babysitters and food

[Cumberland]

Am I supposed to feed them? If so what? I really dont want to have to pay them a bunch of $ plus a dinner like pizza or something. I asked the one I use alot if she expects dinner, and she said, some people have dinner for me, some dont, it doesnt matter. She is coming again tomorrow, and I am starting to feel guilty that I dont have dinner for her.

I try to point out things they can make themselves -- if there are any frozen meals, where bread or tortillas and peanut butter and heese are kept, etc. If I get pizza for the kids, I get an extra slice for the sitter (from a by the slice place). I mostly say help yourself to anything and point out anything off limits that I am saving for recipe. I don't think they look forward to eating at our house but they don't starve either.

A few months ago we got: Are you guys, like, vegetarian or something? No....just not much meat around. Turns out she is a die-hard red meat eater. She comes back, though.

I stock up on junk food.

[Sheherezade]

We order pizza and a salad from a local place. Partly it serves as a bribe to the kids who are still iffy about us having an adult social life; partly it makes me feel better about hiring a sitter from 6 -11 pm and not feeding her. I must note that the sitter rarely eats anything noticable. We were much closer to our sitter in Boston. She never ate anything no matter how much or what we offered. I think it was a teen dieting thing.

[Meenah]

If they were there and had to feed the kids I always had enough for them.
I also used to get alot of junk to make me feel better about leaving them with a sitter. Sooooo long ago.
Luanne

[Michele]

When I used to babysit, I RARELY ate at the people's houses. It was a personal thing, because I had one mom who felt so bad that I didn't eat at her house, she used to stop at Mc D's on the way brigning me home. She must've counted the chips or cookies or something to know I wasn't eating. It wasn't that I didn't like their food or anything, I think I just felt bad going through the cubboards for something for me. Sometimes, the parents would leave me money to order pizza with and then I'd eat some, or if I cooked for the children, I'd eat. I just always felt really bad about eating someone else's food. Though I *loved* it when there was soda in the house since my own mom wouldn't let us drink it in the house. If I was sititng from 6-11 I would just eat before I went/was picked up....but that may just be me.

[SueC]

If its over a mealtime I fully expect to feed them. I sometimes order pizza or pick up McDonald's or at least make sure I have sandwich stuff in the house. I also try to figure out what kind of soda they like and have it on hand (if they aren't too shy to tell me).