. I don’t necessarily feel guilty but I do feel frustrated because my house gets trashed every day and seeing it and living like that makes me feel worse, but using nap time to run myself ragged cleaning also makes me feel worse, so I think part of it is knowing that you have to compromise and give *something* up. And also knowing that this is a phase and not forever, although it does feel that way sometimes. Also, I have to remind myself that we don’t have much support or resources to hire help, and I am only one person. I’m not a machine. I can’t do everything all the time for everyone unless I want to completely break.
If our circumstances ever change I will not hesitate to hire some help and not feel bad about it but life is what it is right now and I can only do so much.
These are wonderful suggestions. It’s so hard as mothers to make taking care of ourselves a priority, but it’s so important to do.
For me often my alone time is my commute. I’m an introvert with a demanding, public job that I love but by the end of the day I am done with being around people. But I still have to go home and be “on” for my family. I find having a quiet car during my commute and then listening to a book on CD with my children after I pick them up from school really makes that a refill time for me. I can pray or talk out loud through something or just be quiet on the commute and then enjoy a story with my children.
Thanks for the great ideas Crystal! Thanks for the encouragement.
Great post Crystal and thanks for offering suggestions for us mommies with toddlers. My son is 3 yo and one thing I have learned is to treasure his nap time (which is still 2 hours!) and NOT do any household chores. In the mornings I get things done around the house, and during the week we straighten up our home as a family since both me and my husband work full time. But those weekend days during naps, I use it for me time. I run, I grocery shop (I actually enjoy this and doing without my son in tow is so NICE!), or I’ll plan a girls’ lunch, etc. Not every weekend day this happens, but more than not I at least get a good run in which is therapy, peace, and restoration all in one for me 🙂
For longer alone times I get up before everyone, although my 3 year old gets up at the crack of dawn so I usually just give him my phone to play on, which is a special treat.
I have a cool trick, though. People think that I hang my laundry outside from April through October to be frugal, and although that is part of it, it is really so that I can sneak outside several times a day. This time fills my soul! It is so amazing.
My rule is that no one can bother me while I am out there unless there is blood involved, since without that rule everyone always seemed to filter out there with who knows what trivial concern.
It generally takes me about 15 minutes to hang out a full load, and I usually do four loads a day – that is an entire hour out in the sun and fresh air by myself.
Now you know the real reason I’m out there 🙂
Fresh air and sunshine does wonders! Totally agree that I THRIVE off of this too! You’re in good company 🙂
For years I went to bed a little later than the rest of the family and loved it. Now it seems like my internal clock changed and now I get up before the rest of the family and I am learning to love that as much as I loved my night time quiet time. It all depends on what season of life you are in.
Here is my favorite way to catch some quite time for myself when life just won’t seem to give me some. I pack a pillow, a blanket, a good book, and something to drink along with me on a day where one of my children has a practice somewhere. I drop them off and then instead of watching I crawl into the back of my SUV put one of the back seats down and then curl up with my blanket and my pillow, and read and sip my drink. Often I will fall asleep and wake up to my child knocking on the window (mine are 12,14, and 19) . That back of the SUV nap time always fills my introvert tank, and I think it proves that if you are creative you can figure out how to make time for me time in any schedule.
I am so doing this…
I highly recommend it. I often keep a .99 cent TJMaxx bag with a pillow and blanket in the back of my SUV on a regular basis, and always have at least one book downloaded on the kindle app on my iPhone so I can take a car break whenever a chance strikes. It is really one of my favorite ways to catch a break.
Brilliant! I am so doing this too!
Lea
Enjoy! One tip if you kids are too little to come out and wake you up should you fall asleep set the alarm on your phone first.
This is a new level of running kids to practices!
OH MY GOODNESS. Last week, our oldest of 3 boys ( he’s 4) started tee ball. After sitting through practice a few times, I was thinking of all the hours of my life I will spend at practices. This is the most amazing idea ever. When he’s a little older, and parents aren’t needed to help during practice. You know, to remind kids to go to first base, not third after you hit the ball. 🙂
Yes you do have to wait until the children are old enough that instructors don’t need an extra hand. Another idea I do for practices is to bring along a “portable” craft to work on. Something that fits easily in a bag like knitting, or crocheting. When they were little and I couldn’t hang out in the car I would bring a stack of magazines that I could flip through and a special “mommy” snack that I hid in my purse until I got there.
Absolutely fantastic idea! When I was still driving my kids to practice I’d use that time to get my workout in. I’d simply go out wherever it was and jog up and down whatever street we were on for the hour. Kid practice time is prime time and I honestly think they appreciated that I wasn’t always looking on after them : )
Yes, fitting in a run or walk during children’s practice times is another great idea. My son plays soccer and I often see mom’s doing laps around the soccer fields (our town has 5 all in one park) as the kids practice. My daughter does gymnastic at a gym that has an indoor track and often during the winter time I will pay the $1 fee to walk it while she has her class. Best part is her class is right in the middle of the track so I can watch her practice all her gymnastic moves and get a workout in. I will also bring my iPod and listen to Podcasts while I do this, adding just one more element to my me time, learning about topics that interest me.
When my boys (homeschooled) were taking classes once a week, it was a 15-20 minute drive one-way in our old gas-guzzling van. I would find a spot in the back of the parking lot and ‘camp out’ while they were in class. Sometimes I did lessons with one while the other was in class.
Sometimes I cleaned the van.
But many days I loved the peacefulness of being by myself,
read and took a nap. 🙂
At my current job, I usually eat my lunch in the backseat of my vehicle and listen to classical music. That time just for me and personal space helps me to recharge.
I would add to number 5. You can also swap cleaning, organizing, cooking and such with your friends! The kids can play together and the moms get to cook and chat and drink a glass of wine 🙂 (and at the end of an afternoon have meals for freeezing or otherwise). Or they can do one afternoon of deep cleaning and organizing at one home and reciprocate a couple of days later. Many hands make light work and free of charge.
Great suggestions. I do struggle sometimes with the idea that I need a lot of time (1 hour or so) to do a reading or writing. It’s easy to forget that every little bit counts. I didn’t do podcasts yet. Any recommendations? Also…I wanted to ask before about shereadstruth. You said you have a membership and you are getting books at home. I really enjoy reading from “real” books. :). But when I go on their website I can’t find any info about membership. :(. Thanks for amazing posts. Blessings 🙂
I really enjoy podcast from:
– the Art of Simple
– Sorta Awesome
– Inspired to Action
Also, National Public Radio has some fun ones too – Splendid Table (about food), Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me (sometimes has a little bad language), This American Life, etc.
I love inspiredtoaction.com (GREAT encouragement for moms!)
http://amongstlovelythings.com/read-aloud-revival-the-podcast/ (have learned A TON about the benefits of reading aloud to my daughter and the long term benefits, Sarah has such a sweet voice!)
http://sortaawesomemegan.tumblr.com/ (my new favorite one! the hosts talk about something AWESOME in their week and answer listener questions that are all over the board, such a fun listen!)
Here’s a post on how to listen to podcasts if you are not familiar with them.
http://www.hollywoodhousewife.com/2015/04/sorta-awesome-podcast-and-how-to-listen-to-podcasts-101.html
Thanks SO much for sharing these!
Thank you for sharing my post about listening to podcasts, @Nichole! It’s currently my favorite way to get out of my own head for a little while each day. 🙂
Thank you so much ladies…. 🙂
I am a self-proclaimed podcady junkie. After I switched from iPhone to Android, it took me months to find an app that I was satisfied with. I already listen to the above podcasts plus several more except Sorta Awesome. I’ve never heard of it! One more to add to my list…
What app do you use?
Two things we’ve always done: 1 hour reading time/quiet time just after lunch. Babies/toddlers napped and everyone else read. It grows readers and refreshes me as a mom. Also, when I was at the 24/7 stage with babies, I tried to read my Bible before any online time or magazines or other stuff. It might not be first thing in the morning, but it was the first thing I read. I knew I’d read *something* during the day!
I love these, especially taking advantage of the little moments and also going outside when that’s possible. Loading up my little one in the stroller and walking around the block for fresh air can do wonders for my mood and outlook on the day.
I also try to do as much housework as possible while my toddler is awake so nap time can be reserved for devotions, reading, and online work. Some housework is obviously much easier to do alone, but at 18 months I’m already finding there’s a lot she can “help” with or at least observe when I’m doing laundry, cooking, sweeping, etc. She loves pushing the swiffer and pulling laundry out of the dryer. She has fun and she’s learning to work alongside the rest of the family. Sure it often takes longer than doing it alone, but if we can combine quality time with housework that’s a win for me!
We do chores together as a family too (starting since shortly after my kiddo could walk). Usually it is more me doing chores than anything, but dude thinks him splashing around in the sink on a chair next to me while I scrub dishes is helping.
I find that I enjoy it more because it ends up being quality time with my boy and he is starting to show and understand his part in contributing to the household (well, as much as a 3 year old probably can). Dude even gets upset when I decide to do the dishes without him 🙂
Such a sanity saver so that when he rests, I can rest too guilt free!
We as women sometimes think that we need to take care of others before we take care of ourselves or even instead of taking care of ourselves. I used to be like that, and only serious health problems and huge stress levels convinced me otherwise. Crystal, I am not a mom yet, but I still need to say no to things so that I can take care of myself. Thank you for the great ideas for when I am a mom. 🙂
Crystal- thank you for posting this today, a day where I was completely in meltdown mode and crying on and off all day! I’m a SAHM of 3 kids, 4, 2, and 5 months. My infant is sick, so I’ve been getting very little sleep while caring for him this past week. I’ve been a mess! But this post is a great reminder to find those quiet moments in the day to help us keep our sanity. I was empty at the end of today, and had nothing left to give my family. Thankfully, my hubby hung out with the kids while I took myself out to dinner! Much needed time to refuel, and a very timely reminder from you that it’s okay to do so. Thank you!
I agree. My twins are 7, busy with sports, I am working on my PhD and also work full time. My hubby pitches in but I find myself cramming as much into my waking hours as possible.
This post is the best I have read this year. The quite time (as well as exercise) has made my quality of life much better. I still cry regularly and sometimes shout at my hubby and children. But mostly, thing are good.
Quiet time is my sanity saver – we started when our first dropped his morning nap and have done it ever since. And sometimes we have a couple quiet times if the day is going rough. Just this morning, after tiring of the bickering, we did a “everyone sit quietly on the couch and read” for about 20 minutes. It’s crazy how something like that can change the tone of the day.
I was thinking of still keeping “quiet time” in the morning after my daughter drops her morning nap.
We go family quite times here. The two oldest have a spot they go and they can read color, or do Legos (as long as they aren’t digging through the box!). The toddler naps. And hopefully the newborn sleeps! Right now I take a nap, usually falling asleep to a podcast. When the baby is older, I’ll read and stuff.
I love that you have a family quiet time and are able to take a nap during it!
I have wonderful two homeschool aged teenaged girls who sit for us (the best babysitters by the way because they are available in the middle of the day!) When I first started using them neither of them drove and their mom said $6 an hour was fine. Once the older one started driving, I increased her pay to $7. I realize that may seem on the lower end. If I hire an older college student, I pay $10.
Thanks so much for sharing those rates — very helpful!
We live in Central Texas. I know the cost of living tends to be higher in big cities, especially along the coasts.
Yeah, almost 15 years ago I was the home schooled babysitter. I charged about $1.50 per hour per kid, ha ha :). When I got to college and heard of people charging $8-10 I was floored. Most of the people I babysat for could not have afforded that. I did live in a rural Midwest town. I also mostly babysat for church people – so it was a two way service – they got affordable babysitting, I got a little income. At the time minimum wage was under $6 an hour. So I think it depends on your community and needs. You’re not trying to gainfully employ someone, just help them out with a little spending money.
Great post! Thank you for the encouragement and suggestions. I have a question – it surprised me when you said a young teenage girl might charge “only” $10-12/hour? For cleaning or babysitting? Just wondering what the ballpark of good pay is for babysitting now.
I think it depends upon the age/situation.
If a young teen girl isn’t driving yet, I think $10-$12 is very fair –possibly even less if she’s young and inexperienced, you’ll be there the whole time, and she’s just an extra set of hands for you. If she’s older, driving to your house, going to be watching the kids while you leave, and possibly helping with cleaning, too, it might be more than that. It really just depends upon the situation/area of the country, etc.
I think $10-$12 is fair as well. In California, our minimum wage is $9/hour and will go up to $10 in January. I’ve been paying our babysitter $10 for the last 2-3 years, but will start increasing to $11 at least this summer. The gas for her to drive out to our house isn’t cheap either.
I couldn’t agree more. Great Post! Appreciate the books included in the posts–all have some great insight into how to take good care of ourselves. I would like to add one suggestion, a book that I read that really helped me through difficult times. The Art of Extreme Self-Care by Cheryl Richardson. She is a life coach–has several books out and a website and YouTube videos.