The Phenomenon of Babysitter Poaching

Many parents consider a babysitter an extremely important commodity today. If you have found someone who is wonderful with your children, has a flexible schedule, charges reasonable rates, and is able to drive herself to and from your home, you have more or less won the babysitter lottery. There are stories of best friends falling out over a Boston babysitter and even people double-crossing their neighbors to get a babysitter's number. This phenomenon is not mentioned often but many people know it and live it. Babysitter-poaching has become one of the worst legal crimes in America today!

For those of you unfamiliar with babysitter-poaching, I will give you a few examples. This situation basically describes what happens when one family has an amazing babysitter and another family, whether it is a neighbor or a close friend, hire babysitters without permission from the first family. At first glance, this situation may not make sense or seem to be common enough to be labeled a phenomenon; unfortunately, however it happens much more often than one wishes it did.

The babysitters, of course, are not at fault because they are independent contractors. They do not sign contracts with specific families promising them that they will be available whenever they need them to sit. Therefore, they are allowed to nanny for whoever hires them if they want to work with that family. If one family pays better or they get along better with their children, they are completely in their right to sit more for that family than for yours.

The most common offence for babysitter-poaching is when one parent sneakily obtains the sitters number without asking your permission. As much as you want to help your friends out, sometimes you cannot give them valuable commodities like your home or your babysitter. If they were really your friends, they would respect your unwillingness to give up your babysitter's number and continue their own hunt for a great sitter. However, other friends will do whatever they can to obtain your sitter's number behind your back.

Once you discover that your wonderful Boston babysitter is not as available as she used to be, you most likely have become a victim of babysitter-poaching.  The best lessons you can learn from this article is 1) Do not be a babysitter-poacher! Be respectful of the family who hired her first and ask them if you can hire their sitter. 2) Keep your amazing sitters a secret!