Do you agree with the mum or her sister about paying family for babysitting?
I love babysitting my little cousins. We get to watch Disney movies, they always share their chicken dippers with you and their joyous outlook on life is simply infectious.
It honestly lifts my spirits and that's payment enough.
However, some people believe family members should be paid for minding their relatives' children, but do you agree?
One mum admitted she doesn't think her niece should be paid for minding her kids for a couple of hours. However, her sister believes it is work and she should receive some money for it.
She shared, "My sister and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things. We've just moved house and my niece (sister's daughter) has been talking about a sleepover at ours with our two young DC.
The mum explained that she and her husband had been invited out and thought their niece could keep an eye on the children until they came home.
"I asked sister if niece wants to babysit our DC (basically watch a film until we get back) and sleepover that night. Sister said yes but asked how much she will be paid!"
The mum admitted she never intended on paying her because she is family.
"I said well I'll be giving her dinner and she'll be sleeping over and can join us next day at the Christmas fair."
Her sister also suggested paying for her niece's bus fair too.
"I think it's about £3 and my sister earns about 5 times more than I do! This isn't about paying money, more about the constant focus on money and tone from my sister like she'll be doing me a massive favour."
"I thought it would be fun for cousins but the questions about money make me uncomfortable," she admitted.
This dilemma caused quite the debate online with parents saying she should pay the niece.
Others felt you shouldn't have to pay family, especially if her niece is just going to be watching a movie.
"You definitely need to pay her - she is doing you a favour regardless of whether she then sleeps over and has lunch the next day. How much is it going to cost you for goodness sake - £10?!"
Another person said, "It’s totally different if it were you/your sis/mother/SIL or another adult family member then it would be unreasonable to pay or them to expect payment but for a teenager yes she should be paid, family or not!"
What do you think?
